Strategies for reducing water losses with the example of Peru - Case Study

You live in a European industrialised country and need water – not a problem as things look today. But by 2084 you might find yourself waiting with your little water canister at the end of a queue by a tanker that supplies your part of town with drinking water. If you arrive too late, you`ll go thirsty. Water has meanwhile become so expensive that it has to be rationed within each family: The strongest first, and the weakest last of all? Is something like this imaginable?

While the big hotel chains in cities like Lima can easily provide their guests with drinking and service water, most people in Peru cannot afford running water. Over 50% of the population is not connected to the public drinking water network, and the water supply, if available, is also subject to time restrictions in many places.

Many people get their water from rivers or irrigation canals. They are putting themselves at risk from serious diseases or even cholera epidemics. They lack a continuous and safe water supply, with the situation being exacerbated by significant water loss due to crumbling pipes and illegal water extraction.

The reduction in such water losses by the water companies is restricted, as is the case in many developing countries, to just minimising the extent of the damage.

A closer look reveals what is going on: Despite adequate natural resources there actually is a water shortage in Peru. This has a lasting effect on the social and industrial development of the country. Are there any solutions here?