Engineering Considerations Regarding Withdrawal, Testing, Treatment, Distribution, and Reuse of Water

The supply and management of water resources throughout the world has gained considerable attention over the last century. Concerns for sufficient supplies of potable water are not new, however large-scale shortages of usable water are a growing concern in many countries. During the twentieth century, industrialization has generated waste streams that threaten virtually all drinking water resources on earth with long-lived contaminants. These contaminants have caused and continue to cause significant damage to human health and the environment. A general understanding of the engineering considerations regarding the withdrawal, testing, treatment, distribution, and reuse of water is important, particularly for nations that are just beginning to develop such systems. The need to fund the development of advanced water supply technology and reliable infrastructure compounds these issues. It is important to consider each issue independently and to develop a broad understanding of the interactions among them in order to establish a system of sustainable water use and reuse. This paper explores those issues and identifies some key components that can assist the Central Asian region in developing and managing water systems. The information presented is not intended to provide an exhaustive analysis of each component but rather to present examples that can be used as starting points for more detailed evaluation.