Erbil Technical Engineering College

Civil Engineering Department

Water Supply & Sewerage

Chapter One
Introduction
Dr. Arkhawan Jawhar
2024-2025
 Water Supply
• Water supply is a fundamental aspect of civil and environmental engineering,
focusing on the provision of clean, safe, and sufficient water to meet the needs
of communities, industries, and agriculture. Ensuring access to potable water is
crucial for public health, economic development, and overall quality of life.

Importance of Water Supply:

• Public Health: Access to clean water is essential for preventing waterborne
diseases, promoting hygiene, and supporting health services.
• Economic Development: Reliable water supply is vital for industries,
agriculture, and energy production, making it a cornerstone of economic
growth.
• Sustainability: Effective water supply management ensures that resources are
used efficiently, protecting ecosystems and ensuring long-term availability.
• Social Stability: Access to water is a basic human right. Ensuring equitable
distribution helps reduce social inequalities and supports community well-
being.
Challenges in Water Supply:

• Climate Change: Variability in precipitation, rising temperatures, and extreme

weather events are impacting water availability and distribution.

• Urbanization: Growing populations in urban areas increase demand on water

resources, requiring innovative solutions for sustainable water supply.

• Resource Depletion: Over-extraction of groundwater and contamination of

surface water are leading to shortages and necessitate better management
practices.
Structure of a Water Supply
scheme
Summary
In supplying water, three stages can be distinguished:

- (raw) water abstraction / intake wells, intake works

and transport

- water treatment, (mostly if needed) treatment plant

(production)

- water transport and transport mains and

distribution distribution network
Examples:
 Sanitary
• Sanitary engineering is crucial for the development and maintenance of
sustainable, healthy, and livable communities. By providing essential services
like clean water and effective waste management, sanitary engineers help
prevent the spread of diseases, protect the environment, and improve the
quality of life for people worldwide.

• The field continues to evolve with advancements in technology, increasing

the efficiency and effectiveness of sanitation systems. As global challenges
such as urbanization, climate change, and resource scarcity grow, the role of
sanitary engineering becomes even more critical in ensuring a safe and
sustainable future.
• Key Areas of Focus:

1. Water Supply Systems:

Ensuring access to safe and reliable drinking water is a fundamental
responsibility of sanitary engineers. They design and manage systems for
sourcing, treating, and distributing water to homes, businesses, and
industries.
2. Wastewater Management:
Sanitary engineers are responsible for the treatment and disposal of
wastewater generated by communities. This includes the design of sewage
systems, wastewater treatment plants, and the implementation of
practices that prevent contamination of natural water bodies.
3. Solid Waste Management:
The collection, transportation, and disposal of solid waste, including
recycling and composting, fall under the purview of sanitary engineering.
Proper waste management is essential to prevent pollution and protect
public health.
4. Environmental Sanitation:
This encompasses a wide range of practices aimed at creating a
healthy environment. It includes everything from the control of
vector-borne diseases to the management of industrial waste.
5. Public Health:
Sanitary engineering directly impacts public health by preventing the
spread of diseases through effective waste and water management.
The discipline is closely linked with public health policies and
regulations.
6. Regulatory Compliance:
Sanitary engineers must ensure that all systems comply with local,
national, and international regulations. This includes adhering to
standards for water quality, waste disposal, and environmental
protection
• Sanitary engineering has grown alongside cities, providing
safe water and waste removal, crucial for urban existence.
• Urbanization has made the role of sanitary engineers more
complex due to population concentration.
• Groundwater often falls short of demand, leading to
increased reliance on surface waters that require extensive
treatment due to pollution.
• Industries also require better water sources, putting pressure
on available resources.
• Rivers receive growing amounts of sewage and industrial
waste, necessitating more attention to sewage treatment and
stream pollution.
• Sanitary engineering involves more than water and sewage
works, encompassing public health and environmental
aspects.
• The public relies on sanitary engineers for various tasks,
including mosquito control, pest management, waste disposal,
industrial hygiene, and housing and swimming pool sanitation.
• These activities may be overseen by local or state health
departments and are sometimes referred to as public health or
environmental engineering.
• Sanitary engineers play a vital role in public health and
disease prevention.
Effects of Sanitary Engineering upon City Life
• In the 17th century, large cities had higher death rates than
birth rates due to unsanitary conditions and disease.
• Urban growth depended on migration from rural areas.
• Early municipal improvements included water supplies and
later sewerage systems.
• Today, most communities have public water supplies and
sewer systems.
• Waterworks and sewerage enhance safety, cleanliness, and
amenities in cities, attracting industries.
• These systems require careful planning and hard work to
provide citizens with water and remove waste effectively.
The objectives of Water Supply and
Sewerage engineering are
1- To supply water, which is safe in quality and
adequate in quantity. Two things are important
here: quality as well as quantity.

2- To collect, treat and dispose of the

wastewater generated by the people in the
community.
 The attributes of the drinking water.
Attributes are some qualities of water and whether the water
confirms the particular standards. one is the aesthetics, the
second is the safety, and third is the economics:

1- Aesthetics: Water should be colourless, tasteless, odourless,

and pleasing. Turbidity or colour can make water unappealing.
Aesthetics are subject to physical perception, varying from person
to person, making consumers the measuring instrument.

