Water Supply For Rural Areas And Small Communities WHO No-42 1959

332 Pages·1959·12.44 MB·English

Rui
Areas and Snail.

WHO
r?onograph
No.
42

by: E.G. Wagner and J.N.
Lanoix

Published
by:
World Health
Organization
CH-1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland

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UNIT

E. G. ‘WAGNER

9. N. LANOIX

World Health Organization

Geneva

19.59

WORLD
HEALTH
ORGANIZATION

MONOGRAPH
SERIES

No. 42

WATER SUPPLY

FOR RURAL AREAS AND SMALL COMMUNITIES

WATER
SUPPLY

FOR RURAL
AREAS AN

SMALL
COMMU

EDMUND
G. WAGh E R

Chief Engineer and Associate Chief of Field Party,
Division of Health and Sanitation,
Institute of Inter-American Affuirs,
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

J. N. LANClIX

Sanitary Engineer,
Division of Environmental Sanitation,
World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

WORLD HEALTH
ORGANIZATION

GENEVA

1959

FIFTH
IMPRESSION

In this impression Annex 2 (Conversion
furtors)
has been completely revised, and a
number of minor corrections have been made in the body of the text; a detailed list of
these changes is appended on page 339.

Authors alone are responsible for views expressed in the Monograph Series of the
World He&h Organization.
The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers’ products does not
imply that they are endorsed or recommended by the World Health Organization in
preference to others of a similar nature which are not mentioned. Prop&tar-y names are
distinguished by initial capital letteis.

PRINTED
IN
SWITZERLAND

CONTENTS

Page

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9

DFXELOPMENT OF A WATER-SUYPLY PR~GRAMME

Chaptel, 1. Basic considerations. ............

Chapter 2. Pian:nng. .................

13

26,

INSTALLATIC:~ OF VARIOUS TYPES OF WATER-S’JPPLY SYSTEMS

Chapter 3. Ground water ...............

Chapter 4. Pumps ..................

Chapter 5. Surface water ...............

Chapter 6. Treatment under rural conditions .......

Chapter 7. Distribution and use ....
.’ .......

MANAGEMENT OF WATER-SUPPLY SYSTEMS

Chapter 8. Importance of management .........

Chapter 9. Personnel and training
...........

Chapter 10. Administration and finance .........

Chapter 11. Operation and maintenance .........

Chapter 12. Long-term planning
............

References .........
............

-5-

57

121

161

171

194

221

232

236

243

248

251

6
WATER SUPPLY FOR RURAL AREAS

ANNEXES

Annex 1.. List of reviewers
. . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . .

Annex 2. Conversion factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Annex 3. How rreasurements ....................

Annex 4. Collection of water samples ................

Annex 5. Construction of hand-dug wells
..............

Annex 6. Typic-1 specifications for a hand pump ...........

Annex 7. Construction of s-mall dams ................

Annex 8. Financial statements for small water-works
. . . . , . . .

Annex 9. Some ,,ractical hints on the operation and maintenance of small
water-supply systems in rural areas . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . .

255

257

260

271

276

296

297

311

313

Select bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
335

Corrigenda to First Impression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
,14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.

32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.

39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.

FIGURES
Page

The five principal causes of death in certain countries of the Americas, 1952
14
Simple water-prospecting equipment
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37-38
A portable water-laboratory field kit
.................
Geological formations ........................
Occurrence and distribution of sub-surface water ............
Comparison of free and confined ground-water .............
Shallow well in free-water xone .....................
Well tapping confined water .....................
Types cf bailers and buckets used for removal of material from holes ...
H, draulic methods of exploration
..................
Drilling and boring methods of exploration
..............
SectionofweUshaft:tirstiift
....................
Dug weil with protective casing and platform
.............
Dugwelllinedwithconcreteor:laytile
................
Reconstructed dug well with buried slab
...............
Dug well : casing descend& with excavation ..............
Amazon well ............................
Amazon well : grate beams .....................
Large well with horixontal perforated pipes ..............
Driven weU with drop pip: and cylinder and protective platform .....
T:-$4
well points .........................
Well-point system ........................
Tub+well boring by water-jet system .................
ktting a huge-diameter ming (I) ...................
Jetting a large-diameter casing (II)
..................
Typical boring tools
........................
Bored well with protective concrete casing and platform .........
Ps-rtable well-drilling rig .......................
;.~iltration gallery
.........................
infiltration gallery beside stream ...................
Type of inhltration gallery used in eastern Mediterranean area and North
Africa .............................

