Effects of water tariff structures on water demand in Tokyo metropolis

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 235-242
Author(s):  
S. Takizawa ◽  
C. Iwasaki ◽  
K. Oguma
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Japanese Economy ◽  
Large Families ◽  
Tariff Structures ◽  
Annual Water ◽  
Tariff Structure ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Water Uses

As the socio-economic structure of Tokyo has changed over the last few decades, the water demand also has changed significantly. The bulk customers who use larger amounts of water gradually diminish, and the number of single and small households has increased dramatically. Analysis of the impact of such changes is necessary to give a clearer idea on the future water demand. In this paper, the effects of water tariff revision in 1994 on water consumption were analysed. Using the data obtained from Tokyo Metropolitan Waterworks, it was proved that the total annual water consumption after the change of water tariff structure in 1994 decreased significantly compared to the preceding years. The decreasing trend, however, started two years before the water tariff revision, which coincides with the downturn of the Japanese economy. In order to further analyse the contribution of customers classified by monthly water consumption, the numbers of customers in all water consumption classes were analysed for the years 1994 and 2001. The analysis on changes of the numbers of customers in each water consumption class revealed that the most significant reduction in water consumption took place in a water consumption class IV (31–100 m3/month), which comprises small businesses and large families. The reduction of water consumption by bulk customers with monthly water uses greater than 100 m3 was not so significant. The reduction in water consumption by medium to large users was partly augmented by the increasing number of single and small family users.

Do Households Respond to the Marginal or Average Price of Piped Water Services?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Cook ◽  
Daniel Brent
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Average Price ◽  
Natural Experiments ◽  
Price Response ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Marginal Prices ◽  
Tariff Structures ◽  
Tariff Structure ◽  
Marginal Price ◽  
Total Price

Water utilities commonly use complex, nonlinear tariff structures to balance multiple tariff objectives. When these tariffs change, how will customers respond? Do customers respond to the marginal volumetric prices embedded in each block, or do they respond to an average price? Because empirical demand estimation relies heavily on the answer to this question, it has been discussed in the water, electricity, and tax literatures for over 50 years. To optimize water consumption in an economically rational way, consumers must have knowledge of the tariff structure and their consumption. The former is challenging because of nonlinear tariffs and inadequate tariff information provided on bills; the latter is challenging because consumption is observed only once and with a lag (at the end of the period of consumption). A large number of empirical studies show that, when asked, consumers have poor knowledge about tariff structures, marginal prices, and (often) their water consumption. Several studies since 2010 have used methods with cleaner causal identification, namely regression discontinuity approaches that exploit natural experiments across changes in kinks in the tariff structure, changes in utility service area borders, changes in billing periods, or a combination. Three studies found clear evidence that consumers respond to average volumetric price. Two studies found evidence that consumers react to marginal prices, although in both studies the change in price may have been especially salient. One study did not explicitly rule out an average price response. Only one study examined responsiveness to average total price, which includes the fixed, nonvolumetric component of the bill. There are five messages for water professionals. First, inattention to complex tariff schedules and marginal prices should not be confused with inattention to all prices: customers do react to changes in prices, and prices should remain an important tool for managing scarcity and increasing economic efficiency. Second, there is substantial evidence that most customers do not understand complex tariffs and likely do not respond to changes in marginal price. Third, most studies have failed to clearly distinguish between average total price and average volumetric price, highlighting the importance of fixed charges in consumer perception. Fourth, evidence as of late 2020 pointed toward consumers’ responding to average volumetric price, but it may be that this simply better approximates average total price than marginal or expected marginal prices; no studies have explicitly tested this. Finally, although information treatments can likely increase customers’ understanding of complex tariffs (and hence marginal price), it is likely a better use of resources to simplify tariffs and pair increased volumetric charges with enhanced customer assistance programs to help poor customers, rather than relying on increasing block tariffs.

Quantitative assessment of residential water end uses and greywater generation in the City of Al Ain

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rezaul K. Chowdhury ◽  
Walid El-Shorbagy ◽  
Mwafag Ghanma ◽  
Assem El-Ashkar
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Logistic Distribution ◽  
Water Abundance ◽  
Internal Water ◽  
Al Ain ◽  
The City ◽  
Water Uses ◽  
End Uses

Diversification of water sources and water demand reduction are two vital tools in maintaining the security of urban water supplies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Reuse of greywater for non-potable end uses can be an effective alternative, but this resource has not yet received much attention in the UAE. Since the generation of greywater significantly differs from country to country – depending on age, gender, habits, lifestyle, living standards and the degree of water abundance – an attempt was made to estimate internal water consumption and greywater generation in the city of Al Ain, UAE. The frequency and water requirement for personal water uses (e.g. showers, ablutions, teeth brushing, hand washing, face washing and toilet flushing) and family water uses (e.g. laundry, dish washing and house cleaning) were estimated from about 100 villa-type detached homes randomly distributed across the city. A frequency analysis was carried out using normal, lognormal, gamma and logistic distribution. The estimated average generation rate of greywater was found to be 192 litres per capita per day, which is about 69% of the average internal water consumption. The generated greywater originates from showers (49%), ablutions (18%), laundry (10%) and washbasins (23%). Based on average quantities, it was shown that the generated greywater is sufficient to fulfil the non-potable water demand in houses, but further, more rigorous, investigation is required.

