Yield-reliability analysis and operating rules for run-of-river abstractions for typical rural water supply: Siloam Village case study

Abstract

The study focused on yield-reliability analysis and operating rules for optimum scheduling of run-of-river (ROR) abstractions for typical rural water supply schemes using Siloam Village, Limpopo Province, South Africa, as a case study. Efficient operation of water supply systems requires operating rules as decision support tools. System operation methods have hardly been developed or applied to water supply to rural communities that depend on ROR abstractions. Simulated runoff was used to derive unregulated river yield at different levels of assurance of supply (LAS) for Nzhelele River at Siloam Village using 1-day flow duration curves. Yield-reliability analysis results were used to derive operating rules. The results show that Nzhelele River can meet domestic and low-flow requirements at 50–80% (1:2-1:5) LAS. The low-flow and domestic water requirements can be partially met at 90% (1:10) LAS. The generic operating rules for ROR abstractions were consequently derived from the procedure used in developing operating rules for Nzhelele River. This enables generation of operating rules for ROR abstractions in any typical rural water supply system.