2- Safety: Safety involves protection from microorganisms

(pathogens causing diseases like typhoid, cholera, and dysentery)
and toxic chemicals (avoiding heavy metals like arsenic and
mercury). Analytical instruments are used to ensure safety.

3- Economic Production: Water production must be cost-effective

to supply to the public. High production costs are not practical.
 Water Availability
Earth's surface is 75% water, but most is locked in ice and glaciers.
Only 0.77% is freshwater suitable for supply.
Water that is available to us can be divided into different categories.
1. Groundwater: Aquifers underground provide water. Shallow wells (less
than 30m deep) may have bacteriological contamination, while deep
tube wells (300m deep) are bacteria-free.
2. Surface Water: Surface waters, such as rivers and lakes, are often
polluted due to untreated effluents from domestic, industrial, and
agricultural sources. Turbidity, and pollutants are common.
3. Lake Water: Lakes have natural sedimentation, but algae growth can
cause taste and odor issues. Treatment is needed to address these
problems, although turbidity is generally low.
4. Sea Water: Abundant seawater requires desalination to remove salinity
and total dissolved solids for domestic or industrial use, often using
reverse osmosis.
5. Treated Effluent: Treated wastewater can be used for gardening,
flushing, and air conditioning. Some industries purchase and further
treat municipal wastewater for various purposes.
 Ice & snow less than %10
Water balance of the earth

15
 WATER BALANCE OF THE EARTH

97.5 % Non-fresh ( Oceans) 2.5 % Fresh water

0.007 % 0.01 % 0.0001

1.76 % 0.76 %
In the rivers In the Soil In the Air
The Polaris Ground Water
and Lakes
16

- The ratio of fresh water in the world (% 2.5)

- The Ratio of Ice and Snow ( % 1.76)
- The ratio of available to use it (% 0.77)
Water Consumption
Water is used for domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural and
public purposes.
Domestic Water Use
Domestic (or residential) water demand covers uses of water by
households, both inside and outside the confines of the residence and
typically includes washing, cooking, bathing, laundry and gardening.
Average water demand for domestic use is dependent on;

1. Climatic condition.
2. Living standards.
3. The extent by which the area is sewered.
4. Metering of water supply.
5. Water cost.
6. Other factors like;
a. Water pressure.
b. Water quality.
c. Water management.
Generally the average water demand for domestic use is 200 to 500 liter per
capita per day.

• Commercial Water Use

• Commercial use consists of water used by warehouses, stores and

shopping centers, restaurants, cinemas hotels and related activities.

• Water demand for commercial use is dependent on number of employees in

the commercial area and water demand of each employee. Per employee water
demand is estimated to be 20% of per capita water demand for domestic use.
Industrial Water Demand
Industrial water demand is dependent on industry type and production
rate.
For examples, steel factory produces 40 tons steel per week it will
consume water at a rate of 163.4 m3/day. Table (1) gives examples
water demand for some industries.
Table (1) Water demand for some industries
Agricultural Water Use

Agricultural demand is taken to cover all irrigation and livestock purposes.

Water demand for irrigation use is dependent on crop type and the planted area.
For example, grass crop grown in a sub-humid climate with a mean temperature
of 30°C needs 7.5 mm of water per day.
For livestock, the following tables give water demands for drinking and meat
processing of some livestock species.

Table (2) drinking water demand for chicken

Table (3) Drinking water demand small ruminants

Table (4) Drinking water demand for cattle when the daily high
temperature is 32°C

Type of cattle Daily liters required per 45kg of body weight

Cow 4
Cow-calf pair 8
Bull 4
Public Water Use
Public water use includes the water used for public buildings like schools,
universities and jails. The water demand for public use is estimated to be 50 to
75 litter per capita per day.
Water Losses
In addition to the above water uses the total water demand is increased by 10 to
30% to include the water losses due to;
• Leaks of pipes.
• Evaporation from open tanks.
• Unauthorized connections.
Total Water Demand
The total average water demand is the sum of all above water demands in
addition to losses. It is obtained as;
Total average water demand= (domestic water demand+ commercial water
demand+ industrial water demand+ agricultural water demand+ public water
demand)+ water loss
Example 1.1
Estimate the average water demand for a city has a population of 30000. The
city has a textile factory which produces 30 ton textile per week. It has a total
surface area of 3km2, 5% of it is planted with grass. The number of employees
in the commercial area of the city is 800. Also, the city contains poultry farm
which has a capacity of 2000 birds.
Need of Water Treatment

Pure water (H2O) doesn't exist around us.

Water is always contaminated by nature (e.g. leaves of trees)

or polluted by human activities.

Since the raw water quality mostly does not meet the current
drinking quality requirements, treatment is necessary.

The more polluted the water is, the more complex and
expensive the treatment has to be. Prevention of pollution
may safe the environment and money.
Water Leakage
Supply = Water consumption + Leakage (physical)
S = WC +L

Leakage = % of S

COUNTRY LEAKAGE %
Developing countries 20 – 40 %
Western Europe 5 – 10 %
The Netherlands <5%

Leakage detection and reduction is very beneficial, especially in

developing countries. Also with regard to water quality aspects.