Abstract
Proper determination of unitary water demand and diurnal distribution of water consumption (water consumption histogram) provides the basis for designing, dimensioning, and all analyses of water supply networks. It is important in the case of mathematical modelling of flows in the water supply network, particularly during the determination of nodal water demands in the context of Extended Period Simulation (EPS). Considering the above, the analysis of hourly water consumption in selected apartment buildings was performed to verify the justification of the application of grouping by means of k-means clustering. The article presents a detailed description of the adopted methodology, as well as the obtained results in the form of synthetic distributions of hourly water consumption, and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on their change.
Highlights
Research and analyses of water demand for the purposes of, e.g., housing, services, or public purpose buildings has been enjoying increasing popularity in recent years
It is primarily due to the development of technology allowing for the measurement of water flow or automatic water meters readings (AMR) with a higher frequency than so far, and due to an increase in the use of computer networks in the exploitation of modern water distribution systems, allowing for the collection of any amount of data
Hydraulic modelling of water supply networks is performed with the application of Extended Period Simulation (EPS), determining quasi-dynamic behaviour of the system in time, by calculating the state of the system for a series of determined simulations in which hydraulic demand and threshold conditions change in time
Summary
Research and analyses of water demand for the purposes of, e.g., housing, services, or public purpose buildings has been enjoying increasing popularity in recent years. It is primarily due to the development of technology allowing for the measurement of water flow or automatic water meters readings (AMR) with a higher frequency than so far (once a month, quarter, or even year—depending on the adopted system of billing settlements), and due to an increase in the use of computer networks in the exploitation of modern water distribution systems, allowing for the collection of any amount of data. The primary factors determining the course of water consumption during the day include daily behaviours of residents, their lifestyle, and routine activities involving the consumption of supplied water. Another important aspect is the day of the week, i.e., whether it is a working day or a holiday (weekend or a bank holiday). It is necessary to perform analysis with the application of a statistical model that allows for standardisation, classification, and selection of the most probable water consumption histograms [4], which is the topic of conducted research described in this article
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