The consumption of water is a critical issue for the United States; while the United States Geological Survey provides a nation-wide analysis every five years, analysis at the state level on an annual basis is lacking. This work investigates the current status and trends of water consumption across Massachusetts public water suppliers (PWS). Monthly data for the years 2009 through 2022 was obtained from the state regulatory authority, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). After extensive quality control, the final dataset included 290 PWS, ranging from the large system that services Boston to small rural systems in the Berkshire Mountains. The analysis focused on the following: trends in annual, summer, and winter consumption; residential gallons per capita per day (RGPCD) and unaccounted for water (UAW); the ratio of summer to winter use; and consumer type (for example, residential versus industrial). The RGPCD and UAW are of particular interest because they are tied to the MassDEP permitting process by which PWS are authorized to withdraw water. One key result from the analysis is that there is no overall trend in annual consumption across all of Massachusetts; however, individual PWS show distinctly increasing or decreasing trends, depending on location. The results of this work provide critical decision-support information to MassDEP who determines statewide regulations and to PWS who must comply with those regulations while also continuing to provide clean and abundant water to their customers.
