Sustainable Buildings Saving Billions

An alternative water strategy for Sydney

Peter J Coombes and Michael Smit

Systems research and modelling examined the water futures for Greater Sydney. Business as Usual will increase the demand for water in Sydney by 80% by 2050, increasing water charges by over 100% to $2.3 Billion in 2020 dollars

However, without the State Environmental Planning Policy BASIX (which mandates sustainable buildings), the additional charges would be another $5 Billion in additional supply augmentation and the costs of producing and pumping more than 70 billion litres of additional water each year.

BASIX uses new buildings to provide solutions for Sydney, rather than contributing to existing problems in water supply, wastewater disposal, efficiency and stormwater management. By linking building design solutions to new development the solutions are implemented at the same time as the growth occurs, not decades later when the problems become overwhelming.

“Water Governance in Australia is about rewarding the industry for building large infrastructure. Water efficiency and small local solutions don’t fit the business model but the rewards for the general public and economy are much greater. This is why the Auditor General found that water utilities could do so much better on water efficiency”

Professor Peter Coombes, report author:

“This is really exciting research, turning traditional water management upside down and putting the building at the centre of urban water management. The benefits for the public, in reduced costs, reduced wastage, greater resilience and engaging with natural systems are immense”

Stuart Heldon, Business Unit Director Kingspan Water and Energy

The report considers four scenarios using highly awarded systems research methodology. The scenarios looked at Business as Usual, with BASIX, what would happen if we didn’t have BASIX, improving BASIX to address urban stormwater and shifting water pricing to fully variable prices to reward householders for reducing demand for utility water.

The report finds the single most effective change is to give customers better information and more control over what they pay. This delivers the greatest savings of all the four scenarios, an astonishing $7B of savings by 2050

The report is available is here: Report Download: Alternative Water Strategy for Sydney

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Get the essential tools, methods, and technical know-how to design and maintain home-scale rainwater harvesting systems

(… and save over $500 by participating in our beta launch…)

by Michelle Avis and Prof Peter J Coombes

Thinking of harvesting rainwater? Worried about avoiding health hazards and other safety risks? Be the first in your city…state…or bioregion… to design and build Rainwater Harvesting Systems using leading-edge, safe, chemical-free methods. You’ll find them only in our groundbreaking new program:

ESSENTIAL RAINWATER HARVESTING

(Beta version)

Created by Michelle Avis with pioneering Australian hydrologist, engineer, economist, policy analyst, educator, former U.N. advisor and independent researcher Prof Peter J. Coombes, Ph.D., this in-depth, step-by-step training is the first to offer scientifically tested and proven information that isn’t yet available in the US or Canada! You’ll…

Learn how a leading-edge RWH system works in relationship to homes, properties, and their surrounding ecosystem
Break down the myths and discover what is and isn’t a risk in rainwater
Discover the science and research supporting a natural treatment train approach
See how you can design and build chemical-free RWH purification and storage systems for irrigation, washing – even cooking and drinking!

This course reflects decades of studies by independently funded researchers, particularly in Australia, where over 3 million people drink rainwater daily. The vast majority of these RWH systems do not include end-of-line disinfection… and rainwater-drinking Australians are as healthy or healthier than those relying on municipal treated water.

A Full Mentoring Programme

“Tutorial” takes on a whole new/ancient meaning with Michelle proxying for you as a student, asking questions in response to Peter’s one-on-one mentoring. You’ll…

• Ask and get your questions answered in six lively, interactive webinars with Peter and Michelle….
• Watch or listen in on their pre-recorded mentoring sessions
• Dive deep in six structured modules, split into ~10 lesson

Anchor your learning with assignments and test your recall with quizzes
And the groundbreaking content doesn’t stop with the classes! You’ll receive…

The Essential Rainwater Harvesting: A Guide to Home-Scale System Design e-book: Verge’s comprehensive manual for designing, building, and maintaining water harvesting systems for the warm and cold climates of the world….

…Our proprietary pre-built spreadsheet tool, with beautifully formatted tables, and formulas and logic for performing rainwater system feasibility analyses described in the Essential Rainwater Harvesting guidebook….

…And full-color, detailed handouts and support materials to deepen your understanding…

When you purchase this Essential Rainwater Harvesting Beta Tutorial, all of this is yours – forever!

What do Peter Coombes and Michelle Avis know about rainwater harvesting?

