Abstract

ZUNIGA, María Gabriela; IZURIETA, Carlos  and  ARELLANO, Alfonso. Comparative analysis between historical drinking water consumption and that of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ecuador. Novasinergia [online]. 2023, vol.6, n.2, pp.46-61.  Epub July 14, 2023. ISSN 2631-2654.  https://doi.org/10.37135/ns.01.12.03.

Abstract: This research analyzes the monthly drinking water consumption in the residential sector of 46 Ecuadorian towns to determine if there was greater consumption during the quarantine’s isolation due to COVID-19 than the historical values. Over 28 million data were analyzed previously through the Box and Whisker Test, ANOVA, and Tukey to get the average monthly consumption (CMM) and the historical maximums (CMH) for each year of registration. The standard deviation is calculated to compare the maximum consumption during quarantine (CMC) with the historical one. No town has quarantine consumption more significant than the historical maximum, but a third of the sample reaches the historical maximum during isolation, which should raise concerns due to recurring natural or anthropic emergencies. Consumption during the months of isolation (March, April, May, and June of 2020) has distinct patterns than those of the historical ones and are attributed to migration caused by fear and unemployment caused by COVID-19, which directly affect drinking water consumption.

Keywords : Consumption; COVID-19; maximum; quarantine; water.

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