Research on the Hourly Water Consumption Structure in Rural and Suburban Household

Currently, the character of many households located in rural areas is closer to that of suburban households. The change in the characters of households located in rural areas results in changes in the size and irregularity of water demand, which should translate into a new approach at the stage of water supply systems designing. Therefore, in order to supplement the state of knowledge in this study area, this paper presents the results of the research on the structure of hourly water consumption in two households located in rural areas; the first household had a suburban character, whereas the second one was a typical rural household. The results showed differences in the amount and the distribution of hourly water consumption in the analyzed households. Except on weekends, the average hourly water consumption in rural household (RH) was higher than in suburban household (SH). In contrast, in the rural household, the distribution of hourly water consumption on all days of the week was very similar and the peak water consumption was clearly marking in the morning and in the evening. In the case of the suburban household, a tendency of increased water consumption in the evening was observed, but without clearly noticeable peak water consumption. Moreover, the structure of hourly water consumption in suburban household on Saturday and Sunday was different than on weekdays. The analyzed households were characterized by the highest share of hourly water consumption up to 20.0 dm3·h-1. In the rural household, both the amount and the distribution of hourly water consumption were determined by water use for additional purposes. In the case of the suburban household, it was shaped by the living needs of the inhabitants.