The impact of air temperature on tap water consumption
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36119/15.2025.12.18Keywords:
lower air temperatures, water distribution histograms, season, correlationAbstract
This article analyzes the impact of a sudden drop in air temperature associated with the passage of the Genoese low in September 2024 on the water consumption pattern in a small distribution system located near Wrocław. The aim of the study was to investigate changes in the hourly distribution of water consumption caused by a sudden thermal anomaly. The study was conducted using 30 days of operational data (August 22-September 20, 2024), comparing daily and hourly water consumption with the maximum daily temperature. A significant, positive linear correlation (R=0.76) was found between maximum air temperature and water consumption for daily values, confirming that warmer days imply higher consumption, while sudden cooling leads to a reduction. The highest daily consumption (465.71 m³/d) was recorded during the heatwave, while after a sudden weather breakdown in mid-September, consumption dropped to only 56% of the maximum value. In turn, the analysis of hourly water consumption showed that this relationship is nonlinear. Therefore, an exponential function was proposed to describe the relationship between hourly consumption and temperature, considering linear regression to be inadequate. The results highlight the need to update water consumption forecasting models to account for the dynamic impact of rapid meteorological fluctuations.
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