Unified water supply - Ichigensui-do

…The purpose of water supply is to secure water for daily life, including drinking water, and water for firefighting. When there is a good, abundant water source in the vicinity, a centralized water supply system that supplies drinkable water for all uses in one go is rational, and the current general water supply system has developed and spread. However, in some areas where new development of water resources has reached its limit and water demand exceeds the stable supply capacity, the centralized water supply system is irrational, such as poor water supply or water outages during droughts, and the need for energy-intensive advanced water treatment to make up for the irrationality. It has become necessary to switch to a multiple water supply system based on the water quality of the purpose (a system that supplies water separately for drinking water, which absolutely requires good quality water even if it is in small quantities, and water for daily use, which requires a large amount of water even if it is slightly inferior in quality). …

*Some of the terminology used in reference to "centralized water supply" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…給水の目的は飲料水をはじめとする生活用水と消火用水の確保にある。良質で豊富な水源を近郊に得られる場合には，全用途に一括して飲用可能な水を給水する一元水道のシステムが合理的であり，現行の一般的な水道のシステムが発達し普及した。しかし水資源の新規開発が限界に達し，水需要が安定供給力を上回るようになった一部の地域では，一元水道は渇水時に給水不良や断水を余儀なくされたり，エネルギー多消費型の高度水処理による補給を必要とするなどの不合理が生じており，用途水質別の多元水道(少量ながらも絶対に良質な水を必要とする飲料水の給水系統と，質的には若干劣っても水量を必要とする生活雑用水の給水系統などを分けて給水するシステム)へ転換する必要も生じている。…

※「一元水道」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報