Evaluation of the urban water system in Herat city
Student name: Mr Abdul Aziz Haidari
Guide: Dr Arun Kansal
Year of completion: 2014
Host Organisation: The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI), New Delhi
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr Anshuman
Abstract: Herat is the second most populated city in Afghanistan with a rapid urbanization trend and
massive population growth. Sustainable provision of safe drinking water in this city seems to
be a challenging issue as an integrated and holistic approach to ensure proper urban water
supply has not been made. As such, there is no enhancement of the efficiency in this system.
Herat city is largely afflicted by poor water demand management and an irregular
exploitation of the groundwater resource. About 60% of the total water produced cannot be
accounted as billed water and high portion of this amount is being wasted in the distribution
mains itself before reaching to the consumer ends. This generates considerable amount of
Non Revenue Water (NRW) in the system. The flaw is accompanied by several other
performance deficiencies. Amidst all this, the Herat Water Supply Utility (HWSU) has
noticeably had an inefficient performance in revenue collection, which is 50% of the total
billed water. This is due to the complicated billing system and the absence of rigid
regulations. Moreover, there are no strict penalties for nonpayment which is intertwined with
the perception of the consumers of acknowledging water as an infinite and non-commercial
resource. The findings of this study show that the level of knowledge of people about water
conservation is very low at the household level and there is no willingness among the people
of Herat city to inculcate new water-use behaviors in their life style.
The current urban water supply shortage in Herat City is estimated to be about 47% of the
total demanded water. This huge demand-supply gap is basically being bridged through
intensive individual groundwater abstraction. It is worthy to mention here that this gap will
be expanded in the future if the system efficiency is not enhanced and HWSU doesn‟t include
surface water in the water production system. According to the abovementioned challenges,
the unequal access to clean water can be ascribed to institutional failure and an unsound
political preference rather than inadequate water availability.
In order to bring sustainability in the system, a demand-focused approach should be
institutionalized and an effective management of water resources must be adopted by the
regulatory and executive authorities. It is notable that by improving water use efficiency at
the household level as well as promoting system performance, a huge portion of freshwater
can be saved in the urban water system of Herat City.
Key words: Herat City – Urban Water Supply System – Performance Efficiency – Herat Water Supply Utility
