Assessing drinking water resource management and distribution networks in hyper-arid Iran: a focus on groundwater desalination

Abstract Communities in hyper-arid regions, such as Bajestan in Iran, face severe limitations in the availability of high-quality water resources for drinking, together with challenges in water transportation and distribution. These constraints have increased dependence on saline groundwater and costly desalination processes, making the provision of safe and sustainable drinking water a major management challenge. Safe drinking water is not only a fundamental human right but also a critical governmental responsibility. Given the substantial investments in water safety and access projects, evaluating their performance is essential for long-term sustainability. This study focuses on the city of Bajestan, located in the southern Khorasan Razavi province, where high-quality groundwater is predominantly used for agriculture due to ownership restrictions, exacerbating limitations in urban drinking water supply. To compensate, saline groundwater from nearby playas is extracted, desalinated, and distributed through a Drinking Water Distribution Network (DWDN) supported by Drinking Water Withdrawal Stations (DWWS). A comprehensive assessment of the social and managerial dimensions of both the DWDN and Drinking Water Resources (DWR) was conducted using responses from three stakeholder groups: the public, experts, and academics. A novel methodological framework was employed, integrating Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), and SWOT analysis across these groups. Findings revealed that while the public favored improvements to the existing network, they opposed the current separation strategy involving barrel-based water collection from DWWS. In contrast, government experts reported notable benefits including reduced water loss and disease incidence yet acknowledged logistical inefficiencies with barrel systems. Academic evaluations positioned both the DWDN and DWR in the “reserved strategy” zone of the SWOT matrix, highlighting urgent needs for structural and policy reform. Notably, based on the findings of the public, expert, and SWOT analyses, the study proposes a Home Dual Drinking Water Distribution Network (HD-DWDN) as a conceptual household-level management model. The proposed model separates potable and sanitary water supplies at the household level through dedicated distribution lines and separate management of drinking-water and sanitary-water uses, thereby reducing reliance on centralized Drinking Water Withdrawal Stations (DWWS) and manual barrel-based water collection. Rather than representing a conventional dual-network or decentralized water-supply system, the HD-DWDN is proposed as a context-specific management and planning framework derived from the identified deficiencies and stakeholder priorities in this study; it has not yet been implemented or experimentally tested in Bajestan. Furthermore, the research calls for reallocating high-quality Qanat-derived water currently used in agriculture to urban supply, especially considering legal and ownership constraints. These integrated insights provide a conceptual foundation for enhancing water governance and planning in similarly arid and resource-constrained settings.