Assessing Equity and Demand Satisfaction of an Intermittent Water Supply Using a Non-Iterative Implementation of EPANET 2.2: A Case Study of Itanagar Water Distribution Network

International Journal of Civil Engineering

© 2025 by SSRG - IJCE Journal

Volume 12 Issue 2

Year of Publication : 2025

Authors : Bini Kiron, Ram Kailash Prasad

10.14445/23488352/IJCE-V12I2P111

How to Cite?

Bini Kiron, Ram Kailash Prasad, "Assessing Equity and Demand Satisfaction of an Intermittent Water Supply Using a Non-Iterative Implementation of EPANET 2.2: A Case Study of Itanagar Water Distribution Network," SSRG International Journal of Civil Engineering, vol. 12,  no. 2, pp. 111-119, 2025. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/23488352/IJCE-V12I2P111

Abstract:

Intermittent Water Supply (IWS) is a water supply system in a developing country where water is supplied intermittently for a limited duration. Factors responsible for IWS are water resource scarcity, inadequate facilities, unaccountable water losses, etc. The IWS systems, however, frequently result in variable pressure levels, water quality issues, and potential customer dissatisfaction. Furthermore, a crucial feature of the Water Distribution Network (WDN) is that it provides adequate water to consumers to meet the required demand with satisfactory performance. Thus, in this study, consumer satisfaction is assessed through demand satisfaction and the level of equity for the WDN of Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh). This study is unique of its kind for Itanagar WDN, as no study of this kind has been undertaken on this network. This study also compares different equity formulae available in the literature. Moreover, EPANET version 2.2 was used to simulate the Itanagar WDN. The results highlight that the water supply depends on the availability of water at the Itanagar WDN source. Furthermore, it is also found that the pressure varies significantly at nodes. Consumer dissatisfaction is high due to insufficient access to drinking water in Itanagar town under IWS. A huge discrepancy in the supply-demand ratio was observed in the Itanagar WDN, where more than half of the demand nodes are facing a shortage of supply against their demand. As such, some consumers are getting more than their required share of water, and others are not getting the required demand or supply to sustain their livelihood. Consequently, the equity value is found to be approximately 0.5 under full supply conditions, as against its ideal value of 1. This signifies that there is insufficient access to drinking water in Itanagar for a supply duration of 4 hours.

Keywords:

Intermittent water supply, Equity, Water distribution networks, Demand Satisfaction, EPANET software.

References:

[1] Assia Mokssit et al., “Building a Methodology for Assessing Service Quality under Intermittent Domestic Water Supply,” Water, vol. 10, no. 9, pp. 1-24, 2018.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[2] John J. Erickson et al., “Water Quality Effects of Intermittent Water Supply in Arraiján, Panama,” Water Research, vol. 114, pp. 338-350, 2017.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[3] Chrysi Laspidou et al., Root Causes and Implications of IWS, IWA Publishing, pp. 17-28, 2017.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[4] David D.J. Taylor et al., “Demand Satisfaction as a Framework for Understanding Intermittent Water Supply Systems,” Water Resources Research, vol. 55, no. 7, pp. 5217-5237, 2019.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[5] Emily Kumpel et al., “Water Use Behaviors and Water Access in Intermittent and Continuous Water Supply Areas during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Journal of Water and Health, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 139-148, 2022.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[6] Jacob Chandapillai, K.P. Sudheer, and S. Saseendran, “Design of Water Distribution Network for Equitable Supply,” Water Resources Management, vol. 26, pp. 391-406, 2012.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[7] Emily Kumpel, and Kara L. Nelson, “Mechanisms Affecting Water Quality in an Intermittent Piped Water Supply,” Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 48, no. 5, pp. 2766-2775, 2014.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[8] Anujkumar Ghorpade, Kumar Sinha, and Pradip P. Kalbar, “Drivers for Intermittent Water Supply in India: Critical Review and Perspectives,” Frontiers in Water, vol. 3, pp. 1-15, 2021.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[9] R. Farmani et al., “Intermittent Water Supply Systems and their Resilience to COVID-19: IWA IWS SG Survey,” AQUA - Water Infrastructure, Ecosystems and Society, vol. 70, no. 4, pp. 507-520, 2021.  
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[10] S. Mohan, and G.R. Abhijith, “Hydraulic Analysis of Intermittent Water-Distribution Networks Considering Partial-Flow Regimes,” Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, vol. 146, no. 8, 2020.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[11] L. Srinivasa Reddy, and K. Elango, “Analysis of Water Distribution Networks with Head-Dependent Outlets,” Civil Engineering Systems, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 102-110, 1989.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[12] Omar Abdelazeem, and David D.J. Meyer, “How to Model an Intermittent Water Supply: Comparing Modeling Choices and Their Impact on Inequality,” Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, vol. 150, no. 1, pp. 1-11, 2024.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[13] David J. Molden, and Timothy K. Gates, “Performance Measures for Evaluation of Irrigation‐Water‐Delivery Systems,” Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, vol. 116, no. 6, pp. 804-823, 1990.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[14] Ernest Effah Ameyaw, Fayyaz Ali Memon, and Josef Bicik, “Improving Equity in Intermittent Water Supply Systems,” Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-AQUA, vol. 62, no. 8, pp. 552-562, 2013.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[15] M. De Marchis et al., “A Model of the Filling Process of an Intermittent Distribution Network,” Urban Water Journal, vol. 7, no. 6, pp. 321-333, 2010.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[16] C.M. Fontanazza, G. Freni, and G. La Loggia, “Analysis of Intermittent Supply Systems in Water Scarcity Conditions and Evaluation of the Resource Distribution Equity Indices,” WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, vol. 103, pp. 635-644, 2007.
[Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[17] M. De Marchis et al., “Analysis of the Impact of Intermittent Distribution by Modelling the Network-Filling Process,” Journal of Hydroinformatics, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 358-373, 2011.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[18] S.E. Galaitsi et al., “Intermittent Domestic Water Supply: A Critical Review and Analysis of Causal-Consequential Pathways,” Water, vol. 8, no. 7, pp. 1-25, 2016.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[19] Suchismita Satpathy, and Rohit Jha, “Intermittent Water Supply in Indian Cities: Considering the Intermittency Beyond Demand and Supply,” AQUA-Water Infrastructure, Ecosystems and Society, vol. 71, no. 12, pp. 1395-1407, 2022.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[20] David D.J. Meyer et al., “Learning from Intermittent Water Supply Schedules: Visualizing Equality, Equity, and Hydraulic Capacity in Bengaluru and Delhi, India,” Science of the Total Environment, vol. 892, pp. 1-11, 2023.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[21] Jesús Rubén Sánchez-Navarro et al., “Multivariate Analysis of the Pressure Variation in Intermittent Water Supply Systems and the Impact on Demand Satisfaction,” Water Supply, vol. 21, no. 7, pp. 3932-3945, 2021.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[22] Aurora Gullotta et al., “Optimal Location of Valves to Improve Equity in Intermittent Water Distribution Systems,” Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, vol. 147, no. 5, 2021.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[23] Paulo A.S.B. Ceita et al., “Equity Analysis of Intermittent Water Supply Systems by Means of EPA-SWMM,” Water Supply, vol. 23, no. 8, pp. 3097-3112, 2023.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[24] Prasad V.K.S.V. Gottipati, and Umamahesh V. Nanduri, “Equity in Water Supply in Intermittent Water Distribution Networks,” Water and Environment Journal, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 509-515, 2014.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[25] Lewis A. Rossman et al., “EPANET 2.2 User Manual,” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, pp. 1-176, 2020.
[Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]