Kala Vairavamoorthy

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WATER CONSERVATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Kala Vairavamoorthy
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Water, Engineering and Development Centre
Education, training, research and consultancy for
improved planning, provision and management of
physical infrastructure and services for
development in low- and middle-income countries,
focusing on the needs and demands of the poor.
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STRUCTURE OF PRESENTATION

• Water Crisis that exists in developing countries
  particularly the urban centres
• How the water crisis is predicted to get worse in
  the next 20 years.
• How authorities in developing countries have
  tried to manage the water crisis
• How authorities in developing countries are
  becoming more proactive in the way they manage
  the water crisis.

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Providing a water supply for a community involves
tapping the most suitable source of water,
ensuring that it is safe for domestic consumption
and then supplying it in adequate quantities.
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The World Health Organisation defines

• safe water as . . water that does not contain
  harmful chemical substances or micro-organisms in
  concentrations that cause illness in any form
• adequate waters supply as . . one that provides
  safe water in quantities sufficient for drinking,
  and for culinary, domestic, and other household
  purposes so as to make possible the personal
  hygiene of members of the household. A sufficient
  quantity should be available on a reliable,
  year-round basis near to, or within the household
  where the water is to be used

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WATER SCARCITY

• Water scarcity in urban areas is of particular
  concern because of migration of the rural
  population to urban centres resulting in towns
  and cities expanding rapidly
• Water scarcity can result from a variety of
  causes but principally either source limitation,
  poor distribution, or inequality between the rich
  and the poor.
• What happens when there is a lack of water is all
  to apparent in many developing country cities
• Increase the health burden on the urban poor, who
  often constitute the very labour source that
  generates the cities wealth.

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DEVELOPMENT GOALS

• Water is acknowledged as a major limiting factor
  in the socio-economic development of a world with
  a rapidly expanding population.
• The United Nations Millennium Declaration draws
  attention to the importance of water and water
  related activities in supporting development and
  eradicating poverty.
• Also emphasizes conservation to stop
  unsustainable exploitation of water resources
• By developing water management strategies at the
  regional, national and local levels which promote
  both equitable access and adequate supplies.
• Improved water management promotes sustainable
  development

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WATER MANAGEMENT

• Current approaches towards water supply in cities
  are usually supply driven when theres a
  shortage develop new sources.
• But, the cost of developing new sources or
  expanding existing sources is getting higher and
  higher as most accessible water resources have
  already been tapped (UNCHS 1999a)
• An alternative approach, advocating water demand
  management (WDM), focuses on conservation
  measures to make better use of limited supplies.
• It is often not realized that conservation does
  not necessarily mean a reduction in quality of
  service but rather a more efficient approach to
  use.
• WDM results in more sustainable water services

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WATER STRESS FACTS

• Africa
• 12 African countries considered to be in a Water
  Stress situation.
• Further 10 African countries will be stressed by
  2025 (1.1 billion people or 2/3s Africas
  population).
• India
• At current rate of population growth India will
  have the largest number of water-deprived persons
  in the world in the next 25 years.
• It is estimated that by the year 2050, half of
  Indias population will be living in urban areas
  and will face acute water problems.

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NON-IRRIGATION CONSUMPTION
Rosegrant et al. (2002)
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WATER QUALITY ISSUES
WHO et al. (2000)
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GOVERNMENTS ADOPT EXTREME MEASURES

• Since the water quantity available for supply
  generally is not sufficient to meet the demands
  of the population, water conservation measures
  are employed.
• In many countries the sector is historically
  rather inefficient and tends to operate on a
  crisis management basis.
• Demand management limited and often arise from
  dire need rather than good planning.
• One of the most common methods of controlling
  water demand is the use of intermittent supplies,
  usually by necessity rather than design.