Peter and Michelle each bring stellar credentials to this program…

Peter is the Chair of Engineering at Southern Cross University and director of Urban Water Solutions, providing strategic design, policy and economic advice, and education on urban, rural, and natural water cycles and systems to clients including Australian, UN., and international governmental, municipal and private sector bodies, for more than 20 years.

Michelle is the co-author of Essential Rainwater Harvesting and co-founder of Verge Permaculture, a globally-recognized and award-winning design, consulting, and education hub offering online and real-time programs to design and/or create integrated, regenerative systems for shelter, energy, water, waste and food.

Each a leader in their own right, they’re combining their expertise in this pioneering tutorial program, offering new and proven information in a fresh new format.

So why is this a beta launch?

From start to finish, we know you haven’t seen anything like this program before!
And when we’re leaping beyond the standard fare in so many ways, well, it’s good to have a trial run…

And that’s where you come in….

On January 21, 2020, this Beta Launch tutorial begins for a select class of only 30 participants…adventurous, committed early adopters who will participate fully in the course and give us their honest feedback in return for a staggering 50% discount in tuition!

You will receive the full course with all webinars, videos/audios, and supporting materials, as well as the Essential Rainwater Harvesting e-book and spreadsheet tool (and more) for just one payment of $499 or 3 payments of $182.97.

That’s a full 50% discount from the projected price of the finalized program at $1000+….You are not going to see this program offered at a savings like this again!

Are you in?

All we ask in return is that you devote 4-8 hours a week to the program, and provide us with your honest feedback upon completion. Your comments and suggestions will help us to improve this program for its full release in Spring 2020.

Are you ready to be the first to grab this new, proven technology and lead your community in safe, natural, scientifically-proven rainwater harvesting – at a terrific savings?We’re already seeing that water will become a scarce and precious commodity in coming years. Sign up for this course today and keep your land and community hydrated in an increasingly thirsty world!

Whether you live off-grid or in town, water security will be a growing concern in coming years. Sign up for this course today and keep your land and loved ones hydrated in an increasingly thirsty world!

Mark Your Calendars – Verge and Peter J. Coombes Team Up in a Brand New Rainwater Harvesting Course! Rainwater Harvesting Course

Unique Access to Information

You won’t see his name on the hottest rainwater harvesting manuals, and you won’t see his discoveries in the RWH information being taught in North America…

…But Peter J. Coombes of Southern Cross University and Urban Water Cycle Solutions is doing some of the most advanced research about domestic rainwater harvesting systems available today. His pioneering discoveries are being tested on a climate change-seared continent that direly needs the benefits of rainwater harvesting: Australia. And we’re proud to say that Peter is co-creating a brand-new online course on residential RWH, with Verge’s own Michelle Avis! It’s in the works now and coming soon: late 2019/early 2020.
In their first sneak-a-peek video, Peter and Michelle talk about how this groundbreaking collaboration came to life: just click the button below.

Sneak a Peak Intro Video

Rainwater Harvesting Sneak-a-Peek – Your Rainwater Tank is a Bio-Reactor!

A bio-what, you say?
Basically, a well-managed rainwater tank functions as a self-contained ecosystem, in which natural processes such as settlement and flocculation, combined with beneficial, naturally occurring bacteria, help to destroy pathogens.
Natural processes like this help you to obtain pure, drinkable water from rainwater – as cultures around the world have done for millennia – without using dangerous chemicals or pricey technologies.
How can this be? Click the button below to see international water harvesting researcher/educator and U.N. advisor Peter J. Coombes explain it in this quick video…and then sign up to learn how you can apply these processes to your own RWH system in our upcoming Essential Rainwater Harvesting online course, coming in January!

Rainwater Processes

The Rainwater Harvesting System

So you’re thinking of installing a rainwater harvesting system…do you know what’s involved?
Whether you’re looking to irrigate your garden or whether you want to have a ready source of pure drinking water without chemical treatment, this diagram gives you all the components of a leading-edge rainwater harvesting system.
Wait – what?? Yes – pure drinkable rainwater, without chemicals, is possible! Developed in collaboration with pioneering hydrologist, engineer and U.N. advisor Peter J. Coombes, this scientifically- proven technology hasn’t even reached the U.S. or Canada…until now….
…in our Essential Rainwater Harvesting Tutorial Beta Launch!
With registration opening Wednesday at a staggering 50% savings, this is our sneak-a-peek gift to you!
It’s just one of the many handouts, cheat-sheets, and other tools that come with the course…

Elements of Rainwater Harvesting

…not to mention the 6 modules of in-depth lessons, live webinars, audio/video lessons, our and much more! Rainwater Harvesting Course

What Do You Say to the Rainwater Harvesting Nay-Sayers?

