1st October 1997 - 30th September 2001
Water plc's have a requirement set both internally and externally to estimate water demand. Externally by Ofwat and internally to provide cost effective and efficient service. Presently, water plc's have a very limited understanding of factors affecting short-term domestic water demand and rely upon crude methods of forecasting. No definition of 'short-term' exists within the water industry, however previous research defined short-term to be between 24 hours to 7 days ahead. It was argued that effective weather prediction and operationally useful forecast times were the determining factor in the definition.
Factors affecting short-term domestic water demand are assessed using data provided by Yorkshire Water, Welsh Water, Thames Water, Essex and Suffolk Water, and Hartlepool Water. Preliminary results have identified several underlying factors influencing domestic water demand on the medium to long-term e.g. household size, household type, socio-economic grouping. Results also indicate that in all areas, short-term domestic water demand is influenced by day of the week, season, bank holidays, public holidays and antecedent and prevailing weather conditions.