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For Example

• 91 of systems in South East Asia are
  intermittent (WHO survey)
• Practically all Indian cities are reported to
  operate intermittent systems

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The water supply in Mumbai is not only
intermittent but inequitable

• 4 of the population receive water gt 8 hrs/day
• 33 receive water gt 4 hrs/day
• 42 receive water for just 3 hrs/day
• 21 receive water lt 3 hrs/day (often only 1 hr)
  

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Observations made in Chennai and Kochi where I.S
are the norm

• Overall shortage of water
• Insufficient pressures
• many areas had zero pressure
• Inequitable distribution of the available water
• Very short duration of supply
• West Kochi, supply for 2 hours a day (irregular)
• Outskirts of Madras, supply for 1 hour each day

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Serious problem arising from I.S is high levels
of contamination.

• Intermittent systems are empty for many hours of
  the day at which time pollutants can enter
  through leaks in the supply pipes.

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For Example

• Aurangabad, India
• High counts of faecal coliform in samples
  collected from outlets during the 1st flush
• Water collected 10 mins after the 1st flush were
  also found to be contaminated (but lower)
• Karachi, Pakistan
• In some zones of the Karachi WSS up to 80 of the
  samples analysed were found to contain high
  counts of faecal coliform

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GOVERNMENTS RETHINKING THEIR APPROACH - WDM

• Saving water rather than the development of new
  sources is often the best next source of water,
  both from an economic and from an environmental
  point of view.
• Water demand management (WDM) therefore is seen
  as the preferred alternative to meet increasing
  water demand.
• Main objective of WDM is to contribute to more
  efficient and equitable provision of water
  services
• Many instruments have been developed for WDM
• Instruments are interdependent and mutually
  reinforcing and the most optimal way they are
  applied will depend on the prevailing local
  conditions.

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BENEFITS OF WDM

• Attractive to governments as it can buy time by
  delaying the need for large capital investment in
  expansion of the water sector.
• In most cases, the savings achieved by delaying
  an investment can provide financial resources to
  more than cover the costs of implementing a
  comprehensive demand management programme.
• Prospect of conserving water for industrial,
  agricultural and commercial organisation is
  always an attractive proposition as it almost
  always results in a reduction of operation costs.
• In many water short cities there is always a
  proportion of the population who are without
  adequate water supplies. By saving water in
  higher income areas, more resources could be made
  available to the poor.
• In LDCs WDM must be used to promoted equity in
  supply

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CONSTRAINTS TO WDM

• There are various obstacles and constraints to
  overcome before the full potential of WDM
  principles can be achieved.
• Lack of awareness of WDM methods
• Lack of political will
• Lack of institutional framework
• Limited technical options

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METHODS ADOPTED FOR WDM

• Reducing unaccounted for water
• Leakage detection
• Reducing illegal connections and unmetered
  connections
• Water Restriction (intermittent Supplies)
• Retro-fitting
• Wastewater reuse
• Water Tariffs
• Public Awareness
• Conservation for Industry

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REDUCING UFW

• Unaccounted for water (UFW) may be defined and
  that percentage of the water produced from the
  raw water source which is not accounted for.
• UFW is most often due to a combination of
• Leakage in bulk mains or secondary or tertiary
  networks
• Illegal connections or Un-metered connections
• In many countries the situation is growing
  rapidly worse
• Although leakage has remained relatively
  constants, the major cause of UFW is illegal
  connections.

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LEAKAGE DETECTION

• Leakage is often a large source of unaccounted
  for water and is a result of either lack of
  maintenance or failure to renew ageing systems.
• In cities information does exist but there is a
  lack of resources to undertake an efficient
  leakage repair programme.
• Leakage can also take place after a consumers
  meter but is frequently neglected as the water
  has been paid for.
• In many cases leakage detection and repair will
  require some additional capital investment and
  human resources.
• In many cities leakage is given a low level of
  priority and in some cities is only really
  accepted as a necessary evil, suffering from low
  staff moral.

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ILLEGAL CONNECTIONS AND UNMETERED CONNECTIONS

• In city distribution systems, illegal connections
  may be the result of contractors connecting
  illegally to supply new housing developments or
  unplanned and illegal settlements connecting to
  such supplies.
• Illegal connections are difficult to monitor
  especially where access to settlement is hindered
  (public order problems)
• In some cases where previous supply systems were
  unmetered or where have ceased to function
  properly, a proportion of the consumers may not
  be charged or pay a different price.
• Before any WDM programme is implemented,
  unmetered connections must be reduced to an
  absolute minimum and metering coverage maximised
  in all sectors.

