A Water Resources Management Information System

WaterWare is being developed on the basis of concepts and results of the EUREKA project EU487; the initial case study in this project addressed the Thames basin in England, and was sponsored by Thames Water International Ltd.

The Thames basin covers an area of approximately 13,000 square kilometers and supports a population in the order of 12 million including that of London.

On average, about 3.7 million cubic meter per day are provided for public water supply, with a further potential requirement of 1.4 million in direct abstractions for industry etc. The public water supply requirement represents about 55% of the natural runoff from the freshwater portion of the catchment in an average year and correspondingly more in a dry year.

In addition, there are some 370 waste-water treatment works processing an average of 4.3 million cubic meter per day, the bulk of which is discharged to the tidal portion of the Thames. Nevertheless, on average about 12% of resources for public water supply are derived from indirect effluent re-use, and during a dry summer this figure can rise to 70% locally. The same river network is also used by some 250,000 anglers and 20,000 boat owners.