# Distortion and Improvement Method of Location Quotient in Water Consumption Evaluation

Authors: Taowen Nie; Na Li; Feng Yan
Journal: Mathematical Problems in Engineering
 (2022)

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## Abstract

Location quotient (LQ) is a widely used model to evaluate the spatial aggregation of water consumption. The conventional view is that all the domains of the LQ values in different water-using departments are [0, +∞). The larger the LQ is, the higher the degree of water consumption concentration is. With the water consumption structure evaluation of Northwest China as an illustration, this study shows the following: (i) The conventional LQ has a distortion phenomenon. The agricultural water consumption of Xinjiang Province accounts for more than 70.4% of the total water consumption in the whole study area, indicating that this department plays a dominant role. However, its conventional LQ is only 1.06, which is much less than the conventional LQs of the industrial and domestic water consumptions of Gansu Province and Shaanxi Province. (ii) The mathematical essence of this distortion in the conventional LQ model is that the conventional view that all the domains of the LQ values in different water-using departments are [0,+∞) is not tenable. The actual domain of thei-th department in the j-th province is [dij, dij−1], where dij is the water consumption proportion of this department accounting for the whole study area. For the department with high water consumption, the upper limit of its LQ is too small. Thus, the conventional LQ values of different water-using departments are not directly comparable. (iii) An improved LQ model is designed by introducing the standardization procedure. The improved LQ values of different water-using departments are [0, L], making them directly comparable. The improved LQ of the agriculture department in Xinjiang Province is 1.56, which is the most significant of all. This finding indicates that the water consumption in Northwest China is significantly concentrated in the agriculture department in Xinjiang. The evaluation results of the improved LQ model are more realistic and more suitable for the government’s water resources management than those of the conventional model.


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## Body

## 1. Introduction

Location quotient (LQ) was proposed by P. Haggett to analyze the spatial aggregation degree of economic structure [1, 2]. LQ uses a ratio to quantify the specialization rate of each economic sector, which is concise and intuitive [3, 4]. Thus, LQ is widely applied in global space economics research [5–7]. For example, Wei et al. [8] applied LQ to evaluate the spatial differentiation of different occupational workers in Guangzhou City in the 1990s. Sun et al. [9] used LQ to analyze the differences in the industrial structures of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei in China. Hu and Zhang [10] determined the leading industries of Ningbo City with LQ.Water resources are the basis of human survival and social development. However, water shortage has worsened in recent years because of climate change and population expansion. Therefore, water consumption structure evaluation focuses on global water resources management [11]. Given its simplicity and intuitiveness, LQ is also widely applied in water consumption structure evaluation [12]. For example, He [13] explored the water consumption structure of China using LQ. Liu and Zhang [14] exercised LQ to analyze the agricultural water use in Gansu Province, China. Yu et al. [15] applied LQ to assess UK’s regional and global water footprint.In the traditional literature, the range of LQ is considered [0, +∞). The larger the LQ is, the greater the discrimination degree of the indicator is; the more information it contains, and the higher the weight should be given, and vice versa [16]. However, we determined a distortion phenomenon in the conventional LQ model through various water management practices. When the water consumption is excessively concentrated in a certain department, its LQ is abnormally small [17, 18]. This distortion misleads the government and deviates the water management policy from reality.In this study, we reveal this distortion in the conventional LQ model and design an improvement method. The structure of this study is as follows. (i) The distortion in the conventional LQ model is revealed using the water consumption structure evaluation of Northwest China as an illustration. (ii) The real domain of LQ is derived through inequality analysis, and the mathematical essence of this distortion phenomenon is revealed. (iii) An improved LQ is designed, and its effectiveness in water resources management is discussed.