“Naaaahhhh, rainwater harvesting doesn’t work. It’s not going to do any good here!”
If you’re dealing with RWH skepticism, it’s likely because the whole picture isn’t being considered. Here’s a simple diagram that shows the financial, environmental, and social benefits of rainwater harvesting at your home.
Want to know more about how RWH can give you water security, save you money, protect your home, drought-proof your garden, and much, much more? Sign up for our Essential Rainwater Harvesting Tutorial – at a stunning 50% off for a beta-launch class of just 25 adventurous change-makers! Rainwater Harvesting Course

Sneak a Peak Video

A Cheat Sheet of Best Practice

Your Handy Cheat-Sheet of Best Practices for Rainwater Harvesting, from Design to Maintenance
This table of good design and sensible maintenance practices for home-scale rainwater harvesting systems is just one of the learning guides you’ll get with our Essential Rainwater Harvesting Tutorial Beta Launch (Rainwater Harvesting Course).
(And just one tiny part of all you’ll receive in this course, at an insanely low beta-launch price!)

Extract from Course

Extract from Rainwater Course

What’s the First Thing to Do When Designing Your Rainwater Harvesting System?

When designing your rainwater harvesting system, the first you should do is build a site plan. A site plan is (i) probably one of the most important tools to help you with the proper design and spatial layout of your system, (ii) an indispensable resource during construction, and (iii) used to effectively and very simply convey information to contractors or others helping you during installation.
In this sneak-a-peak version of the full lesson, Michelle discusses the importance of building a site plan and how to build one using a base map, an architects scale ruler and data overlays.

The full lesson is found only in our Essential Rainwater Harvesting Course: Rainwater Harvesting Course

Alternative Water Plan for Sydney

Peter J Coombes, Michael Smit and Michael Barry

Sydney is the premier Australian city and it faces profound urban water challenges. Sydney must manage its infrastructure efficiently and sustainably to compete internationally as a Global city. Sydney has a strongly performing water services sector but has a traditional approach to water service management.

Significant challenges include long transfer distances for water and sewage services, inadequate sewage treatment, severe urban heat island problems in the rapidly growing west and inadequate urban stormwater infrastructure management.

These problems appear to be intractable using traditional water analysis approaches. However a Systems Framework investigation can identify efficient solutions and new opportunities.

The Systems Framework methodology was recognised in 2018 by Engineers Australia as leading water resource research.[1]

Options

The Systems Framework is used to model and compare the performance of four Options.

The Business as Usual (BAU) Option considers current water cycle (water, sewage, stormwater and environment) management practices and BASIX policies across the Greater Sydney region.

The second Option (NoBasix) examines the impacts of removing the BASIX policy in 2010 to document the benefits of the state planning policy.

A third Option is a new BASIX (NewBasix) that includes stormwater volume targets and improved online tools designed to address key Greater Sydney challenges.

The final Option (BSX_Price) applies a single usage tariff for water and sewage services, and a single impervious area tariff for stormwater management. This option abandons fixed tariffs to provide greater incentives to utilities and citizens for efficient water use and stormwater management.

Results

The key insight is that a combination of supply and demand management is more efficient than relying entirely on supply solutions when considering whole of society benefits. These demand management solutions include behaviour change, water efficient appliances and rainwater harvesting.  An example of these benefits is a 5 year deferral of the multi-billion dollar desalination augmentation provided by the BASIX policy.  The inclusion of rainwater harvesting as a stormwater management solution has both infrastructure and demand management benefits and is an efficient decentralised infrastructure asset that improves the performance of the whole system.

An Efficient Sydney

This report finds that Greater Sydney, despite significant challenges, currently has the most efficient and sustainable water services in Australia.[2] This has been achieved through the strategic alignment of water demand management, rainwater harvesting and urban development.

The BASIX state environmental planning policy has built-in demand management and stormwater management in most new buildings in the Greater Sydney region since 2004 and this ‘bottom up’ approach has a major legacy impact on the efficiency of water services. BASIX policies will save the Greater Sydney region about 139 billion litres of water annually by 2050.

