Water Management – Water Source

The water source plays an obvious important role in water network. The typical source with be ground water (bore hole), lake or stream water, rain water, recycled water or sea water, but it could also be provided by an supplier i.e. National Water.

There are pros and cons about every source. Below is a simplified list of the pros and cons for every source.

Ground water

Pros: In most cases a clean source which requires less purification.
Cons: Relatively expensive to establish.
Often expensive to operate as borehole pumps depending on the depth can require lot of power.
Can run dry.

Lake and stream water

Pros: Most commonly inexpensive to establish if the area of usage is near to lake/stream.
Cons: In most cases will require extended treatment which can be costly to establish.
A stream can be seasonal.

Rain water

Pros: In most cases a clean source which requires less purification.
Considered rightly the most eco friendly source of water.
Cons: Very expensive to establish, if relying 100% on this source, as it will require very large storage tanks.

Recycled water

Pros: Considered rightly a very eco friendly source of water.
In most cases less expensive to operate than ground water (bore hole pumps).
Cons: Can be expensive to establish as the wastewater treatment process needs to be upgraded considerably.

Sea water

Pros: Considered rightly a very eco friendly source of water.
Will never run dry.
Cons: Is extremely expensive to establish as desalination (converting salt water to fresh water) is the most expensive treatment process of all.

National water supplier

Pros: Lowers the initial infrastructural cost.
Cons: Fluctuation of quality constantly.
Inconsistent supply.
Prices can suddenly go up.


Water management
Water management