Estimation of the Actual Specific Consumption in Drinking Water Supply Systems in Burkina Faso (West Africa): Potential Implications for Infrastructure Sizing

Specific consumption is a key parameter in estimating the water demand and further optimising the sizing of Drinking Water Supply Systems (DWSS) infrastructure. DWSS are globally used to provide safe drinking water in urban and rural settings, and their design cost is critical for water authorities, especially in low-income countries. In this study, the optimal of the specific consumption value is carried out in Burkina Faso (West Africa). The methodology adopted a statistical analysis of operational data collected on 40 DWSS systems in Burkina Faso, further completed by a multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) of determinants of the water demand and cluster identification and analysis through Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering (AHC). The results show that the actual consumption is lower than the common estimate used in sizing. Statistical analysis revealed that actual specific consumption is affected by various parameters, the most relevant of which are the reliance on alternative resources, the presence of waterways and the local climate seasonality. The average actual specific consumption is estimated at 3.83 +/- 3.43 L/people/day. Finally, a decision tree for the choice of suitable specific consumption value as a function of the physical settings of a given area is proposed for optimal sizing of DDWS systems in Burkina Faso.