Future Water Demand

The planning horizons of most businesses, 5 to 10 years, does not match the planning horizons of 25+ years of water resource planning. This means that to forecast for water demand in the medium to long-term, data needs to be extrapolated, looking at trends to make assumptions on likely water use. This makes water planning vulnerable to inaccurate forecasts.

The Water Resources Management Planning guidelines outline the type of evidence that should be considered when carrying out non-household forecasting. However, it does not prescribe specific methodologies. As a result, while most water companies adopt broadly similar approaches, variations in practice remain.

Most demands on non-household water are part of a balance between water use and other metrics. For data centres, it is often energy use or system design. For hydrogen production the greatest influence is the cooling process used. For hospitals it is fixtures and fittings design and water reuse infrastructure. We can all support reduced non household water demand by advocating water efficiency as a primary consumer concern.