Skip to main content

Objectives of water supply and components

Short answer

Objectives: supply safe water, reduce water-borne diseases, save time, provide at convenient distance, support livestock/gardens, low cost, sustainable. Schematic: spring → intake → sedimentation → transmission → reservoir → break pressure tank (if needed) → distribution → public standposts. Key components: intake, sedimentation tank, reservoir, BPT, pipes, tap stands.

Enlist the objectives of a water supply system, focusing on rural water supply in Nepal. Draw its schematic diagram mentioning the components.

Objectives of a water supply system (rural Nepal)

  1. To supply safe, wholesome water in sufficient quantity for drinking, cooking, bathing and sanitation.
  2. To reduce water-borne and water-washed diseases and improve public health.
  3. To save the time and effort of women and children who walk long distances to fetch water, and so improve school attendance and income opportunities.
  4. To provide water at reasonable pressure and at a convenient distance (a tap within about 100 to 150 m of each house).
  5. To make water available for livestock, small kitchen gardens, schools, health posts and other public uses.
  6. To supply water at the lowest cost and keep the scheme sustainable through user participation and local operation and maintenance.
  7. To provide water for fire fighting where needed and to support the economic and social development of the community.

Schematic diagram of a rural scheme

 [Source: spring/stream]
          |
 [Intake / spring box]
          |
 [Sedimentation tank]
          |  transmission main
          v
 [Storage/Reservoir tank]
          |
 [Break pressure tank] (if head high)
          |  distribution main
          v
 [Public standposts / tap stands]

Components

  • Source and intake: a spring box or stream intake that collects and protects the water.
  • Sedimentation tank: removes silt and sand.
  • Transmission pipe: carries water by gravity.
  • Reservoir tank: stores water to allow for demand variation, usually with chlorination.
  • Break pressure tank: removes excess head in steep ground.
  • Distribution pipes and valves: deliver water to the settlement and control the flow.
  • Public standposts / tap stands: points of use for the community.

✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)

Related questions

All Water Supply Engineering chapter 1 questions →