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. HIGHLIGHTS The study compares the demand for drinking water over three years, two during the pandemic and the previous one, for five population centres in Italy.; The impact of COVID-19 on water consumption is evident in a change in user habits.; Reduced commuting and the closure of a huge commercial area impacted the demand for drinking water.;

Keywords

• covid-19
• users' habit
• water drinking demand