Abstract
Since 2014 and 2015 numerous projections and macroeconomic indicators have shown sustained growth, allowing governments to affirm that the economic crisis has been overcome. In Spain, the onset of the crisis and the bursting of the real estate bubble (2008) have caused a profound impression on the country and society in recent years. The aim of the study is to analyse the evolution and the determining factors of unauthorised domestic water consumption and its geographic distribution in the city of Alicante (south-east Spain). Methodologically, data have been examined regarding this topic in the city of Alicante for the period 2005–2017 and according to their location and the type of residential property (compact or dispersed). In conclusion, it should be indicated that in Alicante unauthorised consumption is recorded in all social classes and neighbourhoods, especially in the properties of the North District of the city (a lower economic income neighbourhood) but also in those ones that are home to the better-off social classes who reside in detached houses. In the latter, residents commit unauthorised consumption to reduce the high levels of water consumption, aggravated by the current drought (the need to provide greater volumes of water for outdoor uses) and by the increase in the price of water over the last decade. Besides, since the implementation of the Remote Meter Reading Plan in 2011 and the increase of the surveillance of the employers of the water company, the detection of the unauthorised water consumption has increased.
Highlights
Losses and unauthorised water consumption are an important problem for the water sector [1,2].Water loss is the water that is produced but not sold to customers or used by or via the utility [3].According to Farley et al [4], the global average level of water losses is 35% of produced water which accounts for 48.6 Billion Cubic Meter (BCM) per year
It is a subject that has rarely been considered in socio-regional studies since it has traditionally been analysed from a strictly economic or technical perspective [10,11,13,32,34,35,36], This study aims to contribute a socio-economic and regional view to the international and national (Spain) scientific literature analysing the causes that explain unauthorised domestic water consumption, since it is one of the few studies carried out on this topic and the first in the area under study
With this study some factors could be taking into account in other cities for improve the management and the reduction of the unauthorised consumption such as the use of treated water and the implementation of the technology
Summary
Losses and unauthorised water consumption are an important problem for the water sector [1,2].Water loss is the water that is produced but not sold to customers or used by or via the utility [3].According to Farley et al [4], the global average level of water losses is 35% of produced water which accounts for 48.6 Billion Cubic Meter (BCM) per year. Water loss is the water that is produced but not sold to customers or used by or via the utility [3]. Indicators [5] and water losses have recently produced an International “best practice” standard for defining and calculating components of water balance and selecting the most appropriate Performance. Indicators for different components of Non-Revenue Water (NRW) and Water Losses [2]. The first ones called physical losses, refer to the water that leaks out of pipes [1]. The apparent losses are defined as result of a trade balance because is not physically lost but used by a customer and not paid for. The apparent losses include illegal water use, customer meter under-registration and data handling or billing errors
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