Decadal review of residential water demand analysis from a practical perspective

Abstract

Residential water demand has been extensively studied over more than four decades, but as yet there is no consensus on the best or most appropriate model from a practical perspective. Conservation and sustainability programs with new metering incentives have increased the necessity for an easy to use forecasting model for water resource management based on a better understanding of the factors driving residential water demand. Analytical techniques have increased in complexity, advancing with new tools for computing and data collection such as GIS and remote sensing. This paper presents a decadal review of how the residential water demand analysis have evolved over time with changes in price policies, conservation attitudes, technological improvements, and other factors explaining water demand. This paper will help provide the knowledge base for the future studies and recommendations are made for addressing/bridging the gap between drinking water industry and research community.

Sustainability Strategies at the Water–Energy Nexus: Renewable Energy and Decentralized Infrastructure

“…On the other hand, centralized water infrastructure can consume significant amounts of energy, especially in areas with poor source water quality that require extensive treatment or with service areas that require significant amounts of pumping. Some of the potential challenges faced by urban water systems include the following (Ganesan et al ; Güngör‐Demirci et al ; Dallman et al ; Tanverakul & Lee ; Lee et al , ): Complex pipe networks with wide distributions of ages and materials Dependency on imported water supplies Increasing demand for wastewater reuse High levels of impervious cover leading to greater stormwater runoff …”

“…Each type of customer group or class has opportunities for water conservation that could result in reduced energy use and a commensurate smaller carbon footprint (Younos & Parece ). Consumer‐related energy‐use efficiency practices include water conservation achieved by modifying consumer behaviors (Tanverakul & Lee , ; Parece et al ) and the increased use of in‐building water and energy‐saving fixtures (e.g., USEPA ). Another potential option is to integrate decentralized water infrastructure that uses locally available sources such as rainwater, thus reducing the energy attributed to long‐distance pumping.…”

Deriving Low-Cost, Dwelling-Level Statistics for Exploring Urban Sustainability: Income, Land Surface Temperature, Environmental Attitudes and Swimming Pool Ownership

“…It was believed that the quantity demanded would fall if prices were increased. This belief supported a large volume of research focusing on measuring the price elasticity of residential water demand (for a most recent review see [4]). The large volume of research in this area has resulted largely from a failure to 'explain' consumption according to economic models of 'demand'.…”

“…'Water stress' affects one quarter of cities worldwide [3]. Beyond the essential life-preserving requirements, water consumption as a function of economic, social and environmental variables remains largely unexplained despite 40 years of investigation [4].…”

“…Prior to the 1960's, water consumption was thought to be constant with changes in price [4]. With increased environmental concern for scarce resources during the 1970's, research began to investigate the determinants of consumption.…”