scholarly journals Exploring the effects of domestic water management measures to water conservation attitudes using agent based modelling

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 552-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ifigeneia Koutiva ◽  
Christos Makropoulos
Keyword(s):  
Water Conservation ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Agent Based Modelling ◽  
Conservation Attitudes ◽  
Policy Measures

The urban water system's sustainable evolution requires managing both water supply and water demand within a complete urban water cycle framework. Such an approach, however, requires tools to analyse and simulate the complete system including both physical and cultural environments. One of the main challenges, in this regard, is the design and development of tools able to simulate the society's water demand behaviour and the way policy measures affect it. The effects of these policy measures are a function of personal attitudes that subsequently lead to the formation of people's behaviours. This work focuses on the exploration of social impact theory on water conservation attitudes of urban households. A model is designed and implemented using agent based modelling. The developed model's ability to represent social structure and mechanisms of social influences is tested against historical data from the 1988–1994 drought of Athens, Greece as a case study.

scholarly journals Agent based modelling of domestic water demand for adaptive urban water management

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ιφιγένεια Κουτίβα
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Urban Water Management ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Domestic Water Demand ◽  
Agent Based Modelling ◽  
Impact Theory

Αντικείμενο της διδακτορικής διατριβής είναι η δημιουργία μιας νέας μεθόδου προσομοίωσης της συμπεριφοράς της ζήτησης νερού των αστικών νοικοκυριών, χρησιμοποιώντας μοντέλα παραγόντων –ευφυών πρακτόρων (Agent Based Modelling - ΑΒΜ). Μέχρι τώρα, η πιο κοινή προσέγγιση ήταν να συμπεριλαμβάνονται στα εργαλεία διαχείρισης των υδατικών πόρων, χρονοσειρές οικιακής ζήτησης νερού παραγόμενες είτε ακολουθώντας τις ιστορικές τάσεις ή προβάλλοντας μελλοντικές απαιτήσεις.Ωστόσο, σε αυτή την έρευνα, προτείνεται μια εναλλακτική μέθοδος για τη παραγωγή χρονοσειρών οικιακής ζήτησης νερού, προσομοιώνοντας τη συμπεριφορά των νοικοκυριών όπως αυτή διαμορφώνεται από τις κοινωνικές, πολιτικές, οικονομικές και τεχνολογικές συνθήκες.Το βασικό κίνητρο της έρευνας αυτής, ήταν η ανάγκη για τη δημιουργία κανόνων που προσομοιώνουν τη συμπεριφορά των νοικοκυριών. Προς την κατεύθυνση αυτή, αναπτύχθηκε ένα εργαλείο ΑΒΜ, που ονομάζεται Urban Water Agents’ Behaviour (UWAB), το οποίο προσομοιώνει τη συμπεριφορά της ζήτησης νερού ενός νοικοκυριού με βάση: (α) τη θεωρία σύνθετων δικτύων (Albert and Barabasi, 2000)που αντιπροσωπεύει τους κοινωνικούς δεσμούς που δύναται να επηρεάσουν την οικιακή ζήτηση νερού, (β) τη θεωρία της κοινωνικής επιρροής (social impact theory) (Latane, 1981) για την προσομοίωση της επιρροής που ασκούν πολιτικές και άλλοι εξωτερικοί παράγοντες στη συμπεριφορά των οικιακών χρηστών νερού, (γ) τη θεωρία της σχεδιασμένης συμπεριφοράς (theory of plannedbehaviour) (Ajzen, 1991) η οποία εξυπηρετεί την αποδόμηση της συμπεριφοράς του οικιακού χρήστη νερού στα συστατικά της με σκοπό τη μοντελοποίηση της πρόθεσης του και (δ) τη στατιστική μηχανική(Shell, 2014) η οποία χρησιμοποιείται για την προσομοίωση της στοχαστικής φύσης της ανθρώπινης συμπεριφοράς. Η συμπεριφορά της ζήτησης νερού των νοικοκυριών και η επιρροή της από τις πολιτικές διαχείρισης και από τις περιβαλλοντικές πιέσεις προσομοιώνεται στο μοντέλο UWAB. Στη συνέχεια, η συμπεριφορά αυτή μεταφράζεται σε συγκεκριμένο όγκο νερού μέσω της προσομοίωσης των συσκευών κατανάλωσης νερού ενός νοικοκυριού χρησιμοποιώντας το εργαλείο Urban Water Optionneering Tool(UWOT) (Makropoulos et al., 2008). Η υλοποίηση της παραπάνω προτεινόμενης μεθοδολογίας πραγματοποιήθηκε με τη σύνδεση του μοντέλου UWAB με το εργαλείο UWOT, δημιουργώντας την πλατφόρμα μοντελοποίησης UWAB-UWOT. Για την επαλήθευση της προτεινόμενης μεθοδολογίας χρησιμοποιήθηκε το αστικό σύστημα ύδρευσης της Αθήνας, το οποίο και προσομοιώθηκε στην πλατφόρμα UWAB-UWAT. Πιο συγκεκριμένα,μελετήθηκε η εξέλιξη της οικιακής ζήτησης νερού κατά την περίοδο εκτεταμένης ξηρασίας που σημειώθηκε στην Αθήνα, κατά την περίοδο 1988 – 1994. Αρχικά, το μοντέλο βαθμονομήθηκε και επαληθεύτηκε χρησιμοποιώντας μηνιαία δεδομένα οικιακής ζήτησης νερού για την παραπάνω περίοδο.Στη συνέχεια, αναπτύχθηκαν και μελετήθηκαν εναλλακτικές στρατηγικές διαχείρισης της ζήτησης νερού βάσει των εναλλακτικών μελλοντικών σεναρίων ζήτησης. Από τα αποτελέσματα προέκυψε ότι η σύνδεση ενός μοντέλου ABM, για την προσομοίωση της συμπεριφοράς των νοικοκυριών, με ένα μοντέλο προσομοίωσης του αστικού κύκλου νερού, δίνει τη δυνατότητα σύνθεσης υπολογιστικών πειραμάτων με στόχο την αξιολόγηση εναλλακτικών στρατηγικών διαχείρισης της οικιακής ζήτησης νερού από τις ρυθμιστικές αρχές.

