Assessment of accessibility and hydraulic performance of the water distribution system of Ejere Town

Abstract

Water is necessary for human health, economic success, and happiness, as well as other developmental goals such as proper diet, gender equality, education, and poverty reduction. Drinking water is a common problem in Ejere Town. The primary goal of this study was to investigate the accessibility of the town's drinking water distribution system. To achieve this research goal, the hydraulic performance of the town's water distribution system and the level of customers’ satisfaction were assessed. A total of 374 sampled households were randomly chosen from a total of 13,380 to measure the degree of customer satisfaction with the town's water supply services, and the hydraulic performance of the town's water distribution system was analyzed using the WaterGEMS software. Of the 374 customers surveyed for the study, 85 (22.7%) were satisfied and 289 (77.3%) were dissatisfied, implying that the satisfaction levels were below average. The WaterGEMS hydraulic model was calibrated (R2 = 0.94) using measured data from nine randomly chosen nodes. According to the model results, a great amount of the velocity and pressure in the water distribution system was below the minimum recommended limits. These minimum pressures and velocity levels indicate that there is not enough water pressure in the distribution network to reach all parts of Ejere Town. Finally, it was concluded that there was insufficient access to drinking water in the town.