Capturing high-resolution water demand data in commercial buildings

Abstract

Water demand measurements have historically been conducted manually, from meter readings less than once per month. Leading water service providers have begun to deploy smart meters to collect high-resolution data. A low-cost flush counter was developed and connected to a real-time monitoring platform for 119 ultra-low flush toilets in 7 buildings on a university campus to explore how building users influence water demand. Toilet use followed a typical weekly pattern in which weekday use was 92% ± 4 higher than weekend use. Toilet demand was higher during term time and showed a strong, positive relationship with the number of building occupants. Mixed-use buildings tended to have greater variation in toilet use between term time and holidays than office-use buildings. The findings suggest that the flush sensor methodology is a reliable method for further consideration. Supplementary data from the study's datasets will enable practitioners to use captured data for (i) forecast models to inform water resource plans; (ii) alarm systems to automate maintenance scheduling; (iii) dynamic cleaning schedules; (iv) monitoring of building usage rates; (v) design of smart rainwater harvesting to meet demand from real-time data; and (vi) exploring dynamic water pricing models, to incentivise optimal on-site water storage strategies. HIGHLIGHTS A novel, low-cost, high-resolution water demand sensing strategy was tested, by deploying flush counters across seven large campus buildings.; Making such real-time data available could deliver value in improving: water demand forecasts; maintenance strategies; cleaning strategies; building user insights; and optimal water system design.; Water demand varied and was linked to occupancy metrics.;

Keywords

• low-cost water sensors
• smart water meters
• ultra-low flush toilet
• water demand management