GIS Based Spatial Analysis for Urban Water Supply: A Case of Kedamay Woyane Sub-City, Mekelle City, Ethiopia

Abstract

Access to drinking water supply is one of the universally recognized basic socioeconomic and environmental problems as it is one of the basic needs for human survival. However, this problem is more acute in developing countries like Ethiopia where there is absence and inequity distribution of drinking water access among the society. Nerveless, the problem is more serious in the country’s urban cities like Mekelle city, where the water distribution and access is worst. This research was conducted in Mekelle city, Kedamay Woyane sub-city with the objective to understand the urban water supply distribution using GIS and surveying. A total of 97 respondents were selected using stratified sampling method and proportional sampling was applied to each stratum. Both primary and secondary data collection methods were employed to collect the data. The collected data were analyzed using softwares SPSS and ArcGIS. The findings of the current study show that the water users of Kedamay Woyane sub-city have been experiencing water accessibility and consumption problem. The water consumption is largely related with socio-economic factors such as population, size of community, living standard of the people, industrial and commercial activity. An average of 867,768.9 m³ of water was lost (leaked) from 2003–2006. The amount of water produced in 2003 was 951,070 m³ but of which 20.1% (191165.1 m³) was leaked or lost. The production coverage was 59.2% in 2003, 71.6% in 2004, 77.9% in 2005 and 63.3% in 2006. GIS provides a variety of support in asset inventory like keeping record of pipes, valves fittings, and meters, together with their characteristics and status. The study also indicated that the underground water boreholes serving the residences are not enough and are found at high depth (150–350 m) which demands huge power. Electric power availability substantially determines water access to residences and consequently it increases the acute shortage of water in the sub-city. Based on the outcomes of the study it is clear that the yield of the water source and pipeline network is not enough to satisfy the demand of the sub-city, practically on ground. So, the concerned body should have to look for other sources of water and has to adopt the GIS based system to easily identify them and the spatial problems related to distribution and its access.

Keywords: Water consumption, water supply, ArcGIS, SPSS, Kedamay Woyane