Water and Sewage Transport Logistics

This investigation has identified water and sewage transfer distances of over 50 km across Greater Sydney. Transporting a heavy liquid over these distances and significant changes in ground elevations represents high capital and operational costs and potential economic inefficiencies.

In some parts of Greater Sydney, the shadow cost (medium run marginal cost) of delivering water and sewage services is greater than $16/kL, which is nearly 800% more than the household usage tariff, as shown in Figure 1.

Stormwater Management

Stormwater management is emerging as one of the most significant urban infrastructure challenges[3]. The stormwater infrastructure established often more than 50 years ago is inadequate for modern challenges.[4][5] However, it is prohibitively expensive to retrofit traditional infrastructure into existing urban areas.

Greater Sydney is experiencing a higher than expected level of urban infill development which increases impermeable surface areas and generates greater urban stormwater runoff.

Climate Change predictions from the IPCC are for more intense rainfall events from summer storms that significantly increases the flooding risk.[6]

The Value of Source Controls

Importantly the improved BASIX program to 2050 provides net present values of $4.3 billion (4% discount rate) through at source controls. These approaches improve stormwater service costs, nutrients loads discharging to waterways and flood risk compared to not having BASIX. If you include legacy benefits this value increases to $6.1 billion.

Summary

The options for future water cycle management examined in this study reveals that an improved BASIX policy with stormwater and green infrastructure will further reduce water and sewage utility costs by over $1 billion and provide net benefits of over $1.6 billion to 2050. The difference between no BASIX and improved BASIX policies from 2010 to 2050 is a net present benefit of $7 billion. Improved water and sewage tariffs to deliver accurate price signals will have even greater benefits.

This research was conducted in partnership with Kingspan Water & Energy and BMT.

References

[1] Barry M.E., and Coombes P.J., (2018), Planning resilient water resources and communities: the need for a bottom-up systems approach, Australasian Journal of Water Resources, 22(2), 113-136 – Awarded the GN Alexander Prize for Hydrology and Water Resources 2018

[2] Coombes, P.J., Barry, M., & Smit, M. (2018). Systems Analysis And Big Data Reveals Benefit Of New Economy Solutions At Multiple Scales. WSUD 2018 & Hydropolis conference, Engineers Australia, Perth.

[3] Australian Senate (2015), Stormwater Management in Australia. Environment and Communications References Committee of the Australian Senate, Commonwealth Government of Australia

[4] Coombes P. J., (2018), Status of transforming stormwater drainage to a systems approach to urban water cycle management – moving beyond green pilots, Australasian Journal of Water Resources, 22:1, 15-28.

[5] State of Victoria. (2018). Improving Stormwater Management Advisory Committee Final Report. East Melbourne: Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.

[6] Coombes P. J., Roso S., (2018), Editors, Book 9: Runoff in Urban Areas, Australian Rainfall and Runoff, Commonwealth of Australia (Geosciences Australia), Australia

[Read more…]

Systems Frameworks of Big Data: Averages, Economics and Policy

Peter J Coombes at the GK Symposium

12 – 13 June 2019 at Noahs at Newcastle Beach

Bottom up systems analysis highlights the illusion of averages and economic opportunities for development of government policy for water resources

The question

Urban areas are complex systems that involve dynamic linkages and feedback processes across demographics, socio-economics, urban form, weather and a multitude of parameters. Numerical models are needed and employed to understand the performance of water resources, ecosystems and economics in urban areas.

Analysis of water resources commonly employs understandable deterministic processes that utilise temporal and spatial averages that are based on large centralised scales (such as an average household or per-capita water use multiplied by the number of dwellings or people in a city, respectively) and lengthy time intervals (monthly).

Does the traditional use of centralised average inputs to models used to analyse water resources change our understanding of water security, requirement for infrastructure, performance of alternative strategies and assessment of government policy?

The Journey

Creation of the “bottom up” Systems Framework commenced during Peter Coombes’ PhD research (1998 – 2002) supervised by George Kuczera to understand the impacts of distributed interventions on regional water cycle systems and economics. This required development of behavioural models of water uses at households and other land uses that were driven by Big Data inputs (weather, demographics, billing data, socio-economics and economics) at fine spatial and temporal scales.

