A procedure to support the distribution of drinking water for victims of drought: the case of the Brazilian semi-arid region

• Published in: Transportation research procedia (Online) Vol. 47; pp. 331 - 339
• Main Authors: Vieira, Yesus E.M., Bandeira, Renata A.M., Lopes, Luiz A.S., Silva, Orivalde S., Batista, Marcílio M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 2020
• Subjects: Drought; Operations management1. Introduction; Transport; Drought; Transport; Operations management1. Introduction
• ISSN: 2352-1465; 2352-1465
• DOI: 10.1016/j.trpro.2020.03.106

Although there has been an increase in the number of researches involving humanitarian logistics, few studies address slow disasters, such as drought. Although this phenomenon is one of the worst types of disaster in terms of casualties, water distribution to those affected by the drought still lacks academic development, and few studies guide local public managers regarding the efficient use of available resources, guaranteeing a high service level to the population. This paper presents a procedure for the implementation of transport and routing of water delivery. By this procedure, we can evaluate the strategy of complementary use of the water supply of drilled artesian wells. It also provides a contextualized routing tool for the practices and policies of motorized water distribution, commonly found in scenarios of water shortages. The algorithms have been implemented considering the capacitated vehicle routing problem (CVRP), providing a friendly-user tool that helps choosing water sources to be activated and in the definition of the routes between these and the points supply. Results have been validated in the Brazilian Semi - arid region, showing improvement in the current logistical performance of drought coping, in advantageous scales of operation in terms of costs and efficiency.