A piped

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

and distribution system is intermittent when water continuity is for less than 24 hours a day or not on all days of the week. (Open access) During this continuity defining factors are water pressure and equity. At least 45 countries have intermittent water supply (IWS) systems. It is contrasted with a continuous or "

24/7 In commerce and industry, 24/7 or 24-7 service (usually pronounced "twenty-four seven") is service that is available at any time and usually, every day. An alternate orthography for the numerical part includes 24×7 (usually pronounced "twenty ...

" water supply, the service standard. (Limited pages accessible, free registration required for complete access.) No system is intentionally designed to be intermittent, but they may become that way because of system overexpansion, leakage and other factors. As of 2022, there was no feasible method for modelling IWS, including no computer-aided tools. Contamination issues can be associated with an intermittent water distribution system. Global

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

impact includes millions of cases of infections and diarrhea, and 1560 deaths annually. A continuous supply is not practical in all situations. (Free to read) In the short term, an IWS may have some benefits. These may include addressing demand with a limited supply in a more economical manner. An intermittent supply may be temporary (e.g., when water reserves are low) or permanent (e.g., where the piped system cannot sustain a continuous supply). Associated factors resulting from an intermittent supply include water extraction by users at the same time, resulting in low pressure and a possible higher peak demand.

Prevalence

A large share of water supply systems around the world are intermittent; in other words, intermittent water supply is a norm. About 1.3 billion people have a piped supply that is intermittent, including large populations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This does not include those who do not get piped water at all, about 2.7 billion people. Countries with intermittent supply in some areas and continuous supply in others include India and South Africa. In India, various cities are at various stages of constructing 24/7 supply systems, such as

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the States and union territories of India, northern Indian state of Himachal Prade ...

, and

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

. In Cambodia,

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

increased coverage from 25% to 85% and duration from 10 to 24 hours a day between 1993 and 2004.

Storage

Installation of storage and pumps at residences may offset the intermittency of the water supply. Roof tanks are a common feature in countries where the water supply is intermittent. In

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, most houses have one or more ground or roof tanks. An intermittent supply can be supplemented with other non-piped sources such as packaged drinking and cooking water bought from local shops or delivered to the house.

References

;Bibliography * (Open access) * (Free to read) ;Citations

Prevalence

Storage

See also

References

Further reading