Which are the factors that may explain the differences in water and energy consumptions in urban and rural environments?

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 642; no. 15; pp. 421 - 435
• Main Authors: Matos, C., Bentes, I., Pereira, S., Gonçalves, A.M., Faria, D., Briga-Sá, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 15.11.2018; Elsevier 1
• Subjects: Ação climática; Ciências Naturais; Differentiating factors; Engenharia Civil; Engenharia do Ambiente; Engenharia e Tecnologia; Matemáticas; Rural and urban environments; Science & Technology; Statistical data analysis; Survey; Water and energy consumptions; Água potável e saneamento; Water and energy consumptions; Statistical data analysis; Differentiating factors; Survey; Rural and urban environments
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026; 0048-9697
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.06.062

Rural and urban environments present significant differences between water and energy consumptions. It is important to know, in detail, which factors related to the consumption of these two resources are different in both environments, once that will be those important to manage and discuss in order to improve its use efficiency and sustainability. This research work involves a survey whose aim is to find the factors that in rural and urban environments may justify the differences found in water and energy consumptions. Besides the collection of water and energy consumption data, this survey analyzed 80 variables (socio-demographic, economic, household characterization, among others), that were chosen among the bibliography as possible factors that should influence water and energy consumptions. After the survey application in rural and urban areas and the data statistical treatment, 42 variables remained as truly differentiating factors of rural and urban environments and so as possible determinants of water and energy consumptions. In order to achieve these objectives, a descriptive data analysis and statistical inference (Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test and the Chi-square test of homogeneity) were performed. All the 42 differentiating variables that result from this study may be able to justify these differences, however this will not be presented in the paper and it is reserved for future work. [Display omitted] •Factors that may support differences in water and energy consumptions in rural and urban areas•Where found significant differences between rural and urban environments•Descriptive data analysis and statistical inference (ST) are performed.•Started with 80 variables after ST only 42 remained as differentiating factors of environments.