AJMAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

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AJMAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND
ENERGY
MANAGEMENT OF UNACCOUNTED-FOR WATER A CASE STUDY
FROM THE ALEXANDIRIA GOVERNORATE, EGYPT
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OUTLINES

• Introduction
• Water Resources
• Conventional Water Resources
• Non-Conventional Water Resources
• Water Production
• Water Quality
• Water Losses
• Block Mapping Program
• Water Management
• Projected Population and Water Demand
• Water Conservation
• Water Demand Planning and Management
• Conclusions

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INTRODUCTION The study area is bounded by lake
Idku in the east, Al Nasr canal in the west, the
Mediterranean Sea in the north and the border of
the Alexandria Governorate in the south.
Lake Idku
Location map of the study area
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• Data Used
• Pumping test data and water table elevations.
• Groundwater chemistry, ionic dominance,
  water-dissolved salts and Hydrochemical
  coefficient.
• Surface water and groundwater resources.
• Non-conventional water resources.
• Records of water treatment plants for the period
  2000-2004.
• Water production and per-capita water use for the
  period 1897-2003.
• Population, water production and water demand
  projections for the period 2007-2022.

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Climate The study area is dominated by the
Mediterranean semiarid climate, which is
characterized by long dry summer and relatively
short cool winter, high temperature, very high
evaporation and medium to low relative humidity.
The average temperature varies between 4.7oC and
41.1oC, average evaporation ranges from 1.73
mm/day to 13.1 mm/day and average relative
humidity ranges from 44.2 to 75. The mean
annual rainfall drops sharply from 200 mm at the
Alexandria city to 50 mm at Wadi Al Natrun, which
lies only 60 kilometers to the south.
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Isohyetal contour map for the northwest Nile
Delta area.
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Climatic data of Wadi El Natrun station.
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Geomorphology and Geology A. Geomorphology The
land surface in the area displays mild topography
and low relief. The land is developed into an
almost flat plain, sloping northward. The salient
geomorphic features in the study area include

• Coastal plains
• Tableland
• Deltaic plan and
• Structural plan.

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B. Geology The area is dominated by rock
outcrops of sedimentary origin belonging to the
Quaternary and Tertiary Periods with maximum
thickness of about 200 m. The Quaternary
sediments include sand, clay, limestone and
gravel, which are related to different
depositional environments. Tertiary rocks are
composed of clays and limestones, but these rocks
are not exposed within the Alexandria area and
are only encountered in boreholes. Outside the
area of study, Tertiary rocks are exposed at
several localities in the south and southwest.
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WATER RESOURCES A. Conventional Water
Resources 1. Surface Water Resources The
surface water supply for the Alexandria area
begins at the Delta Barrage, from which the
Rosetta Branch and Rayyah Canal take their water
by gravity from the Nile River. The Rosetta
Branch supplies water to the Mahmoudia Canal,
while El Rayyah El Behiri Canal supplies water to
the Noubaria Canal. It also supplies water by
gravity to the Khandak Canal and Sahel Markus
Canal. The Drinking Water Canal is a branch of
the Mahmoudia Canal. The Mahmoudia and Noubaria
Canals and their branch canals will continue to
be the primary source of water supply for the
Alexandria city and surrounding area in the
future.
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• 2. Groundwater Resources
• Quaternary Aquifers
• Recent unconsolidated aquifer Near-shore
  oolitic limestone (Alexandria aquifer)
• The deltaic and fluviomarine clastic aquifers
  (El Nubariya aquifers)
• - Haush Eisa aquifer
• - Alam El Marqab aquifer
• Tertiary Aquifers
• El Hagif aquifer
• Wadi El Natrun aquifer