52
58
59
60
61
62
65
.16
69
73
77
78
79
80
81
82
84
85
86
87
91
94
95
98
99
101
104
105

106
Improvement of existing wells ...................
108-l 11
Properly protected spring (I) .....................
113
Properly protected spring (II)
....................
113
Typical spring collection-chamber for towns .............
114
Bacterial and chemical soil-polhrtion patterns and maximum migrations . .
116
Set-up for determining draw-down ..................
119
Elementary, single-acting, for-
pump showing distinguishing feature of
closed cylinder
.........................
125
Displacement pump operation ....................
127
Hand-pump flexibility in use .....................
128
Pump cylinders and pump cylinder valves ...............
129
Double-acting displacement pump
..................
131
Typical semi-rotary hand pump
...................
131
A sanitary rope-and-bucket well (I) ..................
132

-7-

8
WATER
SUPPLY
FOR RURAL
AREAS

Page

45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.

55.
56.

57.

58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.

64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
7s.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.

A sanitary rope-and-bucket well (II)
.................
133
Continous-belt bucket pump .....................
134
Multicellular band pump
......................
134
Centrifugal pumps: turbine-type (1) and voh:te-type (II) .........
135
Centrifugal pumps : directly connected to power unit (1) and with belt-drive (II)
136
Jetpump
.............................
137
Typical installation of jet pump
...................
137
Section of typical deep-well turbine pump ...............
138
Typical characteristics of deep-well turbine pumps ..........
142-I 43
Effects of vanes and size of intakes on performance curve and capacity of
centrifugal pumps ........................
145
Two pumping situations, showing centrifugal pump capacity curves ....
146
Deep-well turbine pump : electric motor (I) and direct drive and angle-gear
head (II)
............................
147
Deep-weU turbine pump : direct belt drive (I) and belt drive and angle-gear
head (II)
............................
148
Main parts of air-lift pump
.....................
149
Hydradic ram .....................
/ .....
150
Windmill
.............................
155
Properly designed hand or windmill pump with cylinder above ground ...
156
Typical arrangement of windmill tower, pump, and well .........
157
Typical pump installation using standard tee and underground arrangement
to discharge water below frost line .................
159
Cistern with sand filter (pump installation optional) ...........
164
Small intake structure ........................
167
Profile of pipeline from source to distribution system ..........
169
Filtered water outlet
........................
177
Equipment for feeding hypochlorit,: solution ..............
182
Apparatus for hypochlorination
...................
183
Berkefeld filter ...........................
191
Typical zeolite water-softener, manually operated ............
193
Distribution reservoirs : theoretical reservoir capacity required ......
197
Ground-level reservoirs .......................
200
Elevated storage tanks
.......................
203
Water-level indicator for elevated storage tanks .............
204
Systems of distribution.
.......................
208
Topogtaphical plan of village and surrounding area ...........
211
General plan of distribution system ..................
212
Possible arrangement of public fountain ................
218
Pressure tank system ........................
222
Plumbing rods ...........................
277
Locally made equipment .......................
2i30
Caiions and lining shutters .....................
286
Sinking headframe (type “ G “), North Region, Nigeria : general arrangement 291
Small earth dam ..........................
298