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UNACCOUNTED FOR WATER
WHO et al. (2000)
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INSTALLATION OF METERS
WHO et al. (2000)
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SOURCES OF UFW
UNCHS (1999)
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RETRO-FITTING

• Retro-fitting provides one of the most effective
  short-term options for reducing water demand.
• Many government buildings or institutions do not
  pay for their water or the consumers have no
  interest in conservation.
• Good examples are University campuses, Ministry
  buildings, government hospitals etc. With very
  little capital investment, usually only a few
  dollars per fitting, water consumption may be
  reduced by as much as 20
• Incentives are offered to those who retrofit
  including, payment grants from local authorities

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WATER USE RESTRICTIONS (Intermittent Supply)

• Although regulations have a bad name, they are
  often both appropriate and efficient for managing
  water demand.

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GUIDELINES FOR DESIGN OF INTERMITTENT WATER
SYSTEMS
Research project (funded by DFID) to develop
guidelines that

• Provides guidance on designing systems that are
  likely to operate intermittently.
• Is novel in that it recognises the reality of
  intermittent supply and hence provides new
  methods of analysis and design, appropriate for
  such systems.
• Develop new performance objectives specifically
  tailored to intermittent systems (equity in
  supply adequate pressuresupply times that are
  convenient)

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OBJECTIVES OF DESIGN PROCESS

• EQUITY IN SUPPLY
• Equitable distribution of the limited quantity of
  water is the keystone of the whole design process
  outlined in this manual and is a non-negotiable
  design objective

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GUIDELINES - INTERMITTENT SYSTEM
GUIDELINES
SUPPLEMENTARY DOCUMENTS
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SPREADING THE WORD

• Pilot Studies
• Kochi network designed using guidelines
• Also guidelines being piloted in India (as part
  of DFIDs APUSP)
• Workshops
• Three workshops completed in India and East
  Africa
• Joining forces with UNCHS - Water
  for African Cities Program
• ASCE Task Committee

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MANAGEMENT OF WATER QUALITY IN URBAN NETWORKS

• 4 MAIN OUTPUTS
• Guidance to assessing hazards, critical control
  points.
• Manual and flow-charts on water quality
  management and system monitoring tools for WS
  managers
• PC compatible water quality modelling tools.
• GIS based risk management tool that combines
  hazard assessment procedures with water quality
  software

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GIS
MODELS
Data Input
Input
Contaminant Ingress Model
User Interface (GUI)
Geographic Database Extraction Storage
Processing Mapping
Output
Input
Contaminant Propagation Model
Output
Display Reporting
Input
Risk Model
Output
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WASTEWATER REUSE

• Treated wastewater or in some cases urban runoff
  or stormwater (rain water harvesting) could be
  reused efficiently.
• Botswana - Vegetable gardening area of 150 m² at
  a clinic in Lobatse was irrigated with water from
  sinks and hand basins. All waste water was
  drained into drums dug into the ground .
• Bulawayo - Final effluent from sewage treatment
  works is treated for reuse on suburban parks,
  golf courses, nurseries, schools
• May require dedicated distribution system (may be
  open to abuse and those urban poor without
  adequate supply).
• In many culture there is also a cultural taboo
  about reusing wastes of all types.
• This may have to be addressed in public awareness
  campaigns.

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TARIFF STRUCTURES

• Tariff structures designed to conserve water must
  penalize over use but not minimize access to the
  urban poor.
• Punitive tariff structure should consider setting
  the basic needs tariff at a level affordable by
  very poor households with significantly higher
  tariffs imposed for consumption above the basic
  needs level.
• Bulaywao - rising block tariff - Cheap
  consumption is limited to 600 litres per
  household per day or 18 Kilo litres per month.
• Block tariffs may penalize low-income users who
  live in multi-family units in building with only
  one meter (Whittington and Boland)
• Other methods proposed include single volumetric
  charge coupled with fixed monthly rebate (2 part
  tariff).
• Tariffs for industry and agricultural purposes
  should not encourage wasteful use but should make
  formal supply sources more attractive than
  alternatives, which may have a detrimental effect
  on the environment.