Major Aquifers
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2. Groundwater Resources The groundwater in
these aquifers exist under water table,
semi-confined or confined condition. Recharge for
these aquifers comes mainly from rainfall,
irrigation return flow or connected aquifers,
while discharge occurs to the Mediterranean Sea,
natural depressions and direct evapotranspiration,
in addition to artificial water exploitation.
The groundwater salinity in the Alexandria
aquifer ranges from 1,000 mg/l to 5,000 mg/l,
decreasing gradually from the west to east and
from the south to north. The groundwater salinity
in the Haush Eisa aquifer varies between 5,000
mg/l and 50,000 mg/l, increasing to the north and
east. The groundwater salinity in the Alam El
Marqab aquifer ranges from 1,000 mg/l to 87,000
mg/l, increasing towards the east in the north of
Alam Shaltut-Alam El Afraq ridge and decreasing
in the same direction south of this ridge.
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Results of hydrogeochemical investigation shows
that the groundwater quality is unfit for human
use both for the drinking and for domestic
purposes due to the high salinity and hardness,
but it can still be used for irrigation of some
salt-tolerant crops. It can be also acceptable
for livestock and poultry usage or for some
industrial uses. Therefore, the groundwater
resources within the study area can be used as
alternative source water, but, in the present it
is recommend to continue using surface water from
the canals to meet current water demand in the
Alexandria city and surrounding areas.
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3. Non-Conventional Water Resources Regardless
the high cost of water desalination (2 to 3
Egyptian Pounds per m3) and the problem of
disposing of the reject brine, desalination of
sea water and brackish groundwater have to be
considered in the near future. Also, the reuse of
treated sewage water for some purposes has to be
seriously evaluated.
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WATER PRODUCTION The Alexandria Water General
Authority (AWGA) serves 98 of the population of
Alexandria. The current population served by the
AGWA is 4 million, including about 500,000 in
Beheira and Matruh Governorates. The service area
extends over 300 km along the Mediterranean Sea
from Abu Kir in the east to Marsa Matruh in the
west. The system also extends for 100 km to the
south, serving areas along the Alexandria-Cairo
desert road. During the summer months, the
population of the Alexandria city increases from
3.7 million to approximately 4.7 million. In
addition, a large influx of visitors affects the
water supply system during the summer in several
touristic villages newly developed along the
northwestern coast, west of the city.
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The AWGA owns seven water treatment plants and
operates the Burg El Arab water treatment plant,
which is owned by the Ministry of Housing
Utilities and Urban Communities. Six out of these
eight treatment plants, are now operating at
Siouf, Rond Point (Bab Sharki), Manshia,
Maamoura, Noubaria and Burg El Arab. The next
figure shows the locations of the AWGA water
treatment plants (AWGA, 2004). The Nozha water
treatment plant was commissioned at the end of
2004 and the forn El Goreaya water treatment
plant is out of service since November 1998. The
following table shows the historical population,
production and per-capita water use for the
period 1897-2003.
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Raw water supply for the Alexandria area and
water treatment Plants.
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Population, water production and per-capita water
use

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Population, water production and per-capita water
use
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WATER QUALITY A. Raw Water Quality The six
AWGA water treatment plants at Siouf, Rond point
(Bab Shaki), Manshia, Maamoura and Forn El Geraya
are supplied by the Mahmoudia, Nubaria and
Drinking Water channels. During the period
2000-2004, monthly samples were collected by the
authors from the intake of the sex AWGA water
treatment plants. Samples were chemically
analyzed in the AWGA Central Laboratory. The
physical and chemical characteristics of raw main
in four of the AWGA five water treatment plants
are summarized in the following table.
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Potable water standards, according the Ministry
of Health Decree Number 108 for the year 1995
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Potable water standards, according the Ministry
of Health Decree Number 108 for the year 1995
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Average raw water quality at intakes of water
treatment plants during the period 2000-2004

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A. Treated Water Quality The physical and
chemical characteristic of the treated water in
the Alexandria water treatment plants are
summarized in the following table. A comparison
of raw water and treated water quality parameters
indicates that the raw water parameters that vary
the most across the treatment process are
turbidity, pH, alkalinity and chlorine residual.
A primary objective of conventional treatment
is turbidity removal. The pH and alkalinity of
the water drop slightly due to the addition of
aluminum sulfate and gaseous chlorine. In
addition, a free chlorine residual is maintained
in the treated water for secondary disinfection.
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Treated water quality of operating AWGA water
treatment plants for the period 2003-2004

