Investigating the influence of Australia Day and Christmas Day on water demand in the Greater Sydney region

ABSTRACT The objective of this research is to investigate whether particular occasions, such as Australia Day and Christmas Day, have a notable impact on water demand in the Greater Sydney region. By examining water demand during these events, the study aims to enhance understanding of water consumption patterns and contribute to the development of effective demand management strategies. Multivariate time series data from several water plants in the Greater Sydney region were analyzed using three methods: correlation heatmaps, t-tests, and descriptive statistics. The findings indicate that neither Australia Day nor Christmas Day has a significant impact on water demand at different water plants in the Greater Sydney region. These results suggest that public holidays may not need to be a critical factor in short-term water demand forecasting models for this area.