Water cutoffs brought on by recent major natural disasters around the globe have a negative impact on the quality of life for disaster victims. In order to solve this, an increasing number of people are becoming interested in how catastrophe emergency wells might reduce water cutoffs during natural disasters.
A research team at Osaka Metropolitan University, under the direction of Professor Takahiro Endo, surveyed local well owners who supplied groundwater (91 organizations) and welfare facilities representing water users (328 facilities) who were impacted by the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake. The surveys explained groundwater use status for suppliers and users following the earthquake as well as policy concerns about the use of emergency wells.
Professor Endo said that while groundwater has long been recognized as a valuable resource for both industrial production and the environment, a recent study has made it clear that it may also be used to avoid disasters.
Although studies of groundwater consumption in disasters have been conducted in the past, the majority of this research focused on future disasters and evaluated things like groundwater exploration methods and estimates of groundwater availability in the event of water supply interruptions. Private wells, which are dispersed around the afflicted area, are the main source of groundwater during the chaotic time just after a disaster. This makes it challenging to maintain formal records of groundwater usage. Therefore, the use of emergency wells following earthquakes was not fully understood until recently.
According to the surveys, the usage of emergency wells accelerated water delivery and increased accessibility, complementing the Kumamoto city government’s emergency water supply. However, even when they were close by, a sizable proportion of charity facilities didn’t use the water from emergency wells. This suggests that making emergency well sites known is a crucial policy concern.
The conclusion of Professor Endo was that “this new data is very beneficial for local governments who have either erected or are considering establishing emergency wells in the near future.”
