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Adequate supply of safe water is regarded as one of the most important environmentaldeterminants of public health. In the Middle East in general, and the Kingdom ofBahrain in particular, sources of rechargeable freshwater are very limited and scarce.In quantity terms, freshwater allocation is estimated to be 179 msup3/sup/capita/y against anaverage international of 1000 msup3/sup/capita/y.With extremely limited natural water resources, the majority of Gulf CooperationCouncil countries depend on water desalination to satisfy drinking and othermunicipal water demands.Due to the high cost of water production by this process, strategies for watermanagement have always been given top priority. The Kingdom of Bahrain hasimplemented various programs like water conservation and waste detection measuresto achieve a low percentage of unaccounted-for water [UFW]. In the Kingdom of Bahraininitial study of UFW on the Bahrain water distribution network showed an alarming rateof distribution losses of 45% in 1984. This figure was reduced to 23% in 2001.Investments were and are being made to reduce leakage through various leakagemanagement programs as a solution in reducing water demand requirement due tolimited water resources.This paper shares the Bahrain experience in water management by applyingleakage control as a strategy to reduce water losses in a distribution network where thepercentage of UFW has dropped over 10 years from 31.63% in 1993 to 23.05%in 2001.Further measures are being taken to further reduce the percentage of UFW to 10% by theend of year 2003.Various action plans are discussed in this paper that are designed to achieve the ultimategoal of water management that include:waste detection;controlling pressure regime;replacement of defective mains;full and accurate metering policy, through Automatic Meter Reading; and,plant protection.The paper concludes that by adopting sensible water managementtechniques there is a considerable effect on the over all water conservation and wastemanagement which in turn verifies economical utilization of expensive and scarcewater resources. Also, it has an effect on the protection of natural water resourcesfor future generations.Further actions will be required to complement the strategies adopted, especially:introduction and enforcement of water bylaws;enhancing public awareness; and,automatic reading system [AMR]. Includes 6 references, tables, figures.

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Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 10/01/2003 Number of Pages: 16 File Size: 1 file , 740 KB