Water Demand and Supply Management from Utilities' Perspective

Abstract

This paper provides a comprehensive review of utilities’ need for a water demand and supply management system. The author highlights the importance of integrating water demand forecast with water utilities’ operational activities to maximize the operation efficiency and achieve substantial cost savings. The author discusses the operational needs of water utilities, clearly defines the success criteria for demand forecasting, analyzes potential risks involved in the processes, and presents a water demand and supply management system called Virtual Operator to illustrate the great potentials of such an integrated water demand and supply management system. The author briefly introduces the pattern recognition technology, and explains how the technology was used to create Virtual Operator as an excellent generic platform for knowledge preservation, knowledge sharing, operator training, and improving operational efficiency.