Intermittent Water Supply and Domestic Water Quality in the Middle East

Many countries in the Middle East suffer from chronic water shortage and as a result supplies generally operate on an intermittent basis, leaving the distribution system un-pressurized for long periods of time. Operating a distribution system in a non-continuous manner leads to conditions that favor the deterioration of the water quality, due mainly to infiltration, regrowth within pipes and the detachment of the bacterial biofilm following variations in pressure and velocity. During no-flow periods individual households store water in roof top tanks for several days, thus providing further opportunity for microbial regrowth and deterioration of the water quality, contributing eventually to incidences with opportunistic pathogens and thus increased public health related problems.