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The microbiological quality of water leaving the
treatment plant may undergo degradation in the
distribution system before it reaches customers.
Water in the distribution system may become
contaminated due to cross connections with
non-potable water supplies, leaking service
connections, leaking storage reservoirs or
reservoirs with stagnant zones, failure to
properly clean and disinfect water mains
following repairs, or the presence of biofilms in
tuberculated pipe walls. It is important that
the distribution system be properly operated and
maintained to ensure that high-quality treated
water is delivered to customers.
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Results of bacteriological analysis of samples
from water treatment plants for the period
1999-2004
1 AWGA Laboratories 2 Ministry of
Health Laboratories 3 Army laboratories
4 Total number of samples
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WATER LOSSES According to the American Water
Works Association (AWWA) unaccounted-for water is
the difference between total water produced and
the amount delivered to customers. Also,
unaccounted-for water is the difference between
total installation production and total
installation consumption. Differences typically
result from system losses attributable to
leakage, un-calibrated metering and activities
like firefighting, street washing, sewer
flushing, and other un-metered public services.
Studies have shown acceptable distribution loses
of 10 to 20. The estimated unaccounted-for water
derived from revenue records is listed in the
following table and presented in the following
figure. The data presented on this figure shows
that the unaccounted-for water ranged from a high
of 48 in the year 1992-1993 to a low of 36.7 in
the year 2003-2004.
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Unaccounted-for water, or water losses in million
cubic meters per year for the period 1992-2003

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Unaccounted-for water, or water losses in million
cubic meters per year for the period 1992-2003
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Block-Mapping Program The goals of the
Block-Mapping program are to create accurate
1500 scale maps showing existing water customers
for particular city block, use the maps to survey
all water meters within the block and then
install and/or repair local service piping and
water meters as necessary. The block-mapping
program has been very successful because it
increased revenue through reduction of commercial
water losses. The reduced unaccounted-for water
by decreasing un-metered service, improving water
meter accuracy, and to a lesser extent, by
completing leak repairs on service lines upstream
the meter. The block-mapping program was applied
to only 5 of the AWGA service area. It was
estimated that up to 70 of unaccounted-for water
is a result of un-metered commercial losses.
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The idea of program started when the AWGA
received several complaints from customers
regarding the high consumption charges which has
reached in some cases more than 200 Egyptian
Pounds per flat every two months. The survey
involved site visits, interviews with some
customers, and meeting with the branch manager
and responsible staff to explore their ideas
regarding the cause of the problem. The water
supply, meter condition and meter readings were
also investigated. The water delivered to
buildings is stored in roof tanks. Because of a
faulty valve, water overflowed from the roof
tanks to the sanitary system through overflow
pipes. In the meantime, this wasted water was
only recorded by the main (Master) water meter in
the building, and accordingly the people who live
in the building paid for this wasted water which
they did not use.
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Based on the findings of this program, it was
recommended to repairs the roof tanks. The tanks
were repaired and meter readings were taken
during and after modification for about a year.
It was noticed that the water consumption
decreased to about 33.
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• WATER MANAGEMENT
• Projected Population and Water Demand
• Water demand projections are developed from
  review of past system performance, assessment of
  present operation and appraisal of likely
  social-economic constraints. The numerical basis
  for the projection of future water uses is based
  on the estimated population to be served in the
  future multiplied by expected unit water demand.
• The per capita consumption for each area is
  multiplied by the estimated population in each
  branch to project water use in the future. The
  future water demands for the years 2007, 2012,
  2017 and 2022 are computed using per capita
  demand approach for the residential, industrial
  and commercial and governmental consumption.

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Projection of total water use projection (m3/day)
in the Alexandria Governorate for the period
1999-2022
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B. Water Conservation Several national
commission conducted a study on the potential of
water use reduction through conservation
practices, including pricing policies. The use
of demand management alternatives represent an
important change in water supply planning. Demand
reduction programs allow some agencies to balance
future supply and demand at cost that below the
economic, social and environmental cost of new
supply development.
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C. Water Demand, Planning and Management Water
resources planning as an integral part of water
development and management and requires 1. Fixed
strategy of water resources development and
environmental protection 2. Flexible tactics of
water requirements and withdrawals management
and 3. Operational control and checking of water
quality and occurrence, water withdrawals,
effluent quality, water uses and environmental
protection. According to the Alexandria Water
Master Plan, 2000, the grand total cost of five
phases until 2022 equal 33,071,190,000 Egyptian
Pounds covering the cost estimates for
production, transmission, distribution, pumping
and storage.
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But, in order to meet the required demand for the
projected population, it is recommended to
implement or follow up some of the methods for
conservation (reducing losses) which will be
cheaper (very low cost) compared to the cost
estimate in the Alexandria Water Master Plan with
the following strategy or planning
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• Short-Term Strategy
• The short-term strategy is to maximized the
  productivity of existing water resources,
  increase quantities delivered, pressure,
  reliability reduce cost per m3 and require little
  or no capital investment by reducing losses 5
  only through the following
• a. Conduct preventive maintenance program to
  maintain the valves within the distribution
  network to be ready to use in an emergency
  situation, to make a new connection or to divert
  flow.
• b. Reduce of non-revenue water due to
  distribution losses, leaky connections, illegal
  connections, faulty meters, irregular meter
  reading or billing and un-metered usage through
  the following

