title: Assessing the urban water balance: the Urban Water Flow Model and its application in Cyprus.
abstract: Modelling the urban water balance enables the understanding of the interactions of water within an urban area and allows for better management of water resources. However, few models today provide a comprehensive overview of all water sources and uses. The objective of the current paper was to develop a user-friendly tool that quantifies and visualizes all water flows, losses and inefficiencies in urban environments. The Urban Water Flow Model was implemented in a spreadsheet and includes a water-savings application that computes the contributions of user-selected saving options to the overall water balance. The model was applied to the coastal town of Limassol, Cyprus, for the hydrologic years 2003/04-2008/09. Data were collected from the different authorities and hydrologic equations and estimations were added to complete the balance. Average precipitation was 363 mm/yr, amounting to 25.4 × 10(6)m(3)/yr, more than double the annual potable water supply to the town. Surface runoff constituted 29.6% of all outflows, while evapotranspiration from impervious areas was 21.6%. Possible potable water savings for 2008/09 were estimated at 5.3 × 10(3) m(3), which is 50% of the total potable water provided to the area. This saving would also result in a 6% reduction of surface runoff.
authors: The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus. k.charalambous@cyi.ac.cy
authors: Katerina
authors: K
authors: Charalambous
authors: Adriana
authors: A
authors: Bruggeman
authors: Manfred A
authors: MA
authors: Lange
mesh_terms: D002947:Cities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003535:Cyprus; D060766:Drinking Water; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D058438:Water Cycle; D014872:Water Movements; D014881:Water Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water