Impact of Emerging Water Savings Scenarios on Performance of Urban Water Networks
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 146, Issue 1
Abstract
Concerns over the impacts of urban growth have prompted the development and adoption of water-demand management strategies. Water and energy savings from increasingly efficient technologies, diversified water sources, and water savings policies are typically quantified from an individual demand-side basis, but network-wide potential is not well studied. This paper studies the effects of residential demand profiles on the performance of urban water networks, in response to emerging demand management strategies. Hydraulic simulations were conducted to assess the performance of base and conservation demand scenarios. Five metrics of network performance are suggested to evaluate responses to scenarios: water loss, water age, peak flow, energy input, and loss. The results revealed that network performance for energy and flow metrics improved under the conservation scenario; however, the conservation scenario had a negative impact on water age and losses throughout the network. The results indicate that the potential benefits from these demand profiles cannot be fully realized without adjustments in network operation and may come at a cost in terms of water quality. This work suggests an initial tool for evaluating network-wide effects of demand management strategies.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available from the corresponding author by request.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the University of Texas at Austin Startup Grant and under Cooperative Agreement No. 83595001 awarded by the US Environmental Protection Agency to the University of Texas at Austin. It has not been formally reviewed by the EPA. The views expressed in this document are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Agency. EPA does not endorse any products or commercial services mentioned in this publication.
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Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 146 • Issue 1 • January 2020
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©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Aug 23, 2018
Accepted: May 6, 2019
Published online: Oct 23, 2019
Published in print: Jan 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Mar 23, 2020
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