Spatial Study of the Effect of Coronavirus Outbreak on Water Consumption in Shabestar

This study aims to investigate the changes in the spatial patterns of residential water consumption before and after the outbreak of the Coronavirus (from April 2016 to February 2016) in city of Shabestar in East Azerbaijan province using water consumption data obtained from 594 subscribers. To this end, the average water consumption level for every two months of the year before the outbreak of coronavirus (until February 2017) has been compared to the water consumption level of the same period after the outbreak. To study the spatial patterns of the difference, the study area was divided into several regions using a 400-meter grid, and the statistical significance of the difference in water consumption of each grid cell has been evaluated using the T-test. Then, using the Moran index, the distribution of areas with a significant difference in their water consumption has been investigated. The obtained results of this study showed that the number and location of the regions with increased water consumption levels were different during this period. The results also showed no spatial correlation between grids with significant consumption change and the random distribution of these areas.