## 2. Distortion in the Conventional LQ Model

### 2.1. Study Area

In this study, the water consumption structure of Northwest China is evaluated as an illustration. As shown in Figure1, the latitude and longitude of Northwest China are 64 degrees east longitude to 113 degrees east longitude and 27 degrees north latitude to 44 degrees north latitude, which accounts for approximately 29% of China [19]. Northwest China includes three provinces: Xinjiang Province, Gansu Province, and Shaanxi Province. They are located in arid/semiarid plateau areas with relatively fragile ecological environments.Figure 1
Study area.Based on the investigation of the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, Northwest China has three major water-consuming departments: agriculture, industry, and domestic. Their water consumption amounts according to the Chinese Statistical Yearbook are listed in Table1.Table 1
Structure of water consumption in the study area (billion m³).
ProvinceAgricultural useIndustrial useDomestic useXinjiang55.101.331.23Gansu9.781.280.82Shaanxi5.791.41.54As shown in Table1, the total water consumption in Northwest China is 78.27 billion m3. The water used by the agriculture department of Xinjiang Province is 55.10 billion m3, accounting for more than 70% of the total water consumption in the whole study area. The agriculture department of Xinjiang Province plays a dominant role in the water consumption of Northwest China, and its water consumption concentration degree should be significantly high.


### 2.2. Conventional LQ

We suppose that the study area containsm water-using departments and n provinces, and the water consumption of the i-th department in the j-th province is denoted as wij. In this case, the percentage of the water consumption of the i-th department in the j-th province is [20].(1)pij=wij∑i=1mwij×100%.The water consumption percentage of thei-th department in the whole study area is [21, 22] as follows:(2)Pi=∑j=1nwij∑i=1m∑j=1nwij×100%.In the water resource evaluation, the LQ of thei-th department in the j-th province is defined as [23] folows:(3)qij=pijPi.Given thatwij ≥ 0, the traditional literature considers that range of LQ is [0, +∞). According to the value of qij, the water consumption concentration degree is classified into three levels:(i)
Low (0 ≤qij ≤ 1). The water consumption is not concentrated in the i-th department of the j-th province.(ii)
Slight (1 <qij ≤ 1.2). The water consumption is slightly concentrated in the i-th department of the j-th province. However, this concentration degree is not significant.(iii)
High (qij > 1.2). The water consumption is significantly concentrated in the i-th department of the j-th province.


### 2.3. Result of the Conventional LQ

Table2 shows the LQ of Northwest China, which is evaluated according to the conventional model introduced in Section 2.2.Table 2
Conventional LQ results of Northwest China.
Water-using departmentXinjiangGansuShaanxipijAgricultural95.56%82.32%66.32%Industrial2.31%10.77%16.04%Domestic2.13%6.90%17.64%Values ofqijAgricultural1.060.910.73Industrial0.452.103.13Domestic0.471.503.85Grades ofqijAgriculturalSlightLowLowIndustrialLowHighHighDomesticLowHighHighTable2 shows that according to the conventional LQ results, q22, q23, q32, and q33 are larger than 1.2. This finding indicates that water consumption is significantly concentrated in the industrial and domestic departments of Gansu Province and Shaanxi Province. However, q11 is only 1.06, indicating that the water consumption is slightly concentrated in the agriculture department of Xinjiang Province. However, this concentration degree is not significant.This conclusion is seriously inconsistent with the water consumption in the actual situation. As is discussed in Section2.1, the agricultural water consumption of Xinjiang Province accounts for more than 70% of the total water consumption in the whole study area, suggesting that this department plays a dominant role. Therefore, the water resource management in Northwest China should focus on the agricultural water consumption of Xinjiang Province.However,q11 is much less than q22, q23, q32, and q33, as shown in Table 2. This finding indicates that the degree of agricultural water consumption concentration in Xinjiang Province is less than the degrees of industrial and domestic water consumption concentrations in Gansu Province and Shaanxi Province. This result indicates that the agricultural water consumption of Xinjiang Province is not the focus of the water resource management in Northwest China. This distortion misleads the government and deviates the water management policy from reality.


## 2.1. Study Area

In this study, the water consumption structure of Northwest China is evaluated as an illustration. As shown in Figure1, the latitude and longitude of Northwest China are 64 degrees east longitude to 113 degrees east longitude and 27 degrees north latitude to 44 degrees north latitude, which accounts for approximately 29% of China [19]. Northwest China includes three provinces: Xinjiang Province, Gansu Province, and Shaanxi Province. They are located in arid/semiarid plateau areas with relatively fragile ecological environments.Figure 1
Study area.Based on the investigation of the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, Northwest China has three major water-consuming departments: agriculture, industry, and domestic. Their water consumption amounts according to the Chinese Statistical Yearbook are listed in Table1.Table 1
Structure of water consumption in the study area (billion m³).
ProvinceAgricultural useIndustrial useDomestic useXinjiang55.101.331.23Gansu9.781.280.82Shaanxi5.791.41.54As shown in Table1, the total water consumption in Northwest China is 78.27 billion m3. The water used by the agriculture department of Xinjiang Province is 55.10 billion m3, accounting for more than 70% of the total water consumption in the whole study area. The agriculture department of Xinjiang Province plays a dominant role in the water consumption of Northwest China, and its water consumption concentration degree should be significantly high.


