Pipe-borne water consumption and its wastage: A study based on Panandura Urban Area in Sri Lanka

Water is a lifeblood aspect of human being and without water, human being is impossible in the world. From time to time, people have consumed water from many sources and the ancient civilizations also emerged from river banks to meet the need of water. In this modern industrial world, technological advancements have enabled the pipe-borne water supply in widespread manner and it is not except to Sri Lanka too. Excessive consumption of water leads to water resource scarcity and hinders the even water supply to the people. In general context, water wastage is seen as ‘the consumption of excessive water for the routing needs’. In Sri Lanka, the provision of water for drinking and irrigation on a sustainable basis is a national priority (Central bank of Sri Lanka, 2005). Despite, the pipe-borne water supply is considered as a method to supply water for people who are not access to the water, it has many contemporary impacts on water quantity’s change and consumption pattern. Thus, this study was conducted to find the pipe-borne water consuption and its wastages in Panandura urban area. The objectives of this study are ‘to evaluate the change of the quantity of pipe-borne water consumption, to find the factors for the water wastage and finding the mechanisms to reduce the water wastage and propose the proper water management plans’. This study was conducted using the primary and secondary data. As primary data, discussion, questionnaires were used and as secondary data, reports from national water supply and drainage board, Divisional Secretariat reports, books, research papers, newspaper, magazines, websites, qualitative and quantitative tools were used. Based on the analysis and using the collected data, objectives were attained as population growth, rise in income level, modern machinery utilization, urbanization are the reasons for the change of pipe-borne water consumption. And also, the main factors for the water wastages are the pattern of the water consumption of residents, water leaks and dearth of awareness among residents. To reduce the over consumption and wastage, frequently check the water leaks in households, recycle the used water, to follow the rain water harvesting methods and to conduct the awareness programmes among people regarding the water saving and wastage, were suggested as recommendations and importance of water saving and managemet also stressed in this study considering our posterity.