Thirsty cities: the urban water footprint and the peri-urban interface, a four city case study from West Africa

Urbanisation is increasingly affecting inter-sectoral water allocations. This paper looks beyond physical water transfers at the larger urban water footprint and how much it is affecting the urban periphery in the case of four cities in West Africa (Accra, Kumasi, Tamale and Ouagadougou). The result...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Drechsel, Pay, Cofie, Olufunke O., Amoah, Philip
Formato: Capítulo de libro
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/65308
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author Drechsel, Pay
Cofie, Olufunke O.
Amoah, Philip
author_browse Amoah, Philip
Cofie, Olufunke O.
Drechsel, Pay
author_facet Drechsel, Pay
Cofie, Olufunke O.
Amoah, Philip
author_sort Drechsel, Pay
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Urbanisation is increasingly affecting inter-sectoral water allocations. This paper looks beyond physical water transfers at the larger urban water footprint and how much it is affecting the urban periphery in the case of four cities in West Africa (Accra, Kumasi, Tamale and Ouagadougou). The results showed a water footprint variation between 892 and 1,280 m3/capita/year for these four cities based on actual and virtual water flows. The virtual flow through the food chain is outscoring actual domestic water consumption by a factor of 40–60 and using water resources far beyond the peri-urban interphase. However, the picture is changing with consideration of the grey water footprint. Due to limited wastewater treatment, peri-urban areas are the hot spots of water pollution diminishing their fresh water resources. The fresh water affected by the urban return flow easily doubles the overall urban water footprint. Improved on-site sanitation, especially with water saving and urine and excreta separating toilets would have a significant positive impact on the quality and quantity of the urban water footprint given that actual water availability is limiting large scale sewer connections for final wastewater treatment.
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spelling CGSpace653082025-03-11T09:50:20Z Thirsty cities: the urban water footprint and the peri-urban interface, a four city case study from West Africa Drechsel, Pay Cofie, Olufunke O. Amoah, Philip water footprint urbanization periurban areas virtual water wastewater treatment domestic water water use households case studies Urbanisation is increasingly affecting inter-sectoral water allocations. This paper looks beyond physical water transfers at the larger urban water footprint and how much it is affecting the urban periphery in the case of four cities in West Africa (Accra, Kumasi, Tamale and Ouagadougou). The results showed a water footprint variation between 892 and 1,280 m3/capita/year for these four cities based on actual and virtual water flows. The virtual flow through the food chain is outscoring actual domestic water consumption by a factor of 40–60 and using water resources far beyond the peri-urban interphase. However, the picture is changing with consideration of the grey water footprint. Due to limited wastewater treatment, peri-urban areas are the hot spots of water pollution diminishing their fresh water resources. The fresh water affected by the urban return flow easily doubles the overall urban water footprint. Improved on-site sanitation, especially with water saving and urine and excreta separating toilets would have a significant positive impact on the quality and quantity of the urban water footprint given that actual water availability is limiting large scale sewer connections for final wastewater treatment. 2014 2015-04-30T13:41:38Z 2015-04-30T13:41:38Z Book Chapter https://hdl.handle.net/10568/65308 en Limited Access Drechsel, Pay; Cofie, Olufunke; Amoah, Philip. 2014. Thirsty cities: the urban water footprint and the peri-urban interface, a four city case study from West Africa. In Maheshwari, B.; Purohit, R.; Malano, H.; Singh, V. P.; Amerasinghe, Priyanie. (Eds.). The security of water, food, energy and liveability of cities: challenges and opportunities for peri-urban futures. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. pp.113-120. (Water Science and Technology Library Volume 71)
spellingShingle water footprint
urbanization
periurban areas
virtual water
wastewater treatment
domestic water
water use
households
case studies
Drechsel, Pay
Cofie, Olufunke O.
Amoah, Philip
Thirsty cities: the urban water footprint and the peri-urban interface, a four city case study from West Africa
title Thirsty cities: the urban water footprint and the peri-urban interface, a four city case study from West Africa
title_full Thirsty cities: the urban water footprint and the peri-urban interface, a four city case study from West Africa
title_fullStr Thirsty cities: the urban water footprint and the peri-urban interface, a four city case study from West Africa
title_full_unstemmed Thirsty cities: the urban water footprint and the peri-urban interface, a four city case study from West Africa
title_short Thirsty cities: the urban water footprint and the peri-urban interface, a four city case study from West Africa
title_sort thirsty cities the urban water footprint and the peri urban interface a four city case study from west africa
topic water footprint
urbanization
periurban areas
virtual water
wastewater treatment
domestic water
water use
households
case studies
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/65308
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