Two years of COVID restrictions: A lesson from water demand data

Abstract

The long period of great fragility experienced by the lockdown has strained entire countries. In response to COVID-19, Italy performed stay-at-home orders to attenuate disease spread, provoking drastic changes in all aspects of users’ behaviour, particularly affecting water demand. A dataset of hourly water demand for 2019, 2020, and 2021, related to five Italian towns permitted to observe water consumption changes. Trends highlight a general decrease in water consumption, linked to the strict restrictions imposed and a morning peak shift. At the end of the strict quarantine regulations, water consumption did not return to pre-pandemic values because COVID-19 has led to a change in lifestyle.