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-4481 article 2020 Balacco, Gabriella and Balacco, Gabriella and Totaro, Vincenzo and Totaro, Vincenzo and Iacobellis, Vito and Iacobellis, Vito and Manni, Alessandro and Manni, Alessandro and Spagnoletta, Mauro and Spagnoletta, Mauro and Piccinni, Alberto Ferruccio and Piccinni, Alberto Ferruccio Influence of COVID-19 Spread on Water Drinking Demand: The Case of Puglia Region (Southern Italy) Sustainability 10.3390/su12155919 The COVID-19 pandemic affected the lives of millions of people, radically changing their habits in just a few days. In many countries, containment measures prescribed by national governments restricted the movements of entire communities, with the impossibility of attending schools, universities, workplaces, and no longer allowing for traveling or leading a normal social life. People were then compelled to revise their habits and lifestyles. In such a situation, the availability of drinking water plays a crucial role in ensuring adequate health conditions for people and tackling the spread of the pandemic. Lifestyle of the population, climate, water scarcity and water price are influent factors on water drinking demand and its daily pattern. To analyze the effect of restriction measures on water demand, the instantaneous flow data of five Apulian towns (Italy) during the lockdown have been analyzed highlighting the important role of users’ habits and the not negligible effect of commuters on the water demand pattern besides daily volume requested.
publications-4482 article 2020 Spearing, Lauryn A. and Spearing, Lauryn A. and Thelemaque, Nathalie and Thelemaque, Nathalie and Kaminsky, Jessica and Kaminsky, Jessica and Katz, Lynn E. and Katz, Lynn E. and Kinney, Kerry A. and Kinney, Kerry A. and Kirisits, Mary Jo and Kirisits, Mary Jo and Sela, Lina and Sela, Lina and Faust, Kasey M. and Faust, Kasey M. Implications of Social Distancing Policies on Drinking Water Infrastructure: An Overview of the Challenges to and Responses of U.S. Utilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic 10.1021/acsestwater.0c00229 Social distancing policies (SDPs) implemented throughout the United States in response to COVID-19 have led to spatial and temporal shifts in drinking water demand and, for water utilities, created sociotechnical challenges. During this unique period, many water utilities have been forced to operate outside of design conditions with reduced workforce and financial capacities. Few studies have examined how water utilities respond to a pandemic; such methods are even absent from many emergency response plans. Here, we documented how utilities have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a qualitative analysis of 30 interviews with 53 practitioners spanning 28 U.S. water utilities. Our aim was to, first, understand the challenges experienced by utilities and changes to operations (e.g., demand and deficit accounts) and, second, to document utilities’ responses. Results showed that to maintain service continuity and implement SDPs, utilities had to overcome various challenges. These include supply chain issues, spatiotemporal changes in demand, and financial losses, and these challenges were largely dependent on the type of customers served (e.g., commercial or residential). Examples of utilities’ responses include proactively ordering extra supplies and postponing capital projects. Although utilities’ adaptations ensured the immediate provision of water services, their responses might have negative repercussions in the future (e.g., delayed projects contributing to aging infrastructure).
publications-4483 article 2021 Li, Yang and Li, Yang and Li, Xia and Li, Xia Research on water distribution systems from the past to the future: a bibliometric review 10.1080/21622515.2021.1900404 Water distribution systems play a vital role in the transportation of drinking water. By the combination of traditional literature review, bibliometric analysis and scientific knowledge mapping, th...
publications-4484 article 2022 Tang, Jing and Tang, Jing and Vinayavekhin, Sukrit and Vinayavekhin, Sukrit and Weeramongkolkul, Manapat and Weeramongkolkul, Manapat and Suksanon, Chanakan and Suksanon, Chanakan and Pattarapremcharoen, Kantapat and Pattarapremcharoen, Kantapat and Thiwathittayanuphap, Sasinat and Thiwathittayanuphap, Sasinat and Leelawat, Natt and Leelawat, Natt Agent-Based Simulation and Modeling of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Bibliometric Analysis Journal of disaster research 10.20965/jdr.2022.p0093 The coronavirus disease has caused an ongoing pandemic worldwide since 2019. To slow the rapid spread of the virus, many countries have adopted lockdown measures. To scientifically determine the most appropriate measures and policies, agent-based simulation and modeling techniques have been employed. It can be challenging for researchers to select the appropriate tools and techniques as well as the input and output parameters. This study conducted a bibliometric analysis, especially a co-word network analysis, to classify relevant research articles into five clusters: conceptual, economic-based, organizational, policy-based, and statistical modeling. It then explained each approach and point of concern. Through this, researchers and modelers can identify the optimal approaches for their agent-based models.
publications-4485 article 2023 Burkhardt, Jonathan B. and Minor, J.E. and Platten, William E. and Shao, Feng and Murray, Regan Relative Water Age in Premise Plumbing Systems Using an Agent-Based Modeling Framework 10.1061/jwrmd5.wreng-5888 Tools used to predict hydraulics and water quality within premise plumbing systems have gained recent interest. An open-source Python-based toolβ€”PPMtoolsβ€”for modeling and analyzing premise plumbing systems with WNTR or EPANET is presented. A relative water ageβ€”the time water has spent in a homeβ€”study using three real-world single-family homes was used to demonstrate PPMtools. Results showed that increased useβ€”more people or higher flow fixturesβ€”led to a general decrease in relative water ages. However, even with more use, one user could still experience water for a drinking activity with a relative water age equal to, or longer than, the duration of the longest stagnant period (sleeping or absence from home). Simulations also showed that the general relative water ages increased if the homes were plumbed with larger diameter piping [19.1 mm (3/4 in.) versus 12.7 mm (1/2 in.)]. Hot water heaters were found to have the largest impact on relative water age. Smaller volume uses generally had more variability in relative water ages, while larger volume uses (e.g., showering) resulted in generally low relative water ages with less variability because larger uses fully replaced water in the home with water from the main. This study highlights the potential for using PPMtools to explore more complex water quality modeling within premise plumbing systems.
