A study of water consumption in residential sector in Saudi Arabia

In view of the scarcity of water resources in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the high per capita water consumption, this study investigated the main determinants of water consumption in the residential sector of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. To achieve the aim of the study, an econometric model was suggested to study and analyze the effect of gross domestic product at constant prices and population size on water consumption. The study used time series data for 1987–2018. Water consumption increased at an annual growth rate of 4.9%; the logarithms of both GDP and water consumption integrated at I(1), but the population integrated at I(0). The study used Microfit 5 to obtain the results related to the co-integration test using the ARDL methodology. The appropriate model for the data was ARDL (1,0,1). Tests showed significant relationships in both the long run and the short run, and the error correction factor (−0.5938) indicated a water consumption return ratio of 59.38% at the long-run equilibrium. Diagnostic tests proved that the proposed model was suitable and free from deficiencies; therefore, the estimated model was used to predict water consumption over 2019–2023. The forecast results showed that the average growth rate of water consumption was 13.3%. The study recommended intensifying the current awareness programs that rationalize water consumption. © 2021, Saudi Society for Geosciences.