How much water do we need?

The water demand of the local community has to be investigated before starting a water project, to understand the most important needs of a community. Next to this the community has to be aware of the possibilities and limitations of a sand dam. The water needs or water demand of a community is the amount of water currently used by people for domestic purposes as drinking, cooking and cleaning, as well as for irrigation or for cattle. This information gives insight into water demand. Within a water use assessment, future aspirations can also be taken into account. Also, the water use assessment can identify water quality problems or other issues. The water use assessment has to be executed by the implementing organisation before locating the sand dams building location.

The information which needs to be gathered includes:

• the number of households within a community;
• the number of women, men, boys and girls;
• their current water needs for each water requiring activity;
• their aspirations / expectations for future water needs.

When executing a water use assessment, the water committee has to elect people from each group of the community (men, women, elder, youth etc) to contribute. This can be a member of the water committee itself as well as other members from the community. Water needs from each group of the community have to be reflected in the water use assessment.

At the end of this article a practical questionnaire can be downloaded. The questionnaire will provide a guideline to determine the water needs of a community. After finalization of the sand dam project (when the sand dam is mature and in full use), a second water use assessment should be carried out. The results of the water use assessment before and after the project can then be compared and conclusions about the success of the project can be made.