scholarly journals Exploring the Effects of Alternative Water Demand Management Strategies Using an Agent-Based Model

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 2216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koutiva ◽  
Makropoulos
Keyword(s):  
Water Demand ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Demand Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Stress Factors ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Water Demand Management ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Management Measures ◽  
Alternative Water

Integrated urban water management calls for tools that can analyze and simulate the complete cycle including the physical, technical, and social dimensions. Scientific advances created simulation tools able to simulate the urban water cycle as realistically as possible. However, even these tools cannot effectively simulate the social component and quantify how behaviors are shaped by external stress factors, such as climate and policies. In this work, an agent-based modeling tool, urban water agents' behavior (UWAB) is used to simulate the water demand behavior of households and how it is influenced by water demand management strategies and drought conditions. UWAB was applied in Athens, Greece to explore the effect of different water demand management strategies to the reliability of the Athens hydrosystem. The results illustrate the usability of UWAB to support decision makers in identifying how “strict” water demand management measures are needed and when and for how long to deploy them in order to alleviate potential water supply issues.

Sustainable homes: a methodology for assessing influence on regional water demand

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Paula Micou ◽  
Gordon Mitchell ◽  
Adrian McDonald
Keyword(s):  
Water Conservation ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Government Regulation ◽  
Model Development ◽  
Performance Standards ◽  
Lifestyle Changes ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Domestic Water Demand ◽  
Spreadsheet Model ◽  
Behavioural Aspects

Growth in population and households, and lifestyle changes are factors placing water resources under increasing stress in some parts of the UK. The Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH), a government regulation defining performance standards for new dwellings, is one measure that may act to counter rising domestic water demand. One goal of the CSH is to reduce potable water use per capita in each home through implementation of water conservation measures. This paper reports on work in progress that aims to understand the likely impact of the CSH on regional and national water demand. A spreadsheet model is being developed to assess domestic water demand under a range of CSH uptake scenarios, as well as a range of demographic, technical, economic and behavioural aspects of water consumption and conservation. The paper discusses the model development and presents some preliminary results for the Yorkshire region.

Encouraging Water Saving: the Role of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Intention

1991 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 71-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margot Murphy ◽  
Raymond Watson ◽  
Susan Moore
Keyword(s):  
Behaviour Change ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Cognitive Model ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
General Level ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Information Processing Model ◽  
The Individual

