Title: The supply and quality of urban water in arid island environments: a case study from the prefecture of Larnaka, Cyprus

Authors: Paraskevi P. Karanikola; Georgios E. Tsantopoulos; Stilianos A. Tampakis; Veronika A. Andrea; Anastasia N. Matoli

Addresses: Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment and Natural Resources, Democritus University of Thrace, 193 Pantazidou Street, 68200 Orestiada, Greece ' Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment and Natural Resources, Democritus University of Thrace, 193 Pantazidou Street, 68200 Orestiada, Greece ' Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment and Natural Resources, Democritus University of Thrace, 193 Pantazidou Street, 68200 Orestiada, Greece ' Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment and Natural Resources, Democritus University of Thrace, 193 Pantazidou Street, 68200 Orestiada, Greece ' Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment and Natural Resources, Democritus University of Thrace, 193 Pantazidou Street, 68200 Orestiada, Greece

Abstract: In the present study, the residents of Larnaka Province in Cyprus assessed the quality and quantity of the water provided for urban use, the water supply network serving Larnaka city, and the adoption of water conservation methods. The survey was conducted using simple random sampling and included 426 individuals. The locals consider the water quality to be fair and the water consumption charges to be neither expensive nor inexpensive, while the majority disapprove of any increase to the water rates in relation to high consumption levels. People in Larnaka are fairly satisfied with the local water supply, and assess the water losses through the distribution network as being fair. Their three main sources of drinking water are tanks, bottled water and the mains water, with or without filtering. They do not consider operating an intermittent water supply system a useful measure and most of them have water storage tanks at home for mains water, but not for rainwater.

Keywords: Cyprus; water quality; water quantity; water rates; intermittent supply; water supply; recycling finance; water recycling; rainwater reservoirs; reservoir construction; urban water; arid islands; case study; water conservation; water storage tanks.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGENVI.2016.074356

International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, 2016 Vol.15 No.1/2, pp.100 - 111

Received: 21 Jul 2014
Accepted: 21 Oct 2014
Published online: 25 Jan 2016 *

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