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CONSERVATION FOR INDUSTRY

• Targeting WDM strategies at industry may have a
  much greater impact than focusing on the domestic
  sector alone
• Many industries use outdated processes and pay
  little regard for water recycling within the
  organization.
• Industries may have developed private supplies
  and enjoy unlimited abstraction but it may be
  from the same source as the public supply,
  contributing to resource depletion.
• In most cases, water conservation within industry
  will result in savings in operation cost which
  may be the best encouragement for conservation.

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LOW INCOME COMMUNITIES

• Number of WDM instruments may not be applicable
  for LIC such as retrofitting or out-of-house
  water saving measures
• Some may have unintended side effects such as the
  increasing block tariff systems and metering
• Prevent conservation-oriented measures from
  reducing consumption in households that do not
  consume sufficient water to meet their basic
  needs for health
• But some important instruments that apply to
  these areas, such as leakage detection, reduction
  of illegal connections and awareness, require an
  attitude within these communities that can only
  be expected if they feel co-ownership over that
  water.
• Demand responsive approaches and community
  management of water supply systems can bring
  about this attitude.

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LOW INCOME COMMUNITIES

• Demand-side management in low income cities
  should not only focus on water conservation but
  should also give attention to two issues
  securing better access to water for the urban
  poor and promoting hygiene.
• Demand-side management recognizes that improved
  health is one of the major benefits water can
  provide, but that the health outcome depends upon
  how the water is used.

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DAILY PER CAPITA WATER USE (EAST AFRICA)
Thompson et al. (2001)
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PUBLIC AWARENESS

• Awareness campaigns to reduce water use amongst
  all consumers can play an important role in
  demand management.
• Such campaigns need to focus on the urgency of
  conserving water now to hopefully avert a crisis
  sometime in the future.
• Improved awareness should be tackled at all
  levels incl. a role for communities and
  grassroots organizations.
• The use of mass media is cost effective in most
  cities as even the urban poor have access to such
  communication tools
• Religious and cultural preferences must also be
  followed particularly where local community
  actions related to integrated management of
  services. i.e. use of sanitation facilities for
  washing/personal hygiene.

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PARTICPATORY APPROACHES

• It has for long been assumed that communities do
  not know their infrastructure needs - especially
  low-income communities.
• Thus decisions have been made on assumptions by
  engineers and planners and not on actual
  information and understanding of household water
  demand.
• Recognized that this top-down approach has been
  the reason for the failure of many initiatives.
• Technologies can never change people's attitude
  and will only be applied effectively if people
  are motivated to do so.
• Communities have to be involved in the decision
  making process on the water supply system based
  on their demands.
• The participatory methodologies must be applied
  to motivate people to adopt Water Demand
  Management instruments.

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MANAGING WATER FOR AFRICAN CITIES (1999)

• The Programme works with city and local
  authorities, national governments, the private
  sector, civil society ..
• To benefit of all African cities -demonstrated in
  7 cities Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire), Accra (Ghana),
  Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Dakar (Senegal),
  Johannesburg (South Africa), Lusaka (Zambia) and
  Nairobi (Kenya).
• Objectives To tackle the urban water crisis in
  African cities through efficient and effective
  WDM . and boost awareness and information
  exchange on water management and conservation.
• Targeted beneficiaries policy makers on water
  and the environment, city managers of water
  utilities, water consumers, children for water
  education .
• All projects include public awareness and
  information campaigns
• Experiences made available to the other
  participating cities.

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ADDIS ABABA
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ADDIS ABABA

• One of the fastest growing cities in Africa, with
  an estimated population of 2.7 million
  inhabitants (4th largest city in Africa by 2015).
  
