Assessing the Impact of SARS-CoV-2 on Water Consumption in São Paulo State, Brazil
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 148, Issue 11
Abstract
The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in 2020 led to a significant change in human behaviors, mainly because of the quarantine to avoid the spread of the virus. Measures affected both economic activities and citizens’ behaviors as they developed more intense hygiene habits to avoid contamination and switched to home offices. These exceptional behaviors also affected the way that water is consumed and need to be fully understood to manage supply systems. Therefore, this study aims to investigate changes in residential and commercial water consumption in 31 municipalities in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, during SARS-CoV-2. To do this, the expected consumption for the first half of 2020 was forecasted using the Holt-Winters multiplicative method and compared with the data observed for the same period. In addition, we compared monthly records of new contaminations and the social distancing index to establish a correlation with changes in water consumption. The results show an average difference between forecasted and observed consumption equal to and for residential and commercial activities, respectively. For the first one, the consumption per capita increased at the rate of . The observed changes in consumption seem to be a consequence of hygiene habits, social distancing and the closing of nonessential services in commerce.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo (Sabesp) for providing the database. The researchers were supported by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), and by the Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa (USP). Authors also thank FAPESP # 14/50848-9 (INCTMC2—Nat. Inst. Sci. & Techn. Climate Change, Water Security) and FAPESP # 19/07665-4 (C4AI—Center for Artificial Intelligence).
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Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 148 • Issue 11 • November 2022
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© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Jan 8, 2021
Accepted: Jun 20, 2022
Published online: Aug 27, 2022
Published in print: Nov 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Jan 27, 2023
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