Assessing the relevance of intervening parameters on the per capita water consumption rates in Brazilian urban communities

The determination of the per capita water consumption is an essential step in the design of water supply systems. The present paper examines the influence of several variables on the per capita water consumption, based on 96 different towns in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The set of samples was categorised firstly into five different classes and three distinct population intervals and, finally, was presented in overall terms. The paper also attempts to explain the relative influence of the intervening factors for each population range, and presents a multivariate regression model for the per capita water consumption rates for towns with populations ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 inhabitants. For this population range, the significant variables were: (a) percentage of water metering, (b) water tariff, and (c) energy consumption by commercial and industrial activities.