Analysis of Fixture Efficiency and Behavioral Factors of Indoor Residential Water Use of Single-Family Households

Analysis of Fixture Efficiency and Behavioral Factors of Indoor Residential Water Use of Single-Family Households | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Analysis of Fixture Efficiency and Behavioral Factors of Indoor Residential Water Use of Single-Family Households Mohammad Yunus Naseri, Grant Bernosky, Peter W. Mayer, Landon T. Marston This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6189910/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study examines indoor water use patterns in single-family households by analyzing three key aspects: commonalities and differences between household water use categories, the relative importance of fixture efficiency versus behavioral factors in explaining water use and its differences between households, and the effects of weather, house characteristics, and household size on efficiency and behavioral factors. Using unprecedented high-resolution smart meter data from 33,435 households across 39 major US cities, we find distinct geographical clustering of high water-using households in southwestern, southern, and north-central regions of the US, with these households possessing more water-intensive appliances for indoor water and air quality management. In contrast, low water-using households cluster in coastal areas, particularly California. While behavioral factors explain most variation in total per capita indoor water use, fixture efficiency better differentiates between high and low water-using households, particularly around shower, toilet, and clothes washer end uses. We find significant economies of scale in both total per capita water use and specific behaviors, especially in toilet and shower uses, with per capita consumption decreasing as household size increases. Weather variations within cities significantly impact water use behaviors, particularly around toilet and shower end uses. These findings suggest that sustainable urban water management strategies should combine targeted fixture efficiency improvements with behavioral interventions, focusing especially on high water-using households and specific uses where the greatest conservation potential exists through both technological and behavioral changes. Civil Engineering smart water meters indoor residential water use single-family households residential end use fixture efficiency user behavior multilevel modeling Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare potential competing interests as follows: The authors declare the following potential conflicts of interest: GB is an employee of Flume, the company that produced and owns the data used in this study. PWM has been a strategic partner and consultant with Flume since 2019. MYN and LTM declare no financial or non-financial competing interests. Supplementary Files Naserietal2025SI.pdf SI Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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