Factors affecting the variability of household water use in Melbourne,Australia |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Infrastructure Engineering, Melbourne School of Engineering, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia;2. CSIRO Land and Water, Highett, Victoria 3190, Australia;3. Urban Water Balance Unit, Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria 3001, Australia;4. Yarra Valley Water, Mitcham, Victoria 3132, Australia;5. ICARDA, P.O. Box 2416, Cairo, Egypt;1. Ruhr University Bochum, Geography Department, Landscape Ecology and Biogeography Group, Germany;2. Ruhr University Bochum, Geography Department, Geomatics/Remote Sensing Group, Germany;1. School of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran;1. School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University Australia, Bundaberg Campus, University Drive, Bundaberg, QLD 4670, Australia;2. School of Engineering and technology, Central Queensland University Australia, Bruce Highway, Rockhampton, QLD 4702, Australia;3. Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, Port Macquarie, NSW 2444, Australia;1. Department of Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia;2. Integrated Water and Land Management Program, ICARDA, Cairo, Egypt;3. City West Water Corporation, Footscray, Victoria 3011, Australia;4. Urban Water Balance Unit, Bureau of Meteorology, VIC 3001, Australia |
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| Abstract: | This study investigates the variability of household water use in Melbourne with the aim of improving the current understanding of factors affecting residential water use. This understanding is critical to predicting household water demand, particularly at an appropriate spatial and temporal resolution to support Integrated Urban Water Management based planning and to improve the understanding on how different household water demands respond to demand management strategies. The study used two sets of data each collected from 837 households under significantly different water use conditions in the years 2003 and 2011. Data from each household consist of the household characteristics and quarterly metre readings. Ordinary Least Square regression analysis followed by detailed analysis of each factor was used to identify key factors affecting household water use. The variables studied are household size, typology of dwelling, appliance efficiency, presence of children under 12 years, presence of children aged between 12 and 18 years, tenancy, dwelling age, presence of swimming pool, evaporative cooler, and dishwasher. All of them except presence of children aged between 12 and 18 years, tenancy and dwelling age were identified as variables that contribute to the variability of household water use in Melbourne. The study also found that the explanatory capacity of these variables increases with decreasing water use. This paper also discusses the significance of the explanatory variables, their impact and how they vary over the seasons and years. The variables found in this study can be used to inform improved prediction and modelling of residential water demand. The paper also explores other possible drivers to explain residential water use in light of the moderate explanatory capacity of the variables selected for this study thus, provides useful insights into future research into water demand modelling. |
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| Keywords: | Water demand determinant Household water demand Variability across households Urban residential water use Demand prediction |
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