Components of water supply project

Components of water supply project

There are four components of water supply project or water supply scheme.

• Collection works:
  

In collection works, water is collected from the source. There are two major source of water. Surface water and ground water. In order to collect surface water, dams and barrages are constructed whereas to collect ground water, tube wells are used.

• Treatment works:

In treatment works, water obtained through the source is treated. Most of the surface water need treatment as it is contaminated by suspended particles. Ground water may or may not need treatment. One of the problems with ground water is high salt concentration. It is more expensive to treat this. In such case surface water is used, when ground water contains high salt concentration.Ground water may also contain elements like iron, magnesium.

If collected water is contaminated with pathogens, it must be treated to kill the germs. So treatment works may or may not be the part of water supply project.

• Transmission works:

If source of water is away from the community, transmission work is required to transport water the treatment plant and then the treated water from treatment plant to the community. In some cases, transmission work may be eliminated.

• Distribution works:

In Distribution works, treated water is supplied to the consumers at the point of use from overhead tanks.

Following two requirements should be fulfilled while distribute water to the community:

1. Quantity of water must be sufficient according to demand.
2. Pressure should be sufficient.