International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET) Volume 10, Issue 09, September 2019, pp. 261-267, Article ID: IJCIET_10_09_027 Available online at http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJCIET?Volume=10&Issue=9 ISSN Print: 0976-6308 and ISSN Online: 0976-6316 © IAEME Publication SUPPLY AND DEMAND FOR DRINKING WATER IN SINCELEJO CITY, COLOMBIA: A REVIEW OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS Jhon J. Feria Díaz* Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de Sucre, Carrera 28 No. 5-267. Sincelejo, Colombia Rodrigo G. Hernández Ávila Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de Sucre, Carrera 28 No. 5-267. Sincelejo, Colombia Liliana M. Vitola Garrido Faculty of Education and Sciences, Universidad de Sucre, Carrera 28 #5-267, Sincelejo, Colombia *Corresponding Author ABSTRACT This research study made a review of the current situation of the aqueduct system from Sincelejo city, Colombia showing water supply and demand along with potential causes of the prevailing water deficit. Similarly, possible and available surface water sources were reviewed, apart from the underground, allowing to expand water supply and find a balance between supply and demand. The study intends to propose alternatives to help lower pressure on the Morroa aquifer, the only current source of supply. Keywords: Aqueducts, Aquifers, groundwater, surface sources Cite this Article: Jhon J. Feria Díaz, Rodrigo G. Hernández Ávila and Liliana M. Vitola Garrido, Supply and Demand for Drinking Water in Sincelejo City, Colombia: A Review of Alternative Solutions. International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology 10(9), 2019, pp. 261-267. http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJCIET?Volume=10&Issue=9 1. INTRODUCTION Sincelejo is a mid-sized city from the Colombian Caribbean region. It is the capital of Sucre department and has an approximate population of 258,000 people registered for year 2015 [1]. The city has a warm climate, with an average temperature fluctuating between 26.5 and 28.5 °C, with a 37.4 °C maximum recorded value in the month of March and an 18.5 °C minimum in January. There are two climatic seasons: one dry, with hot temperatures and high http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJCIET 261 [email protected] Jhon J. Feria Díaz, Rodrigo G. Hernández Ávila and Liliana M. Vitola Garrido evapotranspiration, running from December to mid-April, and a rainy one, from mid-April to mid-November [2], with an average annual rainfall of 1,056 mm [3]. Inadequate provision of public services in Sincelejo, especially drinking water, has been an obstacle for normal growth and economic development [4]. Currently, the city's aqueduct system is only supplied by an underground source, the Morroa aquifer, through 23 deep wells. The first wells were shallow and did not exceed 300 meters, nonetheless, due to increase in demand over the years, the last built wells have reached depths of up to 960m [5]. According to results from studies carried out by the regional environmental authority, exploitation of the Morroa aquifer, in the Sincelejo area, and neighboring cities of Corozal and Morroa, is very intense and has been concentrated in a specific area (Campo de Pozos from Corozal). Static levels are between 50m and 85m deep and pumping levels between 80m and 120m [6]. Aqueduct service coverage is 85.97%, which does not allow to meet the city's water demand [7]. For this reason, service provision is not continuously and efficiently carried out, particularly, in the city slums where there is permanent sectorization in the system. On the other hand, technical losses of the aqueduct system are currently much higher than the value established in Colombian regulations (25%) [8], equivalent to 58% [5]. This has an underground source overexploitation. To mitigate this situation, the company providing the aqueduct service and the municipal mayor of the city have started a plan for the general replacement of the oldest pipes in the distribution network to correct leaks due to deterioration caused over the years. 2. WATER SUPPLY FOR SINCELEJO AQUEDUCT SYSTEM The hydrographic network of the influence area for Sincelejo aqueduct system is made up of a structure of temporary surface currents, only carrying water during the rainy season. Therefore, it is not possible to use them as a reliable and sustainable source to supply the aqueduct system. Morroa aquifer is the most important source of water supply and human development for the communities of municipalities around, such as Sincelejo, Sampues, Corozal, Morroa, Los Palmitos and Ovejas, in the Sucre department; Sahagun and Chinu in Cordoba; and El Carmen in Bolivar (See Figure 1). Figure 1. Morroa Aquifer. Source: [9]. http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJCIET 262 [email protected] Supply and Demand for Drinking Water in Sincelejo