A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology

Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1979

There are only a few major studies of economic elasticities of municipal water demand in the developing countries. This study does not answer all the demand questions but attempts to formulate some parameters related to municipal water demand in the Bangkok metropolitan area. A time series analysis of the data for the period from 1962 to 1977, showed that both number of meter connections and monthly mean temperature are significant in determining the water demand. In addition, the cross-sectional analysis of the data from twenty districts, also showed that the business establishments and per cent of population served are significant in predicting the water demand in Metropolitan Bangkok. Finally, the user class analysis considering only two independent variables; number of meter connections and average water price, showed that the factors could explain the monthly water consumption of each user-class. The role of demand functions was also discussed and the statistical relationships obtained are as follows. Time-Series Analysis Logarithmic form: Q = 2.884 x 10-6(N)0.324(T)4.487 Linear form: Q = -1658.495 + 0.546 (N) + 72.205 (T) Cross-Sectional Analysis Logarithmic form: Q = 38.019 (E)0.386(S)-0.122 Linear form: Q = 330.646 + 102.204 (E) - 1.716 (S) User-Class Analysis Logarithmic form: D = 16826.741 (N) 0.438 (P)-1.135 Where Q = average water demand (lpcd) N = number of meter connections (Linear form, N in thousands) T = monthly mena temperature( C̕) E = number of business establishments (Linear form, E in thousands) S = per cent of population served D = average monthly water demand (m3/class) P = average water price (Baht/m3)