Non-domestic water consumption in the city of Alicante, Southern Spain (2000-2017): an exploration of trends and users

Abstract

Since the end of the 1990s, a marked decrease in water consumption has been observed in the main conurbations of developed countries. However, the studies carried out on this topic have traditionally focused on the analysis of domestic use. The aim of this research is to look into the non-domestic water consumption (NDWC) in the city of Alicante, Southern Spain (2000-2017), differentiating between three consumption categories: 1) private users; 2) public use (council and official uses); 3) watering public green areas and cleaning streets. The results obtained show that NDWC has recorded a decrease of 38.9% (2000-2017) in Alicante. However, it should be emphasised that water consumption trend has been different according to the uses linked to the factors that affect them: economic crisis (2008), the real estate boom (1997-2008) and the use of treated water.