Scientific Results

This catalogue is obtained by conducting a systematic literature review of scientific studies and reviews related to monitoring, forecasting, and simulating the inland water cycle. The analysis maps scientific expertise across research groups and classifies findings by the type of inland water studied, application focus, and geographical scope. A gap analysis will identify missing research areas and assess their relevance to policymaking.

ID ▲ Type Year Authors Title Venue/Journal DOI Research type Water System Technical Focus Abstract Link with Projects Link with Tools Related policies ID
publications-3931 article 2023 Sattler, Bernhard Jonathan and Friesen, John W. and Tundis, Andrea and Pelz, Peter F. Modeling and Validation of Residential Water Demand in Agent-Based Models: A Systematic Literature Review 10.3390/w15030579 Current challenges, such as climate change or military conflicts, show the great importance of urban supply infrastructures. In this context, an open question is how different scenarios and crises can be studied in silico to assess the interaction between the needs of social systems and technical infrastructures. Agent-based modeling is a suitable method for this purpose. This review investigates (i) how agent-based models of residential water demand should be validated, (ii) how such models are commonly built and (iii) validated, and (iv) how these validation practices compare to the recommendations drawn from question (i). Therefore, a systematic literature review using the PRISMA framework is conducted. Out of 207 screened papers, 35 models are identified with an emphasis on highly realistic models (i.e., highly detailed and representing specific real-world systems) for planning, management, and policy of urban water resources. While some models are thoroughly validated, quantified validation distinct from calibration data should be emphasized and used to communicate the confidence in results and recommendations drawn from the models. Pattern-oriented validation, validation on multiple levels and on higher moments of aggregated statistics should be considered more often. These findings expand prior literature by providing a more extensive sample of reviewed articles and recommending specific approaches for the validation of models.
publications-3932 article 2022 Nemati, Mehdi and Nemati, Mehdi and Tran, Dat and Tran, Dat The Impact of COVID-19 on Urban Water Consumption in the United States Water 10.3390/w14193096 The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how we define β€_x009c_homeβ€_x009d_, which is recast as the new coffee shop, restaurant, entertainment center, and office during the pandemic. The shift toward working from home led to substantial changes in how consumers behave, affecting the consumption of resources in some cases for years to come. Using data from six water utilities in various states in the U.S., we investigated how water consumption has changed attributable to the implementation of stay-at-home (SAH) orders. The results indicated an overall increase of between 3.08\% and 13.65\% in daily water consumption during the SAH orders compared to the same period in 2018 and 2019, with the gaps closing as lockdown restrictions eased. The findings also revealed that the changes in water consumption across sectors and user groups were heterogeneous. Specifically, the results showed that total daily residential water demand during SAH orders in 2020 increased significantly, between 11.80\% and 13.65\%, relative to the same period in 2018 and 2019, but the changes in water consumption for non-residential properties headed in opposite directions with reductions between −22.53\% and −45.08\%. In addition, we found that the low-income groups did not change their water consumption even with the lockdown.
publications-3933 article 2021 Kadinski, Leonid and Kadinski, Leonid and Ostfeld, Avi and Ostfeld, Avi Considering COVID-19 pandemic reaction and response analogies in an agent-based modeling framework for water distribution system contamination response 10.1061/9780784483466.087 Contamination events in water distribution systems are emergencies which can cause distress in the population and require fast handling of the responsible utility manager. Various models have been built to explore the reactions of all relevant stakeholders during a contamination event or other emergencies and disasters utilizing agent-based modeling. None of them considers the social background and the possibly related psychological states of the affected population. This study proposes to use recent findings during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and draw analogies regarding response and reaction to a disaster on a major scale for implementing it in an agent-based model framework for reacting to a contamination event in a water network. A hydraulic simulation is coupled with an agent-based model which consists of consumer agents and a utility manager. Upon detection of anomalies in the water quality, the utility manager places mobile sensor equipment to emulate "contact tracing," determine endangered areas in the water network, and warn the consumer agents in real time about the geographical spread of the event through, e.g., social media. The consumer agents' actions are determined according to their social backgrounds, location in the water network, and possible symptoms from ingesting contaminated water by utilizing a fuzzy logic system. Results on an example application suggest that placing mobile equipment and warning consumers in real time is essential as a proper response to a contamination event. Furthermore, social background factors like age or employment status of the population can play a vital role in the response of consumer agents to a water quality contamination event in a water distribution system. Β© ASCE.
