Water Consumption Variability Based on Cumulative Data From Non-simultaneous and Long-term Measurements

Abstract

Devices for water consumption measurement provide data from periodical readings in a non-simultaneous and cumulative manner. This may result in inaccuracies within the process of inference about the short-term habitual patterns of water supply network users. Maintaining systems at the interface between periodic and continuous processes requires the continuous improvement of research methodology. To obtain reliable results regarding the variability of water consumption, the first step should be to estimate it for each observation day by periodic averaging and a possible water balancing approach, but the analysis of the value of estimators obtained in this way usually does not allow for studying autocorrelation. However, other methods indicate the existence of multiplicative parameters characterizing short- and long-term variations in water demand. The purpose of this study is to create a new and deterministic method for tackling the problem associated with a lack of short-term detailed data with fuzzy time series using a multiplicative model for water consumption. Satisfactory results have been obtained, demonstrating that the dispersed data, received in a cumulative manner for random periods of measurement, can be analyzed by the methodology of proposed statistical inference. The observed variability in water consumption may be used in the planning and modernization of water supply systems, development of water demand patterns, hydraulic models, and in the creation of forecasting models of water consumption.