Flow trace analysis to access water use

Abstract

Analyzing flow traces from residential water meters enabled researchers to collect precise data about water use by individual fixtures.Precise information about water use patterns can be gathered by analyzing flow traces obtained from residential customer water meters that are fitted with portable data loggers. Flow traces are precise enough that signatures associated with all major water use categories can be identified. For this study, more than 10,000 water use events were recorded, classified, and entered into a database. The technique is both accurate and reliable and can be used to collect time‐specific and disaggregated water use data. Measuring directly instead of inferring measurements from aggregated data is a quick and cost‐effective way to analyze water use patterns and directly assess how conservation measures influence water demand