Community-Level Resource Development and Management Part 1: A Transferable Approach to the Analysis of Community Water Distribution System Expansion

Abstract

Access to water is extremely important in schools around the world, where students spend most of their day. As schools expand, particularly in areas with limited water resources, it is necessary to develop and manage water resources to ensure their sustainability. In this article, we describe a method of analysing water piping distribution networks using an open-source software package that allows practitioners to model the increased demands on water distribution systems associated with school growth. The methodology was then applied to the case study of a community-level water distribution system in rural Tanzania. Our intent is to provide a condensed description of a modelling method that can be used by field practitioners who may have limited technical background. Minimal tools are needed for practitioners to create their own system model, namely a global positioning system (GPS) device, tape measure, bucket, stopwatch and access to a computer with the downloaded software. Overall, the method and description herein is intended to be more accessible and straightforward to follow than others currently available to many practitioners, thus improving the ease of modelling for pre-planning and analysis of expansion or other water distribution system modifications.