Development of residential water demand model for a densely populated area of Jaipur city, India

Abstract

Water demand forecasting has become an essential ingredient in effective water resource planning and management. In water-scare urban areas of developing countries, this emphasis on accurate forecasting is particularly important for effective water resource planning and management. This paper presents an econometric water demand model for forecasting future residential water requirements for a densely populated area of Jaipur city. This study used an ordinary least squared (OLS) regression model to measured the impact of household income (I), age of respondent (A_R), household size (SIZE), age of home (A_H), wealth (W), asset score (AS), dwelling status (DWELL), monthly expenditure on water supply (EXP_WS), number of bathrooms (BATHR), and number of rooms (RMS) on residential water use (RWU) using data from a survey of 149 representative households in the study area. Empirical results indicate that residential water demand of the study area is characterized by I, SIZE, AS, and EXP_WS, with SIZE (0.542) and AS (0.418) having a major influence on RWU, as shown by their high standardized model coefficient values at 95% confidence intervals. Therefore major saving should be achieved by technological developments in water efficient appliances combined with education in efficient use of water. © IWA Publishing 2012.