Abstract for: “Counterintuitive Ways Of Doing More With Less” – An SD Contribution To The Urban Water Crisis in the Global South

In urban areas across the developing world, access to water, particularly for drinking and other domestic uses, has now become a critical issue. Indian cities, perhaps as well as any, exemplify the social, environmental, economic and political problems that arise when this essential, life-supporting resource becomes scarce or unaffordable. The most common way of rationing water demand in India is to limit the hours of supply to a few a day; during the remaining time no water flows through the distribution system. This model will attempt to show that the existing "intermittent" system does more harm than good, whereas a continuously pressurized 24x7 water system, with proper metering and pricing, ensures equitable and reliable distribution, without the need of additional supply and has positive socio-economic impacts that are system wide.