These systems models were constructed in hierarchical frameworks across multiple scales from land use to neighbourhood to suburb to region. They incorporated all available data and information at each scale including water, sewage and stormwater infrastructure, and waterways. Inclusion of feedback loops throughout framework of behavioural drivers created a “self organising” systems analysis. For example, application of water restrictions or changes in prices at a regional scale influences local behaviours which impacts across different scale in a city.

Development of these Systems Framework methods over next two decades included discoveries in systems thinking from Jay Forrester and Donella Meadows, natural capital from Paul Hawkin, and economic concepts from John Nash and Joseph Stiglitz. The Systems Framework journey has been enhanced by multiple collaborators, including long term collaboration with Michael Barry.

Since 2004, the Systems Framework has been applied to the development of strategy and government policy for water resources. The journey to understand the impacts of average assumptions on assessment of water resources commenced since 2010. These processes now resolve local water balances and behavioural economic equilibrium for each property at all time steps.

Donella Meadows final publication in 2008 highlighted a need for bottom up, hierarchical, self-organising systems frameworks to understand future challenges and policies to intervene in an increasingly complex world. This was consistent with our Systems Framework discoveries.

These investigations have demonstrated the problematic nature of using average assumptions, from conceptual difficulties in calculating an average from non-normal distributions through to consequences regarding model predictive capability. The authors are conducting an ongoing research program using bottom up systems analysis to evaluate the impact of average water demands across multiple cities, and the impacts that combinations of temporal and spatial averages have on water resource analysis. This research has presented new science insights and opportunities for understanding analysis of water resources.  These insights are likely to apply to other disciplines.

Spatial costs and prices

Consumers in Australia cities pay uniform fixed and variable tariffs (postage stamp prices) for utility water and sewage services. This process influences perceptions of prices and costs of water services. This investigation used bottom up systems analysis to estimate the spatial costs of water and sewage services in Melbourne and Sydney.

This research highlighted that Australian capital city regions are subject to strong spatial variation in costs to provide utility services. For example, these spatial costs ranged from $2/kL to $11/kL for Greater Melbourne. These spatial long run marginal (shadow) costs are vastly different to average marginal costs that are presented as opportunity maps for future planning. Fixed tariffs were found to be a disincentive for water efficient behaviours, economic efficiency and equity.

The economic and water resources impacts of implementing a full user pays tariff for utility services was also examined using the Systems Framework approach that commenced with a full usage tariff consistent with current household expenses at each location. Tariffs were permited to vary in response to annual changes in demands and costs. Substantial reductions in water demands and improvement in water security to 2050 was estimated at a net present value of $8.6 billion for Melbourne (for example). A full usage tariff regime was seen to increase water efficient behaviours and uptake of water efficient appliances and local water sources. These results also revealed improvements in household welfare. Ongoing research is refining the systems analysis to understand the full spectrum of impacts on households, utilities and national economies.

ARR Presentation – Unfinished Business in Urban Areas

This investigation was motivated by revision of Australia’s national guide to rainfall runoff and flooding, Australian Rainfall and Runoff (ARR), and systems thinking about the future of urban stormwater management. Reflections on this change process revealed internationally relevant challenges and a need to reframe stormwater drainage as integrated management of the urban water cycle from a design, economic and policy perspective. Advances in stormwater management are mostly represented by demonstration projects and policies for integrated water management. Many different water management philosophies have emerged that are consistent with evolving dominant interests such as water authorities, government agencies and proprietary research consortiums. Substantial progress has been made in defining the challenges and necessary solutions but urban flooding and ecological degradation continues to be an escalating problem. Traditional drainage approaches with bottom of catchment management of quantity and quality remains a default implementation solution. Pathway dependence on past methods, competing ideas and ownership, uncertain perceptions of value and a lack of systems perspective may be a barrier that needs to be overcome by the new ARR. A systems approach is needed for water cycle management that includes stormwater management in urban areas. The insights from this paper will also apply to many other cities outside of Australia.

Barry M.E., and Coombes P.J., (2018), Planning resilient water resources and communities: the need for a bottom up systems approach, Australasian Journal of Water Resources

Coombes P.J., Barry M.E., and Smit M., (2018), Bottom up systems analysis of urban water resources and market mechanisms for pricing water and sewage services, HWRS 2018, Melbourne

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Making of the paper:

Planning resilient water resources and communities: the need for a bottom up systems approach

Michael E Barry and Peter J Coombes

Impact of Averages on Water Modelling

This paper was awarded the GN Alexander Medal by the Engineers Australia National Committee on Water Engineering. This Medal is usually awarded every 18 months for the best paper in hydrology and/or water resources published in an Engineers Australia publication.

