Abstract

Water is fundamental to the well-being of individuals and for the economic growth of society. Despite this, currently over four million people live in areas with water scar- city, a situation that in recent years has been exacerbated by the increase in the human population, urbanization and climate change (Tzanakakis et al., 2020; Stringer et al., 2021). The reduction in the availability of freshwater sources has resulted in enormous pressures for water utilities that must provide a con- tinuous supply of drinking water. To address this, the management of water resources plays a fundamental role, which must be oriented toward sustainable consumption, the minimi- zation of its economic costs, efficient distri- bution and technological support for resource management.