## 2.2. Conventional LQ

We suppose that the study area containsm water-using departments and n provinces, and the water consumption of the i-th department in the j-th province is denoted as wij. In this case, the percentage of the water consumption of the i-th department in the j-th province is [20].(1)pij=wij∑i=1mwij×100%.The water consumption percentage of thei-th department in the whole study area is [21, 22] as follows:(2)Pi=∑j=1nwij∑i=1m∑j=1nwij×100%.In the water resource evaluation, the LQ of thei-th department in the j-th province is defined as [23] folows:(3)qij=pijPi.Given thatwij ≥ 0, the traditional literature considers that range of LQ is [0, +∞). According to the value of qij, the water consumption concentration degree is classified into three levels:(i)
Low (0 ≤qij ≤ 1). The water consumption is not concentrated in the i-th department of the j-th province.(ii)
Slight (1 <qij ≤ 1.2). The water consumption is slightly concentrated in the i-th department of the j-th province. However, this concentration degree is not significant.(iii)
High (qij > 1.2). The water consumption is significantly concentrated in the i-th department of the j-th province.


## 2.3. Result of the Conventional LQ

Table2 shows the LQ of Northwest China, which is evaluated according to the conventional model introduced in Section 2.2.Table 2
Conventional LQ results of Northwest China.
Water-using departmentXinjiangGansuShaanxipijAgricultural95.56%82.32%66.32%Industrial2.31%10.77%16.04%Domestic2.13%6.90%17.64%Values ofqijAgricultural1.060.910.73Industrial0.452.103.13Domestic0.471.503.85Grades ofqijAgriculturalSlightLowLowIndustrialLowHighHighDomesticLowHighHighTable2 shows that according to the conventional LQ results, q22, q23, q32, and q33 are larger than 1.2. This finding indicates that water consumption is significantly concentrated in the industrial and domestic departments of Gansu Province and Shaanxi Province. However, q11 is only 1.06, indicating that the water consumption is slightly concentrated in the agriculture department of Xinjiang Province. However, this concentration degree is not significant.This conclusion is seriously inconsistent with the water consumption in the actual situation. As is discussed in Section2.1, the agricultural water consumption of Xinjiang Province accounts for more than 70% of the total water consumption in the whole study area, suggesting that this department plays a dominant role. Therefore, the water resource management in Northwest China should focus on the agricultural water consumption of Xinjiang Province.However,q11 is much less than q22, q23, q32, and q33, as shown in Table 2. This finding indicates that the degree of agricultural water consumption concentration in Xinjiang Province is less than the degrees of industrial and domestic water consumption concentrations in Gansu Province and Shaanxi Province. This result indicates that the agricultural water consumption of Xinjiang Province is not the focus of the water resource management in Northwest China. This distortion misleads the government and deviates the water management policy from reality.


