Water Science & Technology: Water Supply Vol 7 No 4 pp 1–8 © IWA Publishing 2007 doi:10.2166/ws.2007.108

Local water independency ratio (LWIR) as an index to define the sustainability of major cities in Asia

M. Han and S. Kim

This paper defines the Local Water Independency Ratio (LWR) as a new parameter for evaluating a city' s safety and sustainability in terms of water supply. The present LWR values of major Asian cities Seoul, Tokyo, Osaka, Beijing and Shanghai are compared. In order to increase the LWIR, non-structural alternatives and structural alternatives are suggested with regard to prioritize the ranking and the most suitable methods for these cities.

Keywords: Alternative supply; Asian cities; LWR; water independency; water supply

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