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Water
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Water Demand Management
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Water Demand Management

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Water Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2021) | Viewed by 17385

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Chad Staddon

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
University of the West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom
Interests: urban water demand; water security; water services
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Álvaro-Francisco Morote

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Experimental and Social Sciences Education, University of Valencia, 46010 València, Spain
Interests: didactics of geography and social sciences; climatology; climate change; natural hazards (floods, droughts, etc.); natural resources (water); landscape and field trips; social representations of school students; teachers in training and in service; textbook analysis; didactic proposals
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

After more than a century of alleviating water shortages by growing supply through new dams, reservoirs, etc. (supply side solutions), water managers around the world are now turning to the management of demand as a new solutions paradigm. This paradigm shift has in part been driven by a realization that we risk exceeding planetary boundaries (Rockstrom et al., 2009) if we predicate future growth on an unending expansion of supply. Water demand management includes any or all of the following:

  • Better data and analytics allowing for deeper understanding of water user behaviours;
  • Data-driven assessment of “hard” (physical fixtures and fittings) and “soft” (public education and price elasticities of demand) interventions to reduce water use;
  • Topical focus on different types of water users: urban, rural, industrial, agricultural, etc.

The articles in this Special Issue represent a cross-section of current thinking about the above topics and will serve as a useful reference point for scholars and practitioners alike as they grapple with the global challenge of doing more with less water.

We are keen to receive submissions representing both empirical and theoretical developments in the area of water demand management as well as case studies of WDM policies operating at different spatial scales and regional contexts.

Prof. Dr. Chad Staddon
Dr. Alvaro Morote
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • water
  • demand management
  • sustainability
  • soft path solutions
  • price elasticity of demand