Intmitiction

It is dtficult
to establish the exact degree of the importance of water
to man in his arduous climb up the ladder of civilization.
It is certain,
however, that without water there would be no life of any kind on the earth
and that, without water readily available in adequate quantity and free of
pathogenic organisms, man’s progress is tremendously hindered. Althotrgh no
actual count is possible, billions of man-days of labour are undoubtedly
lost annually because of illness and death from water-borne diseases. Un-
fortunately,
the areas which can least a#ord this economic loss are the places
where such sickness and death are most rampant.
The responsibility for reducing this tremendous waste falls on governments
and, specifically, on health administrations.
It is the aim of this monograph
to assist the government officials who must meet this challenge.
Among
those most directly concerned are public health administrators,
medical
oficers of health, civil or sanitary engineers engaged in public health, and
sanitarians.
In an article discussing long-range planning for water service in [he USA,
Dr Abel Wolman of the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, has said:
u Adequate water service, at a reasonable price, is an attainable objective.
If it has not yet been attained, it is only because the skilled workers in this
field have not seen fit to def?ne the objective, to delineate the principles which
should control its implementation, to devise the structure for administration
and management, and to establish the fiscal principles which might safely and
wirely provide the sinews for the project.“46 It has been the aim of the authors
of the present monograph to consider these elements in particular relation to the
establishment of services for rural areas and small communities. An eflort
has been made to discuss the problems of rural water-supply in a clear and
realistic manner and to avoid nebulous concepts which cannot possibly apply
to most of the rural underdeveloped areas of the world at the present time.
On the other hand, the authors have tried to show the minimum facilities that
are necessary in small communities and individual households in order to
satisfy the basic personal and public health objectives of water-supply schemes.
Perhaps the most important single step in a water-supply programme
is to get it started: in countries where it has been possible to get a programme
under way .!t has invariably prospered end expanded, and the result has
usually been the establishment of formal government agencies to handle

-9-

IQ
WATER
SUPPLY
FOR RURAL
AREAS

the work.
It is of the utmost importance, therefore, that the best possible
start be made.
The authors have tried to examine critically many of the
administrative as well as technical factors which contribute to successful
programmes.
However, it has not been possible to include in a monograph
of this size all the specific information available on the various aspects of the
subject.
Extensive detail on many subjects has had to be omitted; but
sufficient reference and bibliographical material is given to permit the health
officer to seek out the necessary details should he wish to do so, and to enable
the civil or sanitary engineer to develop plans and mathematical designs
for water-supply installations.
The concepts presented in this monograph have evolved as a result of
pm-:---
cti~~ecied-from many parts of the world.
---J&n .b..e.C
They are based on the
firm conviction of the authors that:
(I)
in most small towns and villages in rural areas, more health benejts
can be gained from money spent on a water-supply programme than in any
other wa)? :
(2)
there will be little public health benefit from a water supp1.v which
does not provide water in adequate quantity and quality and in a way con-
venient to the population ;
(3)
the sanitary (or public health j engineer is the key element in the
water programme ;
(4)
heahh administrations should take an active interest and play an
important role in the promotion, execution, and management of rural water-
supply systems.
It is hoped that this document will join
WHO monographs No. 31,
Composting, and No. 39, Excreta Disposal for Rural Areas and Small
Communities. as another link in the chain of eflorts being developed by the
World Health Organization to stimulate environmental sanitation programmes
. at the local level in Member States.
A preliminary text covering certain aspects of rural water-supplies was
first drafted by Mr E. G. Wagner, a short-term consultant to WHO, and
was issued in 1955 as a mimeographed document. This text was circulated to
forty experts in dij/Y”clrent
parts of the worldfor their comments and suggestions.
The thirty-eight
replies received were much appreciated, and have been
of great assistance in the amendment and revision of the original text.
The World Health Organization
wishes to express its gratitude to these
reviewers (a list of *whom will be found in Annex I, page 255).
The Organiza-
tion also offers sincere thanks to the Service Especial de Satsde Ptiblica of
Brazil and the Institute of Inter-American
Aflairs, and to their staffs, Jar
making available their vast experience, and for their frank
and helpful
criticism of the material.

