Register for our upcoming Household Water Use Data Index, April 28, 2022 at 10 AM PT
Flume Water and WaterDM have won the contract to conduct the Water Research Foundation (WRF) Residential End Uses of Water, Version 3: A Single-Family and Multi-Family Study. We are still actively seeking utility participants from across the US and Canada to take part in the study.
The Residential End Uses of Water study, funded by the Water Research Foundation, is conducted every decade to analyze water use in single-family homes across the US and Canada. The study features disaggregated water use data detailing end uses of water. This report is often cited and used as the standard for understanding and quantifying residential water use.
Flume and WaterDM will be conducting this research and analysis, and we need utility partners willing to contribute water use data and billing data from communities across the United States. Below you can find a prospectus that details how we intend to approach this research project, how interested water providers can participate, and what the Residential End Uses of Water studies are.
Flume and WaterDM will be conducting this research and analysis, and we need utility partners willing to contribute water use data and billing data from communities across the United States. Below you can find a prospectus that details how we intend to approach this research project, how interested water providers can participate, and what the Residential End Uses of Water studies are. If your utility is interested in participating, click the button below or email Ralph Kaiser (ralph.kaiser@flumewater.com)! We will stop accepting new utility participants on May 30, 2024.
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Flume Water and WaterDM have won the contract to conduct the Water Research Foundation (WRF) Residential End Uses of Water, Version 3: A Single-Family and Multi-Family Study. To learn about the Residential End Uses of Water studies, how the Flume/WaterDM team intends to approach this research project, and exactly how water providers are able to participate, click the button below.
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The Water Research Foundation (WRF) is the leading research organization advancing the science of all water to meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. WRF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit; they are an educational organization that funds, manages, and publishes research on the technology, operation, and management of drinking water, wastewater, reuse, and stormwater systems—all in pursuit of ensuring water quality and improving water services to the public. You can find more information at www.waterrf.org.
Flume is a technology company that is committed to researching and furthering the understanding of water use patterns and trends across North America. The Flume device is a patented sensor that straps around an existing water meter. Installation is a simple do-it-yourself process, typically completed by a homeowner in under 15 minutes. Once installed, the device reads the magnetic signal coming from the meter’s mechanical register and digitizes the information through a WiFi bridge. The Flume 2 device records water use every 5 seconds. So, in a single day, the Flume 2 records up to 17,280 data points.
Flume now has a nationwide network of devices installed across the United States. New devices are being installed daily, and there are currently over 100,000 of these devices in the field. The water use data collected from Flume devices are being aggregated and analyzed for a number of clients such as retail water agencies, wholesale water suppliers, universities, states, cities, and brands. Until now, data at this scale was not available from any source.
Flume applies a rigorous approach to its data collection, disaggregation, analysis, and validation. Flume, with its innovative, patented technology and data analysis processes, extends and expands on the long history of water measurement and water demand analysis in important new ways.
WaterDM is an engineering consulting firm focused on demand-side management of water resources. Founded by urban water management expert Peter Mayer, P.E., WaterDM is based in Boulder, Colorado and provides services across North America.
Since 2013, WaterDM's clients have included: New York City Water Board, Aurora Water, Colorado Water Conservation Board, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, State of Georgia, Austin Water, Tucson Water, Alliance for Water Efficiency, California Department of Water Resources, Left Hand Water District, Colorado WaterWise, City of Fort Collins, Marin Water, and many more.
Peter Mayer, Principal and Founder of WaterDM, was the co-principal investigator for both the 1999 and 2016 Residential End Uses of Water studies. In 2016 Peter testified as Georgia's urban water expert at the US Supreme Court trial vs. FL. Over his career, Peter has worked with hundreds of water utilities and organizations across the US and Canada. Learn more at www.waterdm.com.
In order to ensure utilities can meet their customers’ water needs, it’s important to understand current water uses and how they are expected to change over time. Many utilities do not have access to reliable or representative data on water use in their community or across their region. More research is needed to understand single-family and multi-family households disaggregated end uses, and to holistically understand how water is used in a residential community. A better understanding of how water is used will allow utilities to reduce the assumptions they must make—especially regarding multi-family household water usage—when making long-term demand and supply planning decisions.
This project is funded by the Water Research Foundation (WRF) as part of WRF’s Research Priority Program. The goal of this study is as follows:
1. Evaluate changes in disaggregated water uses in single-family households and a baseline for multi-family households by collecting current data from sites that statistically represent their service areas and analyzing the data to identify variations in water used by each fixture or appliance. Outdoor analysis should be limited (e.g., focus on analyzing outdoor usage with lot size and previous areas).
2. Evaluate differences and similarities between single-family and multi-family households (e.g., limited sub-categories, such as condos, townhomes, and apartments).
3. Compare results from this study with past end-use studies, such as WRF projects DeOreo et al. 2016 and Mayer et al. 1999, to develop water use trends over time.
4. At a high level, discuss how housing class composition has changed over the last 15 years in the study area.
Partner utilities are an essential component of end use studies. Partner utilities contribute data and information in exchange for receiving analysis and comparison information. Water utilities maintain records of water use for their customers and residential water use is best understood at the utility scale for considering geographic comparisons. Flume’s goal is to partner with fifty (50) utilities for this study.
As of April, 38 water utilities have signed a letter of intent to participate in this study. We will continue to recruit additional utility partners through May 30, 2024. Here is a current list of participants below:
The Water Research Foundation Residential End Use Studies have a lasting impact on water planning and management. Participating utilities are contributing to an important knowledge base about residential water use and demand trends. Participating utilities also receive valuable information and analysis about their own residential customers and how their water use compares and could change in the future.
Billing data for single and multi-family homes for the past 3-5 years and throughout the course of the study. Utility participants will also be asked to send an electronic survey to a portion of their customer base.
Basic utility participation is available to any water provider regardless if there are Flume sensors in your service area or not.
The anticipated period of performance for this project is 18 months from the contract start date. WRF has allowed for 36 months, but because of the existing Flumes and availability of data, our proposal will be to complete the study much sooner.
Basic utility participation in the study proposal with the Flume/WaterDM team is free. Flume can provide additional services for a fee to study participants upon request.
You can sign up to participate in the REUWS Study by emailing ralph.kaiser@flumewater.com.
Let’s connect. Fill out the form below to get started. We look forward to hearing from you!