publications-3934 article 2022 Ucler, Nadire and Γ_x009c_Γ‡LER, Nadire Analyzing the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the water consumption of households, workplaces, and public institutions in Kocaeli, Turkey International advanced researches and engineering journal 10.35860/iarej.1030213 The COVID-19 pandemic which has frightening effects on the health systems all around the world has forced the governments to take strict measurements to fight the horrible results of the virus. Both this disease and restrictive measures have caused people to change their consumption habits. In this study, the changes in the amount of water consumption of households, workplaces, and public institutions pre- and post-pandemic have been examined. A socially and economically essential city of Turkey was chosen as the study area. Temperature changes, another parameter that may affect water consumption, were also evaluated. In addition, the results of May 2021, when was declared a 17-day full lockdown, have been also examined comparatively. The results showed that household water consumption increased markedly 3 months after the first case was announced in Turkey, although there was no appreciable change in temperature. After the implementation of the pandemic measures, the amount of workplace water usage reduced in April and in May 2020. Additionally, the amount of public water consumption was much less in 2020 than in 2019. In the full lockdown month, contrary to the substantial drop in public institutions, an increase was observed in household and workplace water use.
publications-3935 article 2023 Carriço, Nelson and Ferreira, Bruno and Antunes, André and Caetano, João Carlos and Covas, Dídia Computational Tools for Supporting the Operation and Management of Water Distribution Systems towards Digital Transformation 10.3390/w15030553 This paper presents a set of computational tools specially developed for supporting the operation and management of water distribution systems towards digital transformation of water services. These tools were developed in the scope of two R&D projects carried out in Portugal, DECIdE and WISDom, during 2018–2022. The DECIdE project focused on the development of tools for importing cadastral and operational data, as well as on the three operational tools for supporting the performance assessment: the first allows the calculation of different key performance indicators, both at a global and sectorial level, which is an annual requirement of the water regulator, and the other two allow the calculation of the water and the energy balances and a set of complementary indices. The WISDom project aimed at the implementation of applications that directly address specific water utility needs, namely, the flow rate data processing, the optimal location of pressure sensors, the identification of critical areas in the distribution network for pipe burst location, and the prioritization of pipes for rehabilitation. Implemented tools are useful to support water utilities in the daily operation and management of their systems, being a step forward towards digital transformation of the water sector.
publications-3936 article 2023 Ηλιάδης, Δημήτριος Ξ“. and Vrachimis, Stelios G. and Moghaddam, Alireza and Tzortzis, Ioannis and Polycarpou, Marios M. Contamination event diagnosis in drinking water networks: A review 10.1016/j.arcontrol.2023.03.011 Water distribution systems are susceptible to contamination events, which can occur due to naturally occurring events, accidents or even malicious attacks. When a contamination event occurs, dangerous substances infiltrating the network may be consumed thereby deteriorating the consumers’ health and possibly affecting the economy. Advances in sensor and actuator technologies are enabling water networks to become smarter and more resilient to these types of events. This paper provides a broad review of the theoretical, modeling, and computational developments in the area of contamination event diagnosis for water distribution systems. Research is segmented into three main tasks, summarized as β€_x009c_Preparednessβ€_x009d_, β€_x009c_Event Detection and Isolationβ€_x009d_ and β€_x009c_Emergency Event Managementβ€_x009d_. The key research topics from each task are described within a unified systems-theoretic mathematical framework, and their open challenges are discussed.
publications-3937 article 2022 AYBUΔ_x009e_A, Kamil and AYBUΔ_x009e_A, Kamil and IΕ_x009e_ILDAR, Aysel Gamze YΓ_x009c_CEL and IΕ_x009e_ILDAR, Aysel Gamze YΓ_x009c_CEL Agent-Based Approach on Water Resources Management: A Modified Systematic Review Turkish journal of water scince and management 10.31807/tjwsm.1123808 Water resources management is one of the essential subjects of water research. As a conjunctive term, water resources management denotes all applications of planning, development, distribution, and management of water resources sustainably. Its social, economic, and ecological dimensions make water management a highly complex domain related to many intertwined human-nature systems. Therefore, the decision and implementation of sustainable policies require following the evidence-based approach. Agent-Based Modelling and Simulation (ABM) is one of the latest computer-aided modeling and simulation applications widely used to understand the phenomena associated with water-related/human-oriented engineering systems. In this study, conducting a modified systematic review approach, a field-specific review of the 128 articles on water resources management with ABM methodology was presented. Application areas of ABM in water resources management and examples of its use as a decision support tool were evaluated. As an integrative systematic review of Web of Science, Science Direct, and Google Scholar, this study summarizes the leading work of ABM applications on water resources management. Current trends show that water research professionals have often used ABM as a social simulation tool. Due to its role in facilitating interdisciplinary research, its application area is widening. However, there is a need for a comprehensible and open share of application-oriented information to guide the scientific community.