This article presents an overview of the processes leading to making this journal paper.

The question

Urban areas are complex systems that involve dynamic linkages and feedback processes across demographics, socio-economics, urban form, weather and a multitude of parameters. Numerical models are needed and employed to understand the performance of water resources, ecosystems and economics in urban areas.

Analysis of water resources commonly employs understandable deterministic processes that utilise temporal and spatial averages that are based on large centralised scales (such as an average household or per-capita water use multiplied by the number of dwellings or people in a city, respectively) and lengthy time intervals (for example: monthly).

Does the traditional use of centralised average demand inputs to models used to analyse water resources change our understanding of water security, requirement for infrastructure, performance of alternative strategies and assessment of government policy.

The Journey

The “bottom up” Systems Framework was created during PhD research (1998 – 2002) by Peter Coombes to understand the impacts of distributed interventions on regional water cycle systems and economics.

Since 2004, Michael Barry and Peter Coombes collaborated on application of the Systems Framework to development of strategy and government policy for water resources. The journey to understand the impacts of average assumptions on assessment of water resources commenced during 2010. The systems framework approach has evolved over the last two decades by utilising emerging computing power that permits bottom up processes underpinned by big data.

Evolving applied science

The Systems Framework approach required development of behavioural models of water uses at households and other land uses that were driven by Big Data inputs (such as weather, demographics, billing data and socio-economics) at fine spatial and temporal scales.

These systems models were constructed in hierarchical frameworks across multiple scales from land use to neighbourhood to suburb to region. They incorporated all available data and information at each scale including water, sewage and stormwater infrastructure, and waterways. Inclusion of feedback loops throughout the framework of behavioural drivers created a “self organising” systems analysis. For example, water restrictions or changes in prices at a regional scale influences local behaviours. This impacts across different scales across a city to produce different regional responses.

Development of these Systems Framework methods over two decades included discoveries in systems thinking from Jay Forrester and Donella Meadows, natural capital from Paul Hawkin and economic processes by John Nash and Joseph Stiglitz.

Meadows final publication in 2008 highlighted a need for bottom up, hierarchical, self-organising systems frameworks to understand future challenges and policies to intervene in an increasingly complex world. This was consistent with our Systems Framework discoveries.

Bottom up systems analysis

The Systems Framework includes the spatial detail and behaviors of households and land uses. This structure permitted an extension of investigations into the Sydney and Melbourne water resources systems to evaluate the impacts of using average water demands in models. The analysis commenced with detailed spatial and temporal water demand behaviors generated by Systems Framework. These demands were then progressively averaged into local demands based on:

• local government average demands with monthly temporal patterns
• Local government average demands
• regional average demand

The impact of these different average assumptions were assessed against impacts on water security, flows in distribution networks and assessment of an alternative water strategy that includes additional distributed water efficiency and rainwater harvesting.

Overview of Results

This investigation has demonstrated the problematic nature of using average water demands. This includes conceptual difficulties in calculating an average from non-normal distributions through to the consequences for model predictive capability. For example the following Figure shows that use of global average water demands (BAU_GA) over-estimates the water security of the Melbourne system when compared to the use of fully resolved local water use behaviors in the Systems Framework (BAU_S).

In contrast, average assumptions under-estimated water security of the Sydney system. The following Figure shows that average assumptions over-estimates the magnitude and frequency of flows from the alternative water strategy (increased water efficiency and rainwater harvesting)  in comparison to the fully resolved systems analysis (ALT_S).

Key Insights

It was found that average assumptions lead to material differences in model predictive behavior, and that the directions of these differences are unpredictable and sometimes lead to counter-intuitive outcomes.  The application of average assumptions of any kind is problematic and has the potential to heavily influence infrastructure investment and, more broadly, policy direction. The use of average assumptions in assessment of distributed water solutions may provide an illusion of minimal benefits.

The authors are conducting an ongoing research program using bottom up systems analysis to evaluate the impact of average water demands across multiple cities, and the impacts that combinations of temporal and spatial averages have on water resource analysis.  This research has presented new science insights and opportunities for understanding analysis of water resources.  These insights are likely to apply to other disciplines.

Click here to access full paper from Australasian Journal of Water Resources

 

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