MEASURING AND MODELING POTABLE WATER DEMAND IN THE UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS

This thesis uses a data-driven and model-based approach to measure and estimate potable water flows in the United States Virgin Islands (USVI). The USVI potable water system is considerably more complicated than typical systems in the mainland United States. For this reason, we conduct a first-principles analysis on water production, storage, delivery, and use patterns to see if standard statistical models of water demand apply in the USVI context. We curate and combine historical weather, demographic, water use, and water delivery data to understand past water use and flows across St. Thomas and St. John. We identify statistically significant differences in water demand patterns on daily and seasonal time horizons. We further quantify how statistical models for normal operations may make poor predictions of water demands after disasters. Based on these analyses, we provide recommendations for USVI stakeholders focused on making the territory resilient to future disasters, such as hurricanes.

Department dc:contributor.department

Operations Research (OR)

Grantor dc:publisher

Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Borgdorff, Andrew J.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Alderson, David L., Jr.

Statement dc:rights

• This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10945/65403

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:calhoun.nps.edu:10945/65403