Assessment of domestic water consumption in Valencia city through fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACT The influence of quantitative and qualitative population conditions needs to be jointly considered in the assessment of urban water demand. Through fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), quantitative and qualitative conditions can be jointly analysed to obtain the patterns or recipes that explain the hypothesis tested. This work assesses the influence of water price, income level, ageing index, number of members in household, household antiquity and household surface on the urban water consumption from a district-level approach. The approach proposed is a novelty since it is focused on urban water demand and the related socioeconomic conditions in Valencia city. Results obtained show the influence of water price and members in household as main conditions that explain the water consumption of Valencia districts. This work highlights the relationship between the conditions analysed and water consumption, allowing the identification of the water consumption patterns in a developed urban area from a district-level approach.