City, Colombia: A Review of Alternative Solutions The Morroa aquifer covers an area of 526.9 km2 in the central part of Sucre, on the northwest of Colombia, between flat coordinates with Bogotá origin: X1 = 1,500,000, X2 = 1,540,000, Y1 = 846,000, Y2 = 880,000 [3] [9]; supplying a population close to 400,000 inhabitants [1]. The Aquifer, which groundwater feeds the aqueduct system of Sincelejo is heterogeneous and multi-layered, so it is not easy to assign similar characteristics of water quality in its influence area. Nonetheless, usually groundwater from this aquifer has good organoleptic quality, with a predominant phase of calcium or sodium bicarbonate type with bicarbonate percentage greater than 60%, salinity varying between 180 and 1,200 mg/L, minor chlorides at 20 mg/L (in dry season), sodium ion between 40 and 260 mg/L, sulfate ion between 5.2 and 60.0 mg/L and with very little corrosive aggressiveness [10]. Due to the decent quality of the underground source, a conventional physicochemical water treatment is not necessary to perform. It only requires disinfection [11] and then to be sent to the city's storage and distribution system. Generally, 78.5% of water extracted from the Morroa aquifer is used as a source of drinking water; 8.1% for the commercial and institutional sector; 5.6% for agroindustrial activities and 6.1% for livestock [12]. According to a recent study on groundwater footprint for the Morroa aquifer, the authors found that this aquifer has very high levels of groundwater stress, even higher than many aquifers worldwide, indicating that the aquifer´s sustainability could be at risk [12]. 3. DEMAND FOR DRINKING WATER OF SINCELEJO CITY According to the information published by the company providing the aqueduct service, Sincelejo currently has a water demand of 819.41 L/s, not completely covered by water extracted from deep wells (605.48 L/s) [5]. The flow deficit extracted from the aquifer to meet demand and high technical losses of the aqueduct system are responsible for the city’s inadequate aqueduct service, reflected in a permanent water sectorization in the neighborhoods and an irregular frequency in the permanent supply from service. Due to the above and, to guarantee a balance between water supply and demand in the city's aqueduct service, it is necessary to supply water from other sources such as rivers or reservoirs, as well as to implement the artificial aquifer recharge [12] because natural recharge is very low -about 7 to 34 mm/year [6]. Only this way, it is possible to lower the risk of water shortages currently faced by the municipal aqueduct system 4. ALTERNATIVES OF SURFACE SOURCES OF SUPPLY Because there are no surface water currents with continuous and sufficient flows to be considered reliable as sources of water supply in a radius of 50 km around, then the three rivers relatively close to Sincelejo city were considered, due to their flow and current continuity throughout the year. These are the Magdalena, Sinú and San Jorge rivers. 4.1. Water Collection from Magdalena River Magdalena river is the largest river system in Colombia with a length of 1,612 km, a source in the Magdalena Lagoon at a height of 3,685 meters above sea level. The drainage basin area covers 257,438 km2, representing 24% of the Colombian territory. The Magdalena River valley has an average rainfall of 2,050 mm per year [14] and the river flows into the southwest of the Colombian Caribbean and forms a triangular delta of 1690 km2 [15]. The average annual discharge of water from Magdalena River is 7,200 m3/s with an annual volume of water discharged into the Caribbean Sea of 228 km3 [16]. However, recent studies have defined an average flow of 6,497.21 m3/s for the river, a minimum flow of 1,520 m3/s and a maximum flow of 16,913 m3/s [17] depending on the dry or rainy season on the basin. http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJCIET 263 [email protected] Jhon J. Feria Díaz, Rodrigo G. Hernández Ávila and Liliana M. Vitola Garrido Seventy-nine percent of Colombia's population, including its main cities, Bogota, Medellin, Cali and Barranquilla, are in the Magdalena Basin, corresponding to approximately 38 million inhabitants [14]. Most of the country's population depends on the Magdalena River as a source of water and food. Several cities in Colombia lack municipal wastewater treatment plants, so they directly discharge their pollutants into the river, including domestic and industrial wastewater, contaminated waste from mining, oil-related activities and agricultural runoff [18]. 4.2. Water Collection from the Sinu River The Sinú river basin is on northwestern Colombia, within the Cordoba and Antioquia departments, in the southwest region of the Colombian Caribbean region and flows from south to north at a current length of 415 km. The Sinú river basin originates in the Paramillo massif located between 7°8′9″ - 9°27′2″ N and 75°55′31″ –75°58′18″W.