Abstract

This research investigated relationships between the most notable characteristics of end-use events, namely, event duration, volume, and intensity, in order to categorize water use as being indoor or outdoor. Three classification models were developed, calibrated, and compared using more than 200,000 household end-use events that were recorded independently in Australia and South Africa. The three methods were also compared to a practice-based limit classification scheme. The classification model presented in this paper correctly apportions 81% of the indoor end-use event volumes and 98% of the outdoor end-use event volumes, thus reinforcing the value of basic smart water meter data sets as a source of useful information for water demand management.

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Data Availability Statement

Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, including the EDS algorithm, SVM code, and RF code.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the detailed and valuable comments from two anonymous reviewers. We believe this is a much stronger paper as a result.

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Go to Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 147Issue 12December 2021

History

Received: May 12, 2020
Accepted: Jul 17, 2021
Published online: Sep 21, 2021
Published in print: Dec 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Feb 21, 2022

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Postdoctoral Researcher, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Stellenbosch Univ., Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa (corresponding author). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1705-8463. Email: [email protected]
Khoi Nguyen [email protected]
Research Fellow, Cities Research Institute and School of Engineering and Built Environment, Griffith Univ., Gold Coast, QLD 4222, Australia. Email: [email protected]
Associate Professor, Cities Research Institute and School of Engineering and Built Environment, Griffith Univ., Brisbane, QLD 4111, Australia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9219-2120. Email: [email protected]
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Stellenbosch Univ., Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7360-6375. Email: [email protected]
Professor, Civil Engineering Program, Univ. of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0071. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8795-1583. Email: [email protected]

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