• Tackling leak detection as a priority
  Unaccounted for water (UFW) in the network
  amounts to approximately 40. This leads to a
  loss of approximately US 10 million per year.
• Developing a detailed water demand management
  (WDM) strategy for Addis Ababa resulting in a
  dedicated WDM unit.
• Demonstration projects to build capacity on how
  to manage and run a dedicated WDM unit, GIS for
  distribution system management and enhancing
  effectiveness of leak detection programmes.
• In addition the project provides a framework for
  coordinating and harmonising large scale supply
  projects, by promoting the incorporation of WDM
  components.

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DAKAR
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DAKAR

• Urgent need to increase medium term storage
  production and distribution of Dakar, which
  required large-scale investment.
• Need to increase the bulk supply to the city but
  by implementing WDM it could delay the need for
  this project (reducing debt payments).
• Retrofitting of faucets, showerheads and toilet
  flushing will be implemented in public buildings
  and/or the university using modern imported
  fittings with a view of manufacturing locally.
• Apartment blocks will be included where one bulk
  meters are installed where residents usually pay
  for water at a flat rate.
• The project will evaluate the use of treated
  wastewater for aquifer recharge and irrigation of
  public parks and other facilities.

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ABIDJAN
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ABIDJAN

• Water resources are not currently limited in the
  city, demands will gradually reach levels where
  groundwater may be insufficient.
• There is a need to develop a demand management
  strategy now to ensure that all actors use water
  efficiently.
• The amount of water currently used by industry is
  excessive and there is currently no incentive to
  reduce usage.
• Also vast amounts of water are lost through poor
  management, particularly in public buildings,
  schools universities.
• Large proportion of Abidjan's urban poor is
  without efficient services. There is however an
  ability to pay and many of the poor already pay
  high prices to unsolicited water vendors etc.
• Demonstration project in selected areas where
  consumption can be reduced with relatively little
  capital investment in retro-fitting technologies
  or the use of appropriate economic instruments.

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MANAGING WATER IN ASIAN CITIES (March 2003)

• Draws upon lessons learned in our successful
  Water for African Cities program and help ensure
  that pro-poor, sustainable water policies are
  implemented,
• Aims to build the capacity of Asian cities to
  help the region meet the Millennium Development
  Goal (MDG) of "halving, by 2015, the proportion
  of people without safe drinking water and basic
  sanitation.

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SUMMARY

• Water crisis is a reality in most cities in LDCs
  
• Proactive WDM enables the effective, efficient
  and equitable use of limited water
• A combination of WDM instruments must be used to
  maximise the potential benefits
• An objective of WDM must be to improve the equity
  of the distribution of limited water
• A participatory approach is essential for
  affective WDM as successful implementation
  requires attitude changes

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THANK YOU
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SELECTED REFRENCES

• Deverill, P, Bibby, S, Wedgwood, A and Smout, I.
  (2002) Designing water supply and sanitation
  projects to meet demand in rural and peri-urban
  communities, Book 1 Concept, Principles and
  Practice, WEDC 2002.
• Frederick, K.D (1993) Balancing Water Demands
  with Supplies- The role of management in a world
  of increasing scarcity, World Bank Technical
  Paper No 189,1993
• Fredricksen, H.D (1992) Drought Planning and
  Water efficiency Implications in Water resources
  Management, World Bank Technical Paper No
  185,1992
• GWP (2003) Toolbox, Version 2 - Integrating
  water resources management Global Water
  Partnership 2003
• Rosegrant, M.W, Cai, X and Cline, S.A (2002)
  Averting an Impending Crisis Food policy
  report-Global water outlook to 2025 IWMI 2002.
• UNCHS (1999) Managing Water for African Cities
  Developing a Strategy for Urban Water Demand
  Management, Expert Group Meeting Cape Town,
  South Africa 26-18 April 1999, United Nations
  Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat)UNCHS
  (2003) Managing Water for African Cities
  www.un-urbanwater.net
• UNESCO (2003) Water for people water for life
  United Nations World Water Development Report,
  UNESCO-WWAP 2003
• WHO, UNICEF and WSSCC (2000) Global water supply
  and sanitation assessment - 2000 Report , WHO
  2000 Xie, M, Kufferner, U and Le Moigne, G.
  (1993) Using Water efficiently - Technological
  Option, World Bank Technical Paper No 205,1993