Per capita use and peak factors size supply systems.
Average demand 100–200 L/person/day plus commercial, industrial, public and losses. Peak factors (maximum day 1.8×, peak hour 1.5× to 3×) size pipes and pumps. Fire flows add demand. Forecasting uses population projections and per capita trends.
A town of 50 000 with 150 L/person/day needs 7500 m³/day average.
Water demand estimates size the whole supply system, and errors here lead to undersized pipes or wasteful overdesign.
Per capita use and peak factors size supply systems.
Water demand estimates size the whole supply system, and errors here lead to undersized pipes or wasteful overdesign.
The average water use per person per day, which varies with climate, lifestyle and metering.
A multiplier that converts average demand into the peak demand used to size pipes and pumps.
Typical applications include estimating the daily demand for a town of 20,000 people, sizing the storage tank to meet the peak hour of demand and projecting demand for a new development over 30 years.
Study "Water treatment processes" first (topic 79 of 112 in Civil & Structural). It covers the groundwork this topic builds on.
Unaccounted-for water. Seasonal variation. Water conservation.
A town of 50 000 with 150 L/person/day needs 7500 m³/day average.
The next topic is "Water distribution networks", which builds directly on this one.
It is classed as Advanced in Civil & Structural (topic 80 of 112). It is an advanced topic. It assumes you are comfortable with the intermediate topics in Civil & Structural.
Want to practise? Open the interactive course for quick checks, quizzes, simulations and progress tracking.