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• Meter all main treatment plants.
• Perform systematic leak detection and repair pipe
  failures in the early stages and support the
  program with all facilities, which reduce
  distribution losses and help to identify mains
  for cost effective rehabilitation projects.
• Quality control for meter reading, installation
  and repair of meters to increase customer
  confidence and willingness to pay.
• Cover all supply areas in Alexandria with Block
  Mapping System to identify the leaky, illegal,
  faulty meters, the proper sizing of customers
  meters and any other problems related to the
  house connections.
• Install water meters to the un-metered areas and
  governmental buildings to make incentive for them
  to control their water usage, to minimize
  unaccounted for water and to maximize revenue.

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• Investigate roof tanks and make the necessary
  repairs and modifications to stop the overflow
  from these tanks and reduce the losses.
• Use plastic bottle in the old flush box which
  save 1 liter in each flushing.
• Introduce computerized billing system to all the
  AWGA branches, because if the customers do not
  pay, there is no incentive for them to conserve
  their usage.

c. Implement water awareness campaign programs
in schools and media with the following
objectives

• Protect and preserve the existing water
  resources.
• Minimize water losses.

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• Provide the customers with the needed knowledge
  about the importance and necessity of protecting
  and preserving of water resources.
• Encourage people to prevent water pollution
  practices.
• Help people to adopt practices leading to saving
  water.
• Encourage consumers to change unwise use of water
  consumption practices.

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2. Long-Term Strategy The long-term strategy is
to reduce water losses by 10 to 20 through the
use of other tools or ways according to the
available investment in the AWGA as following

• Prepare a program for replacing the old pipes in
  the distribution system.
• Introduce meter sizing program to reduce the
  meter error.
• Install flow meters to all the AWGA water
  treatment plants to measure the actual
  production.
• Supply petrol stations with raw water and stop
  using treated water for car washing.
• Use raw water for some non-potable functions in
  industries such as certain cooling applications.

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• Coordinate with other related ministries and
  organizations to manufacture high quality
  plumbing fittings.
• Encourage the customers to use automatic shut-off
  taps at least in the governmental and general
  buildings.
• Encourage the customers to use dual flush box in
  the toilet which saves half of the quantity of
  water used.
• Coordinate with other related ministries,
  organization and factories to start manufacture
  this kind of dual flush box and stop producing
  the old one.
• Develop utility "Instrumentation" to standards
  required for adequate utility management and
  regulation. For example, expanding customer
  metering, water quality sampling and testing,
  mapping and hydraulic analysis, infiltration and
  inflow studies.
• Prepare five-years capital programs and projects
  planning.

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The relationship between reduction of water
consumption percent, projected population and
water demand at different consumption rates.

R Reduction LPD Liters per day
Master Plan 640 liters per capita per
day Egyptian Code 220 liters per capita per day
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The total money saving per day at different water
loss reduction percentages

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CONCLUSIONS By implementing the short-term and
long-term strategies, the following goals can be
achieved

• At 5 reduction in water losses, it is possible
  to cover the demand of projected population until
  year 2027 according to Alexandria Master Plan
  (721 LCD) and until year 2038 according to the
  Egyptian Code (220 LCD), and to save about half a
  million Egyptian pounds per day.
• At 10 reduction in water losses, it is possible
  to cover the demand of projected population until
  year 2032 according to Alexandria Master Plan and
  until year 2055 according to the Egyptian Code,
  and to save about one million Egyptian pounds per
  day.

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• At 20 reduction in water losses, it is possible
  to cover the demand of projected population until
  year 2042 according to Alexandria Master Plan and
  until year 2088 according to the Egyptian Code,
  and to save about two million Egyptian pounds per
  day.

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Thank You