Climate, Population, and Water Demand

A detailed study of the effect of climate and population on the water demand of 133 towns in Sweden shows that the colder the climate the greater the total as well as the domestic water demand and public use. In addition, trends indicate that the larger and more complete the extent of metering, the less the total per capita daily demand and the losses. The towns chosen for the study lie between 55○ and 68○ N Latitude. Trends also indicate that the colder the climate, the less the losses; the smaller the per capita rate of total daily demand, the greater the maximum-day factor; and the colder the climate, the less the maximum-day factor. Small populations had a smaller domestic demand and greater maximum-day factor. The smaller the maximum-day factor, the larger was the minimum-day factor. Cost of water apparently has no effect on domestic demand.