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 2634 KiB  
Article
Promoting Water Efficiency and Hydrocitizenship in Young People’s Learning about Drought Risk in a Temperate Maritime Country
by Verity Jones, Sarah Whitehouse, Lindsey McEwen, Sara Williams and Luci Gorell Barnes
Water 2021, 13(18), 2599; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13182599 - 21 Sep 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3485
Abstract
Engaging young citizens with drought risk and positive water behaviours is essential in domestic water demand management within the wider climate crisis. This paper evaluates a new research-informed, picture book—‘DRY: The Diary of a Water Superhero’—that explores UK drought. The book’s development was [...] Read more.
Engaging young citizens with drought risk and positive water behaviours is essential in domestic water demand management within the wider climate crisis. This paper evaluates a new research-informed, picture book—‘DRY: The Diary of a Water Superhero’—that explores UK drought. The book’s development was underpinned by research within the Drought Risk and You (DRY) project. The book’s concept and storyline were co-produced by an interdisciplinary team, including a creative practitioner. This focused on key themes: drought definitions and types; drought myths; adaptation and young people’s (YP) agency. Characters and storyline were co-created to promote YP’s autonomy as change agents, and to encourage intergenerational and community learning. This paper evaluates the book from three perspectives: of YP, trainee teachers (TT) and teachers. Emergent themes are triangulated: drought as a sensitive issue, subject knowledge and changes in behaviour, and YP’s misconceptions about drought and place. TT also contemplated their improved subject knowledge and barriers to engaging with positive water behaviours. Teachers reflected on classroom use of the book, prior experiences about teaching drought, curriculum context and st/age of YP engaged. This paper reflects on how these insights feed into school practice and water industry outreach, in developing effective learning resources that promote a valuing of water, behaviour change and wider hydrocitizenship among YP and their communities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Demand Management)
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28 pages, 2735 KiB  
Article
Seasonal Variation of Rainy and Dry Season Per Capita Water Consumption in Freetown City Sierra Leone
by Salmatta Ibrahim A, Fayyaz Ali Memon and David Butler
Water 2021, 13(4), 499; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13040499 - 15 Feb 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4383
Abstract
Ensuring a sustainable urban water supply for developing/low-income countries requires an understanding of the factors affecting water consumption and technical evidence of individual consumption which can be used to design an improved water demand projection. This paper compared dry and rainy season water [...] Read more.
Ensuring a sustainable urban water supply for developing/low-income countries requires an understanding of the factors affecting water consumption and technical evidence of individual consumption which can be used to design an improved water demand projection. This paper compared dry and rainy season water sources available for consumption and the end-use volume by each person in the different income groups. The study used a questionnaire survey to gather household data for a total of 398 households, which was analysed to develop the relationship between per capita water consumption characteristics: Socio-economic status, demographics, water use behaviour around indoor and outdoor water use activities. In the per capita water consumption patterns of Freetown, a seasonal variation was found: In the rainy season, per capita water consumption was found to be about 7% higher than the consumption for the full sample, whilst in the dry season, per capita water consumption was almost 14% lower than the full survey. The statistical analysis of the data shows that the average per capita water consumption for both households increases with income for informal slum-, low-, middle- and high-income households without piped connection (73, 78, 94 and 112 L/capita/day) and with connection (91, 97, 113 and 133 L/capita/day), respectively. The collected data have been used to develop 20 statistical models using the multiple linear stepwise regression method for selecting the best predictor variable from the data set. It can be seen from the values that the strongest significant relationships of per capita consumption are with the number of occupants (R = −0.728) in the household and time spent to fetch water for use (R = −0.711). Furthermore, the results reveal that the highest fraction of end use is showering (18%), then bathing (16%), followed by toilet use (14%). This is not in agreement with many developing countries where toilet use represents the largest component of indoor end use. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Demand Management)
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17 pages, 2500 KiB  
Article
Campus Study of the Impact of Ultra-Low Flush Toilets on Sewerage Networks and Water Usage
by Peter Melville-Shreeve, Sarah Cotterill, Alex Newman and David Butler
Water 2021, 13(4), 419; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13040419 - 05 Feb 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3399
Abstract
Water demand management often focuses on quantifying the benefits of water efficiency rather than the potential impact of reduced flows on the sewer network. This study assessed the impact of a high-density deployment of ultra-low flush toilets (ULFT). A pre-installation washroom survey was [...] Read more.
Water demand management often focuses on quantifying the benefits of water efficiency rather than the potential impact of reduced flows on the sewer network. This study assessed the impact of a high-density deployment of ultra-low flush toilets (ULFT). A pre-installation washroom survey was carried out in July 2018. Water demand and sewer network condition were assessed ahead of the installation of 119 ULFTs and a real-time monitoring system across seven buildings on the University of Exeter campus. ULFTs were flushed 257,925 times in 177 days saving an estimated 2287 m3 per annum (compared to traditional 6 litre WCs). The annual cost saving of this reduction is approximately £12,580/annum, assuming a volumetric cost of £5.50/m3 of water. Mean discharge to the sewer network reduced by 6 m3/day. In the six-month period, 95 maintenance issues were reported, equating to 1 in 2700 flushes (0.037%). However, the frequency of incidents decreased after an initial commissioning period. There is no evidence, from blockage reports or photographs of manhole flow conditions, that the risk of blockage in the sewer network increased as a result of the ULFT installation programme. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Demand Management)
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20 pages, 2003 KiB  
Article
Water Consumption and Management in Schools in the City of Alicante (Southern Spain) (2000–2017): Free Water Helps Promote Saving Water?
by Álvaro-Francisco Morote, María Hernández, Jorge Olcina and Antonio-Manuel Rico
Water 2020, 12(4), 1052; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12041052 - 08 Apr 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4546
Abstract
Studies on water in cities usually focus on household consumption. However, little attention has been given to non-household consumption and schools from a geographic perspective. The objectives of this research are to examine water consumption trends in schools in the city of Alicante [...] Read more.
Studies on water in cities usually focus on household consumption. However, little attention has been given to non-household consumption and schools from a geographic perspective. The objectives of this research are to examine water consumption trends in schools in the city of Alicante (Southern Spain) between 2000–2017, revise how water use is managed in these centers, and, lastly, examine initiatives aimed at environmental education and saving water in these schools. The results obtained from a survey of school directors indicate a low level of participation because only 14 of the 88 educational centres in the city chose to collaborate in this research. Second, and with regard to water trend consumption, in 2017, water consumption increased by 1.76% in comparison with the average for the period of 2000 to 2004, in contrast with a 38.9% fall in non-household general consumption in the city. Lastly, measures to encourage water saving and environmental education in schools are limited. This tendency is explained by the increase in the number of users over the last five years. Second, the water bill is not paid directly by schools’ directors and, thus, ‘free’ water is a factor that does not incentivise savings. A third is the little investment made in the installation of water-saving devices, water-saving plans, or action taken to promote the use of non-conventional water resources to the watering garden. Lastly, low promotion of environmental education or incentives for savings in schools. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Demand Management)
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