Communities in many parts of the world, especially in developing countries, face obstacles in supplying continuous water to household consumers. Authorities often cite water scarcity as the cause, but we demonstrate that environmental constraints constitute only one aspect of a multi-dimensional problem. By asking what causes intermittent domestic water supply, this literature review (129 articles) identifies 47 conditions of intermittent systems and the causal-consequential pathways between them that can reinforce intermittency. These pathways span several disciplines including engineering, government administration and anthropology, and when viewed together they (1) emphasize the human drivers of intermittency; (2) suggest generalized interventions; and (3) reveal a gap in the literature in terms of meaningful categorizations of the reliability of intermittent supplies. Based on the reliability of consumers’ water access, we propose three categories of intermittency—predictable, irregular, and unreliable—to facilitate comparisons between case studies and transfers of solutions.

In the Peruvian Andes, water infiltration from tropical wetlands, called páramo, generates headwaters for downstream rivers. The hydrological processes of these wetlands are not well understood within the larger hydrological system, impeding efforts to mitigate the rapid environmental changes anticipated due to regional population growth and climate change. This study constructed and calibrated a Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) system model for ecosystems with sparse data in the Quiroz-Chipillico watershed in the Piura region of Peru. The model simulates the impacts of possible changes within the hydrological system to assist decision-makers in strategizing about sustainable development for the region, especially the páramo. Using scenarios designed with stakeholder participation, the WEAP model for the Quiroz-Chipillico watershed examines river headflow production, reservoir water levels, and demand coverage for downstream users when the upstream páramo and its environs are subjected to changes of temperature, precipitation, and land use. The model reveals that while temperature and precipitation changes can be expected to impact páramo water production, the anticipated land use changes will be a primary driver of hydrological responses in the páramo and subsequent changes downstream.

We investigated the quality of treated drinking water in Aida Camp and Alazzah Camp, two Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank. Water supply in the two camps is intermittent: Water deliveries are first stored in a centrally located community tank before being pumped through distribution networks to users, who then store the water in rooftop tanks. Between March 2016 and June 2017, we examined water quality within the distribution system in the camps, testing 520 samples in Aida Camp and 198 samples in Alazzah Camp for total coliforms, Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, and residual chlorine. We observed deterioration in water quality in both camps, but the deterioration was more pronounced in Aida Camp where 2.5% of community-tank samples, 5.0% of network samples, and 10% of rooftop-tank samples contained one or more colonies (per 100 mL) of total coliform bacteria. In Alazzah Camp, 3.7% of community-tank samples, 2.5% of network samples, and 5% rooftop-tank samples contained one or more colonies (per 100 mL) of total coliform bacteria. E. coli was detected in two samples from Aida Camp and one sample from Alazzah Camp. In both camps, average residual chlorine concentrations were higher in the community tanks than in rooftop tanks. The main factor influencing water quality deterioration in rooftop tanks in Aida Camp appears to be air temperature. We recommend more systematic water testing in the camps and greater transparency in reporting test results to camp residents.