| dc.description.abstract | Drinking water is one of the vital needs for human beings' survival. However, access to
drinking water represents strong inequalities on a global scale. While in some countries, even
rural communities have access to a reliable water source, in sub-Saharan African cities, only
56 % of the population had access to tap drinking water in 2019. These inequalities are even
more alarming between the different countries of the continent. An illustrative example of
such conditions is the city of Bukavu in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo
where access to drinking water decreased by about 90% between 2003 and 2019. The existing
water treatment supplying the city was installed in 1954 with the construction of the
Murhundu treatment plant, located 28km away from the city. Originally built to produce
water for 50,000 residents, the treatment plant was upgraded in 1981, doubling its initial
production capacity. However, the city of Bukavu currently has 1,133,000 million
inhabitants, which is 20 times higher than the production capacity of the plant and its
distribution network; as such, the existing water supply system is not able to handle this
growth. Therefore, this study provides a solution to the current situation by estimating and
forecasting the water demand and population for the city at horizon 2046, assessing the
current water distribution network, and proposing a sustainable solution. The research used
secondary and primary data comprising reports from the local municipal water supply
company. GIS data sets and a database of the existing network designed into EPANET were
used to assess the performances of the water supply system of Bukavu. The assessed model
was thereafter, exported to Watergems for optimization of a proposed sustainable solution.
The current water demand in Bukavu is 15.86 Mm3
/ year and is expected to reach 101,1
Mm3
/year in 2046. The existing water supply system is composed of one reservoir, 3 water
tanks, 5 pumping stations, and a 300,049 m long piping network that shows poor hydraulic
performance in most parts of the city. To overcome this problem, two alternatives were
simulated in Epanet and Watergems involving the addition of a balancing tank in the system
and increasing the pumping station capacity after renovating the entire piping system.
However, a combination of these alternatives was found to be more sustainable, with a total
investment and maintenance cost of 88 788 548 USD. Finally, these findings serve as a
master plan for the city and water corporations, as well as for investors and decision-makers
to guarantee sustainable drinking water accessibility for the citizens of Bukavu. | en_US |