Few would doubt the need, in today's world, to promote behaviours that actively conserve environmental resources. At a general level, this often involves encouraging behaviours that involve a short-term cost for the individual in order to avoid a long-term negative outcome for the community. Examples of such behaviour are, taking the trouble to turn off lights to save electricity and fixing leaking taps to conserve water. It is these latter kinds of behaviours, namely those associated with the efficient use of water resources, which are the focus of this paper.Faced with the high economic and practical costs of attempting to supply unlimited amounts of water for the Melbourne metropolitan area, the Board of Works has sought, by a number of means, to persuade its consumers to use water more efficiently. One aspect of its strategy was to promote water conservation within the educational curriculum by designing various educational materials and programs for different school levels. These and other promotional materials were made available to schools in the Melbourne metropolitan area in 1988. Prior to the distribution of this material, the data reported in this paper were gathered as the first stage of a longitudinal evaluation of the Board's education strategy.The assumption underlying the Board of Works' educational program was that behaviour change is preceded by changes in knowledge. For example, it was assumed that a person, knowing something about the water cycle, and the system by which water is fed into our taps, would believe that it is important not to waste water. The result would be active water conservation in daily life. Some basis for this assumption has been provided by the report on domestic water use in Perth, Western Australia (Metropolitan Water Authority, 1985), where knowledge and attitudes were found to be predictors of actual water consumption. Such an assumption is based in a general way on a cognitive or information processing model of behaviour change, in which changes in behaviour are seen as proceeding from changes in relevant information or knowledge. This cognitive model is the basis for many social education programs both in schools and in the community. For example, the Quit Campaign and the AIDS campaign have both used strategies that aimed to inform the public about particular health-related behaviours.

Impact of residential water saving devices on urban water security: A case of Beijing, China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linrui Shi ◽  
Lizhen Wang ◽  
Haihong Li ◽  
Yong Zhao ◽  
Jianhua Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Conservation ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Water Shortage ◽  
Water Saving ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Growing Economy ◽  
Beijing China ◽  
Residential Water

Beijing is a city with severe water shortage, and the rapidly growing economy and population has led to an increasing water demand for households. Thus, water conservation has become the...

scholarly journals Aura, the city of colour – Australia's shining example of widescale integrated water cycle management

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 737-744 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. McAlister ◽  
M. Stephens ◽  
A. Allen
Keyword(s):  
Water Conservation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Stormwater Treatment ◽  
Sewer System ◽  
Potable Reuse ◽  
Project Sustainability ◽  
The City ◽  
System Designs

Aura, the ‘City of Colour’, is a 48,000 person masterplanned community on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. Aura commenced construction in 2015 and will be developed over the next 25 years. Aura sets a benchmark in Australia regarding large scale urban water sustainability through the application of techniques such as rainwater capture and reuse, construction and operational stormwater treatment, water conservation, advanced sewer system designs and potentially a major stormwater harvesting and indirect potable reuse scheme. This paper outlines the journey taken in seeing Aura advance from ‘concept’ to ‘reality’, describes data collection undertaken and modelling tools applied and outlines activities being implemented at Aura to protect sensitive downstream environments and simultaneously deliver water cycle and project sustainability benefits.

scholarly journals Combating water scarcity through roof water harvesting: planning and design with stakeholders' perception in Sikkim (India)

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 799-810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bharat Chandra Kusre ◽  
P. K. Bora ◽  
Deependra Rai ◽  
Singam Suranjoy Singh ◽  
Aphiya Tana ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
The State ◽  
Water Harvesting ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Storage Structure ◽  
Groundwater Aquifer ◽  
Steep Terrain

Sikkim is one of the constituent states of India, endowed with huge water resources. However, due to steep terrain and non availability of a groundwater aquifer, water conservation is a challenge. The water received as rainfall drains away through the steep terrain in the deep valleys, thereby creating a water stress after withdrawal of the monsoon. To overcome such a situation, a study was undertaken to design a suitable rain water harvesting system for the state. To design a suitable water harvesting system, we estimated the water demand of the end users, assessed the water availability during the non-rainy period, and designed the volume of storage structure. The study revealed that more than 80% of the respondents experienced water stress during the period from December to March. The average daily water demand of individual households was observed to be around 400 litres. The rainfall pattern indicated that 90% of the rainfall is concentrated during 6 rainy months. On average, 24 consecutive dry days were observed in the state. The volume of storage structure obtained, based on water availability and demand, was 5 m3 per household. It is felt that this volume can take care of the domestic water demand.

scholarly journals Future Domestic Water Demand for Jeddah City

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-146
Author(s):  
Ahmed Samy Kamis Ahmed Samy Kamis
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Water Shortage ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Domestic Water Demand ◽  
Jeddah City ◽  
Domestic Use

The paper discusses the present and future (1431-1460 A.H.) water de-mand and water resources for the domestic use in Jeddah city. Projection of both water demand driven by population as well as water resources are illustrated. Three scenarios are presented representing high, moderate and low cases for the population. Under each case, the level of water shortage problem is addressed and it is shown that without water conservation Jeddah city will face sig¬nificant water shortage.

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