publications-3938 article 2022 Evangelista, Stefania and Evangelista, Stefania and Nardi, Mariantonia and Nardi, Mariantonia and Padulano, Roberta and Padulano, Roberta and Cristo, Cristiana Di and Cristo, Cristiana Di and Giudice, Giuseppe Del and Giudice, Giuseppe Del Effect of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Domestic Water Consumption by Smart Water Network Data Filtering 10.3390/environsciproc2022021054 The COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent containment policies have changed people’s habits, with numerous implications in all fields. The restrictions also had consequences on drinking water consumption. This work analyzes this influence in the Soccavo district of Naples (Campania), in Italy, during the two periods of the strongest restrictions: the national lockdown (11 March–3 May) and the autumn red zone (16 November–6 December) in 2020. Thanks to a smart water grid acquisition system, the analysis of a large amount of data measured in the years 2019 (considered the average reference year) and 2020 was carried out. Data of the same meters in the two consecutive years were preliminarily filtered by identification and elimination of anomalies and outliers, as well as of anomalous annual patterns, through clustering and classification. The comparison was performed for the two years considering the daily and weekly average hourly patterns; the average daily patterns of midweek days, Saturdays, and Sundays, respectively; and the total daily volumes. The results showed a general increase in residential water consumption and a modification in usage patterns as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic containment measures.
publications-3939 article 2022 Ortiz, Catalina and Ortiz, Catalina and Salcedo, Camilo and Salcedo, Camilo and Saldarriaga, Juan and Saldarriaga, Juan Assessment of the Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic Stay-at-Home Measures on Potable Water Consumption Patterns, Location, and Financial Impacts for Water Utilities in Colombian Cities Water 10.3390/w14193004 Several studies suggest that social distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic have affected the water sector, specifically regarding its demand and supply. Given the importance of hygiene practices, this effect is heightened by the role that potable water availability has in tackling the spread of the virus. This study aimed to assess the impact of the pandemic on the water consumption patterns and location in four Colombian cities known for their important commercial, industrial, academic, and touristic features. Results exhibit diverse diminishing water consumption trends alongside COVID-19 because of different attributes of the cities (e.g., size, environmental, socioeconomic, and sociocultural characteristics). For instance, the touristic case study has been the most affected because of travel restrictions, with an average commercial demand drop of 32\%. In contrast, industrial case studies have had a rapid recovery in water demand, with average industrial drops of 11–14\% compared to 20–25\% in non-industrial cities. These water demand changes do not affect only the operation of water utilities, but also their finances. Economic losses were estimated at 3.7\%, 2.4\%, and 6.4\% of the expected incomes for the first 14 months of the pandemic for the case studies in this paper. Under a changing environment, understanding these changes and challenges is fundamental for ensuring that water systems are resilient in any unexpected situation.
publications-3940 article 2022 Garcia, Celso and García, Carmen and Garcia, Celso and Deyá-Tortella, Bartolomé and Tortella, Bartolomé Deyá and Lorenzo‐Lacruz, Jorge and Lorenzo-Lacruz, Jorge and Morán‐Tejeda, Enrique and Morán-Tejeda, Enrique and Rodríguez‐Lozano, Pablo and Rodríguez-Lozano, Pablo and Tirado, Dolores and Tirado, Dolores Zero tourism due to COVID-19: an opportunity to assess water consumption associated to tourism Journal of Sustainable Tourism 10.1080/09669582.2022.2079652 The COVID-19 pandemic, with confinement of the population and zero-tourism period, allowed us to assess, for the first time, the volume of water used (both directly and indirectly) by the tourism sector. This research fills a gap in water management, assessing the decrease in water consumption during the lockdown period, which coincided with the tourist season, comparing 2019 and 2020 in the Balearic Islands (Spain). Results demonstrate important differences among nine municipalities, depending on their ratio between overnight stays of tourists and total population. Water consumption decreased 58\%, 40\% and 14\% for high, medium and low tourist areas, respectively, during the lockdown period. Extrapolation to the whole Balearic Islands gives an overall decrease of 24.2\%, which can be considered the percentage of water directly used by tourism. The estimated water volume directly consumed by tourism is similar to the amount of groundwater used by irrigation agriculture. These results can be useful for water managers and policymakers in revising the hydrological plan during the third management cycle, which has not yet quantified water consumption by the tourism sector. Policymakers should focus on the touristic municipalities with higher water demand and support policies to reduce the water consumption during the tourist season.