Peak demand periods are the times of day and year when consumption increases.
For Campbell River, peak periods tend to be in the summer months, especially July and August. The daily peak periods occur in the mornings (5 to 10 a.m.) and in the evenings, (7 to 11 p.m.) when more people tend to be home.
According to statistics for North America, the primary source of water demand during peak periods is from garden and lawn irrigation.
The figure below depicts the daily morning and evening peaks from May to September 2018, showing the significant increase in water consumption during July and August, which occasionally exceeds the system’s capacity.
During a heat wave in July 2009, consumption increased above 1,200 litres per second and firefighting water capacity was compromised. When a sprinkling watering ban was introduced between July 31 and August 7 in 2009, daily peaks disappeared and consumption dropped, establishing adequate water capacity for firefighting.
Figure 1. Daily average flow rates for morning and evening peaks from May 22, 2018 to September 21, 2018. Data was collected from the City of Campbell River’s SCADA database. Peak flow rates were measured by calculating the average from the start of the peak, end of the peak, as well as a median point.