scholarly journals Quantifying the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on household water consumption patterns in England

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Halidu Abu-Bakar ◽  
Leon Williams ◽  
Stephen H. Hallett
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Demand Forecasting ◽  
Consumption Patterns ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Consumption Data ◽  
Household Water ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe COVID-19 lockdown has instigated significant changes in household behaviours across a variety of categories including water consumption, which in the south and east regions of England is at an all-time high. We analysed water consumption data from 11,528 households over 20 weeks from January 2020, revealing clusters of households with distinctive temporal patterns. We present a data-driven household water consumer segmentation characterising households’ unique consumption patterns and we demonstrate how the understanding of the impact of these patterns of behaviour on network demand during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown can improve the accuracy of demand forecasting. Our results highlight those groupings with the highest and lowest impact on water demand across the network, revealing a significant quantifiable change in water consumption patterns during the COVID-19 lockdown period. The implications of the study to urban water demand forecasting strategies are discussed, along with proposed future research directions.

Drainage and sewage system performance – Consequences of reductions in toilet flush volume

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 576-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabella P Valencio ◽  
Orestes M Gonçalves
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
System Performance ◽  
Water Shortage ◽  
Water Volume ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Sewage System ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact

This study aims to evaluate impacts of reducing toilet flush volume from 6.8 to 4.8 Lpf with laboratory and field studies. In laboratory, 260 tests were performed including water consumption, waste removal and solid transport tests, in 20 different toilets produced by national and international manufacturers. These tests demonstrated that a simple reduction in flush tank water level was not a viable solution for reducing flush volume, due to flush energy loss. Toilets are designed to work with certain water volume, and reducing this volume without studying the consequences that this could cause, can make with the toilet fail. Toilets approved according the standards ABNT NBR15097, ABNT NBR15491 and ASMEA112.19.2 were installed in 10 houses. The monitoring of water consumption and sewage system videos were conducted during eight months. When 6.8-Lpf toilets were installed, the average toilet water consumption was 16.6L/inhabitant/day. For 4.8-Lpf toilets, this value increased to 17.6. The number of flushes/person/day increased after toilets replacement, indicating that users applied successive flushes. Videos showed blockages in sewage system horizontal pipes. Findings from this study suggest that low-flush toilets do not decrease total water use, and may result in increased water use. In addition, they can cause clogging and solid deposit on sewage system. Practical application: Many management failures have affected the world water availability. Water demand has increased with population growth, and unless the equilibrium between water demand and supply is restored, the world will face increasing water shortage. However, it is essential to study the way of reducing water consumption. Without an effective analysis, instead of bringing benefits to population, water consumption reduction can lead to clogging and negative consequences on sewage system performance, causing disorder to them. It is recommended that manufacturers did not reduce the toilet water consumption without a study on the impact caused on the sewage systems, as well as designers should be careful when specifying sanitary appliances.

scholarly journals Urban Water Demand Prediction for a City That Suffers from Climate Change and Population Growth: Gauteng Province Case Study

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1885 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salah L. Zubaidi ◽  
Sandra Ortega-Martorell ◽  
Hussein Al-Bugharbee ◽  
Ivan Olier ◽  
Khalid S. Hashim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Population Growth ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Search Algorithm ◽  
Water System ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Ann Model ◽  
Gauteng Province ◽  
The Impact

The proper management of a municipal water system is essential to sustain cities and support the water security of societies. Urban water estimating has always been a challenging task for managers of water utilities and policymakers. This paper applies a novel methodology that includes data pre-processing and an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) optimized with the Backtracking Search Algorithm (BSA-ANN) to estimate monthly water demand in relation to previous water consumption. Historical data of monthly water consumption in the Gauteng Province, South Africa, for the period 2007–2016, were selected for the creation and evaluation of the methodology. Data pre-processing techniques played a crucial role in the enhancing of the quality of the data before creating the prediction model. The BSA-ANN model yielded the best result with a root mean square error and a coefficient of efficiency of 0.0099 mega liters and 0.979, respectively. Moreover, it proved more efficient and reliable than the Crow Search Algorithm (CSA-ANN), based on the scale of error. Overall, this paper presents a new application for the hybrid model BSA-ANN that can be successfully used to predict water demand with high accuracy, in a city that heavily suffers from the impact of climate change and population growth.

scholarly journals Sustainable management of water resources in terms of the water needs for agricultural purposes in small rural communes based on the example of the Grybów commune, Poland

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-76
Author(s):  
Marek Kopacz ◽  
Agnieszka Kowalczyk ◽  
Sylwester Smoroń ◽  
Zbigniew Ostrach
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Production Data ◽  
Permanent Grassland ◽  
Current Water ◽  
Annual Water