DEVELOPMENT
OF A WATER-SUPPLY PROGRAMME

Chapter I

BASIC CONSIDERATIONS

Public Health Importance

It is difficult to imagine any c!ean and sanitary environment without
water. Invariably, the progress of sanitation throughout the world has
been closely associated with the availability of water; and, the larger the
quantity and the better the quality of the water, the more rapid and exten-
sive has been the advance of public health. The history of public health
is f&d
with both tragic and glorious mileston.es in which water was the
important factor.
Since all biological life is dependent on water, it must be obtained at
intervals by all plants and animals, so that life develops around this need.
haen built most of their early communities near the watercourses which
served their economic, social, and physiological requirements. As technology
developed, it became possible to transport water for physiological needs
and to exploit more profitably other resources and features, such as topo-
graphy, for improved community location.
Men have used water since the dawn of history; but the realization of
its importance and, in some instances, of its danger, to health is a relatively
recent development. Even today this knowledge is not complete, parti-
cularly with regard to the relationship which apparently exists between
the quantity of water available per person and the incidence of certain
communicable diseases. During the last century, water-borne epidemics
and subsequent epidemiological studies focused attention on water quality
and on the role of the precious liquid as an agent for the transmission
of disease. Early investigations were principally concerned with cholera
and typhoid fevers and, later, with all diarrhoeal diseases. More recently,
increasmg attention has been given to the role of water in the transmission
of certain virus diseases.
Water-treatment practices for the control of bacteriological quality,
begun in the late 1800’s and the early part of the present century, drama-
tically demonstrated the need for and value of these measures. Since
then, cholera has been eliminated from most countries, and typhoid is
rapidly fo!lowing.

-13-

14
WATER
SUPPLY
FOR RURAL
AREAS

Fig. 1.
THE FIVE PRlNCiPAL
CAUSES OF DEATH
IN CERTAIN
COUNTRIES
OF THE
AMERICAS,
1952 z6

Canada United
States
Mexico
Daniinlcan
Guatemala
Honduras
El Salvador
Costa
Rica
* Pancrma

Republic

COMMUNICABLE
DISEASES

m Gartrltil,
enteritis,
etc.

q Influenza
and
pneumonia

a
Tubcrcvlotir

@ Molarlo

0
Other
lnfocrlvs
dirso~a

OTHER
CAUSES

q Heart
and
circulatory

ODirsosal
of
early
Infancy

QC
oncar

g
Aecldentg

@ Othar
cauw

Colcmbia
VCtWZUUlO
Brazil’
Bolivia
Chile
UWW
Argentina

(1%1)

1 Federal District
and State capitals, except
city of Slo Paulo

heproduced
by
kind
permission
of
the
editors
of Public Heulth Reporfs

DEVELOPMENT
OF A WATER-SUPPLY
PROGRAMME
15

TABLE
I.
INFANT
MORTALITY
AND
MORTALITY
FROM
DIARRHOEA

AND
ENTERITIS
FOR THE YEAR 1954*

Country

Infant mortality
Infant
diarrhoea
and enteritis

deaths.
’
rate per
O-l year,
/
1000
total
I live-births

i deaths from

deaths Q
diarrhoea
and
enteritis(%)

Egypt
Colombia
Guatemala
Portugal
Mexico
Costa Rica
Puerto
Rico
Panama
Italy
Uruguay
Austria
Japan
Germany,
Federal Republic
Israel
Union of South Africa
(European
population)
Canada
Finland
USA
Denmark
Switzerland
United
Kingdom
of Great Bri-
tain and Northern
Ireland
Norway
New Zealand (exclusive
of
Maoris)
Sweden

81 407
48 734
14 302
16 898
107 853
3 820
4 482
1 745
46104
2 428
5 023
78 944
33 353
1 417
2 298

13 841
2 750
106 791
2 051
2 280

17160
1 343

968
1 966

179 b
103
88

iii
79
58
53

::
48
45
43
35
33

32
31
27
27
27

25
21

6277
1 392
5126
21 052
:
772
1 088
241
5168
440
391
:
5 669
443
:
198
277

554
199
3 590
64
42

428
I
37

---

54.7
12.8
;
9.7
30.3
19.5
20.2
24.3
13.8
11.2
18.1

;-i
1:3
13.9
12.0

4.0
7.2
3.3
3.1
1.8

:::

1.7
1 .o

l Taken from Annual Epidemiologicol
and Vital Statistics, 1954 47

a Figures given in this column
do not include deaths due to enteric
infections
in the
newborn
(babies
less than four weeks old).
b Figure for 1953

Water plays a predominant role in the transmission of certain enteric
bacterial infections, such as typhoid and paratyphoid fevers, bacillary
dysentery, and cholera. It plays a lesser role in the epidemiology of some
Salmonella and Shigda infections and in amoebiasis, and has an indirect
relationship in the transmission of such diseases as malaria, filariasis, and
bilharziasis (schistosomiasis). Water is sometimes responsible also for
the transmission of brucellosis (undulant fever), tularaemia, haemorrhagic
jaundice, and several other protozoa1 and virus infections.