publications-4486 article 1992 Nieswiadomy, Michael and Nieswiadomy, Michael Estimating urban residential water demand: Effects of price structure, conservation, and education Water Resources Research 10.1029/91wr02852 Water demand equations are estimated using the most current American Water Works Association (1984) survey of 430 (of 600 largest) U.S. utilities. The data set was augmented by monthly rainfall and temperature data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's climatological data. Demographic data were obtained from the U.S. Department of Commerce (1988). Besides the usual endogeneity problems involving block price structures this paper also examines the possible endogeneity of conservation and education programs. Three types of models were used: a marginal price model, an average price model, and Shin's (1985) price perception model. The results generally show that price elasticity is higher in the South and the West. Conservation does not appear to reduce water use, but public education appears to have reduced water usage in the West. The Shin (1985) tests in this study indicate that consumers react more to average than marginal prices in all regions.
publications-4487 article 1986 Maidment, David R. and Maidment, David R. and Miaou, Shaw-Pin and Miaou, Shaw‐Pin ‐P Daily Water Use in Nine Cities Water Resources Research 10.1029/wr022i006p00845 Transfer functions are used to model the short-term response of daily municipal water use to rainfall and air temperature variations. Daily water use data from nine cities are studied, three cities each from Florida, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The dynamic response of water use to rainfall and air temperature is similar across the cities within each State; in addition the responses of the Texas and Florida cities are very similar to one another while the response of the Pennsylvania cities is more sensitive to air temperature and less to rainfall. There is little impact of city size on the response functions. The response of water use to rainfall depends first on the occurrence of rainfall and second on its magnitude. The occurrence of a rainfall more than 0.05 in./day (0.13 cm/day) causes a drop in the seasonal component of water use one day later that averages 38\% for the Texas cities, 42\% for the Florida cities, and 7\% for the Pennsylvania cities. In Austin, Texas, a spatially averaged rainfall series shows a clearer relationship with water use than does rainfall data from a single gage. There is a nonlinear response of water use to air temperature changes with no response for daily maximum air temperatures between 40° and 70°F (4–21°C) an increase in water use with air temperature beyond 70°F; above 85°–90°F (29°–32°C) water use increases 3–5 times more per degree than below that limit in Texas and Florida. The model resulting from these studies can be used for daily water use forecasting and water conservation analysis.
publications-4488 article 2013 Stewart, Rodney Anthony and Stewart, Rodney Anthony and Willis, Rachelle McDonald and Willis, Rachelle McDonald and Panuwatwanich, Kriengsak and Panuwatwanich, Kriengsak and Sahin, Oz and Sahin, Oz Showering behavioural response to alarming visual display monitors: longitudinal mixed method study Behaviour & Information Technology 10.1080/0144929x.2011.577195 Residential households have the potential to conserve water, especially in behaviourally influenced end uses such as showering. Visual display monitors detailing shower water consumption parameters provide householders with a better understanding of their water use consumption and serve as a prompt to conserve. This longitudinal study first applied high resolution smart meters to create a registry of shower end use event parameters (i.e. shower duration, flow rate and duration) before and after the introduction of an alarming visual display monitor. The study showed a statistically significant mean reduction of 15.40 L (27\%) in shower event volumes shortly after the implementation of the shower monitor. However, two subsequent smart metering reads indicated that shower end use water consumption savings diminished over time and mean showering volumes reverted back to their pre-intervention level after 4 months. That is, the longitudinal study provides empirical evidence that technological devices informing...
publications-4489 article 2004 Syme, Geoffrey J. and Syme, Geoffrey J. and Syme, Geoffrey J. and Shao, Quanxi and Shao, Quanxi and Po, Murni and Po, M. and Campbell, Eddy and Campbell, Eddy Predicting and understanding home garden water use Landscape and Urban Planning 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2003.08.002
publications-4490 article 1979 Danielson, Leon E. and Danielson, Leon E. An analysis of residential demand for water using micro time‐series data Water Resources Research 10.1029/wr015i004p00763 Residential water demand is estimated as a function of temperature, rainfall, house value, water price, and household size using monthly cross-section and time-series meter readings from 261 residential households in Raleigh, North Carolina, between May 1969 and December 1974. Tests for validity of assumptions are made, and a methodological approach is used that provides unbiased estimates of parameters and standard errors with data that exhibit serially correlated residuals. Demand relations are estimated for total residential, winter, and sprinkling demands. Sprinkling use per period per customer for each year is estimated by subtracting winter (November–April) from summer (May–October) use. Household size explained the largest proportion of the variation in the data. Estimated sprinkling demand was found to be highly responsive to changes in water price and the level of the climatic variables, while total residential demand and winter demand were less responsive to price changes.