AbstractThe article presents the results of the analysis of water needs in agricultural production of the Grybów commune (the district of Nowy Sącz, the Małopolska province). The aim of this study was to determine both the current water needs for agricultural purposes as well as changes in this regard based on structural and production data. The guidelines specified in the Ordinance of the Minister of Infrastructure of 14 January 2002 concerning average norms of water consumption were applied to determine water needs. The average annual water demand of crops together with permanent grassland (meadows, pastures) amounts to 23.7 mln m3, of which about 2.15 mln m3 is for winter wheat, 1.92 mln m3 for potatoes and 17.6 mln m3 for permanent grassland. Significant amounts of water (over 130,000 m3) are used also for watering home gardens and cultivating vegetables in plastic tunnels and greenhouses. Water needs for animals farming reach about 235,000 m3 in a year. Most water is needed for farming the cattle. It is predicted that the demand for water in the agricultural sector of the commune will increase by about 5.5% by 2030. Therefore, the activities monitoring the awareness of water saving and proper water management among the population of the villages are important.

Trend analysis of domestic water consumption depending upon social, cultural, economic parameters

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 61-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.H. Kim ◽  
S.H. Choi ◽  
J.Y. Koo ◽  
S.I. Choi ◽  
I.H. Hyun
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Trend Analysis ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Distribution Systems ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Consumption Patterns ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
The Impact

Designs of water distribution systems and water resources planning and management can be obtained from a comprehensive investigation and analysis of water consumption data in real life systems. Water consumption patterns for domestic purposes were monitored at 145 households over a three-year period. Electric flow meters were installed at the ends of all of the household water taps. Water consumption patterns were analyzed to configure the water demand trends for social and cultural factors. Economic factors such as monthly income and the area of the floor plan were investigated to determine the impact of resident wealth on the patterns of water consumption. Water use data collected by a public water resources management firm in Korea, Kwater, had been filtered using both physical and probabilistic criteria to improve the credibility of the analysis. Both the Mann-Kendall and Spearman's Rho tests were used to perform the trend analysis. Distinct factors in the patterns of water consumption can be determined to cause both increasing and decreasing trends in water use. Analysis of this data provides the basis of parameter configuration for a reasonable design of a domestic water-demand prediction model.

Prediction of urban water demand on the basis of Engel's coefficient and Hoffmann index: case studies in Beijing and Jinan, China

2010 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 410-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhang Zhi-guo ◽  
Shao Yi-sheng ◽  
Xu Zong-xue
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Industrial Water ◽  
Demand Model ◽  
Urban Water Demand ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Demand Models ◽  
Two Cities ◽  
Water Uses

Domestic and industrial water uses are the most important segment of urban water consumption. Traditional urban water demand models are usually based on water consumption quotas or statistical relationships, which usually overestimate urban water demands. The efficiency of domestic and industrial water uses is associated with living standards and levels of industrialization. The correlation coefficient between per capita water consumption and Engel's Coefficient in Beijing and Jinan is 0.62 and 0.53, respectively. These values are much smaller than the correlation between added industrial value and the Hoffmann Index in Beijing (0.95) and Jinan (0.90). Demand models for urban water consumption, including a domestic water demand model based on Engel's Coefficient and an industrial water demand model based on the Hoffmann Index, were developed in this study to predict urban water demand in Beijing and Jinan for 2020. The results show that the models can effectively capture the trends of urban water demand. Urban water consumption in these two cities from 1995 to 2007 was used to calibrate the models. The coefficients of determination for residential and industrial water uses were 0.93 and 0.68 in Beijing, and 0.79 and 0.64 in Jinan. Social, economic and climate scenarios for Beijing and Jinan in 2020 were generated according to the Urban Master Plans for these two cities, and they formed the basis for predictions of water consumption in 2020. The results show that total water consumption will increase by 67.6% in Jinan and 33.0% in Beijing when compared with consumption from 2007.

scholarly journals The Use of Cluster Analysis to Evaluate the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Daily Water Demand Patterns

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 5772
Author(s):  
Paulina Dzimińska ◽  
Stanisław Drzewiecki ◽  
Marek Ruman ◽  
Klaudia Kosek ◽  
Karol Mikołajewski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Supply Networks ◽  
Water Demands ◽  
Diurnal Distribution ◽  
Demand Patterns ◽  
The Impact

Proper determination of unitary water demand and diurnal distribution of water consumption (water consumption histogram) provides the basis for designing, dimensioning, and all analyses of water supply networks. It is important in the case of mathematical modelling of flows in the water supply network, particularly during the determination of nodal water demands in the context of Extended Period Simulation (EPS). Considering the above, the analysis of hourly water consumption in selected apartment buildings was performed to verify the justification of the application of grouping by means of k-means clustering. The article presents a detailed description of the adopted methodology, as well as the obtained results in the form of synthetic distributions of hourly water consumption, and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on their change.

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