## 3. Mathematical Essence of the Distortion in the Conventional LQ Model

The distortion phenomenon discussed in Section2.3 is not an isolated case. In particular, the LQ values for all the dominant water-using departments are abnormally small. In this section, a general proof for this distortion is made through inequality analysis.First, three auxiliary parameters,aij, bij, and cij, are designed as follows:(4)aij=∑k≠jwikwijbij=∑l≠iwljwijcij=∑l≠i∑k≠jwlkwij.qij can be written as follows by combining equations (1)–(3):(5)qij=wij⋅wij+cij⋅wijwij+aij⋅wij⋅wij+nij⋅wij=1+cij1+aij⋅1+bij.Given thatwij is not less than 0, the following inequality is tenable:(6)0≤aij≤cij0≤bij≤cij.Whenaij=bij=cij, qij obtains its minimum value as follows:(7)qij=1+cij1+cij⋅1+cij=11+cij.Whenaij=bij=0, qij obtains its maximum value as follows:(8)qij=1+cij1+0⋅1+0=1+cij.Then, (7) and (8) are further simplified as follows:(9)11+cij=11+∑l≠i∑k≠jwlk/wij=wijwij+∑l≠i∑k≠jwlk=wij∑i=1m∑j=1nwij,1+cij=1+∑l≠i∑k≠jwlkwij=wij+∑l≠i∑k≠jwlkwij=∑i=1m∑j=1nwijwij.∑i=1m∑j=1nwij is considered the total water consumption amount of the study area, and wij/∑i=1m∑j=1nwij is the proportion of wij in the total water consumption amount. This proportion is denoted as dij, and the minimum and maximum values of qij are dij and dij−1, respectively.As mentioned in Section2.2, the domain of LQ is considered [0, +∞) in the traditional literature. However, this traditional view is inaccurate according to the inequality derivation above. The real domain of LQ is dij,dij−1. This range leads to the following paradox.(i)
When the water consumption of the study area concentrates in thei-th department of the j-th province, its dij is high.(ii)
The high value ofdij decreases the upper limit of qij.(iii)
The low value ofqij indicates that the water consumption of the study area does not concentrate in the i-th department of the j-th province.In particular, when thei-th department of the j-th province accounts for more than 85% of the total water consumption amount of the study area, its LQ is certainly less than 1.2. Therefore, its water consumption concentration degree is not significant.The mathematical essence of this distortion in the conventional LQ model is that the domains of the LQ values in different water-using departments are not consistent. For the department with high water consumption, the upper limit of its LQ is too small, causing a distortion result.


## 4. Improvement of LQ

### 4.1. Improved LQ Model

As is discussed in Section3, the mathematical essence of the distortion in the conventional LQ model is that the domains of the LQ values in different water-using departments are not consistent. Therefore, the conventional LQ model should be improved. In the improved model, the domains of the improved LQ values in different water-using departments are consistent.In this study, the improved LQ model is designed according to the following principles:(i)
All the domains of theQij values from each water-using departments are [0, L], where Qij is the improved LQ value of the i-th department of the j-th province.(ii)
Whenqij is less than 1, Qij is also less than 1; when qij is larger than 1, Qij is also larger than 1.The following simplest function satisfies the above principle:(10)Qij=qij−dij1−dij,dij≤qij≤11+qij−1dij−1−1×L−1,1<qij≤dij−1.In (10), L is a scale parameter, which can be flexibly chosen according to the researcher’s habit or the actual situation of the study area.We determined from various water resource management practices in China that whenqij−1/dij−1−1 is more than 0.05, the water consumption concentration degree can be regarded as significant. For consistency with the traditional method, this study makes L = 5. Accordingly, Qij is calculated by the following:(11)Qij=qij−dij1−dij,dij≤qij≤11+qij−1dij−1−1×4,1<qij≤dij−1.The threshold division method of the improved LQ model is also consistent with the traditional model.(i)
Low (0 ≤Qij ≤ 1). The water consumption is not concentrated in the i-th department of the j-th province.(ii)
Slight (1 <Qij ≤ 1.2). The water consumption is slightly concentrated in the i-th department of the j-th province. However, this concentration is not significant.(iii)
High (Qij > 1.2). The water consumption is significantly concentrated in the i-th department of the j-th province.The improved LQ model is not a negation of traditional methods. On the contrary, it can be regarded as a further standardization of the conventional LQ model, in which the domains of the LQ values in different water-using departments are consistent.


### 4.2. Results of Improved LQ

The LQ of Northwest China is evaluated according to the improved model designed in Section4.1 and listed in Table 3.Table 3
Conventional LQ results of Northwest China.
Water-using departmentXinjiangGansuShaanxidijAgricultural70.40%1.70%1.57%Industrial12.50%1.64%1.05%Domestic7.40%1.79%1.97%pijAgricultural95.56%82.32%66.32%Industrial2.31%10.77%16.04%Domestic2.13%6.90%17.64%Values ofqijAgricultural1.060.910.73Industrial0.452.103.13Domestic0.471.503.85Lower limit ofqijAgricultural0.700.020.02Industrial0.120.020.01Domestic0.070.020.02Upper limit ofqijAgricultural1.4258.8563.63Industrial8.0061.1595.45Domestic13.5255.9150.82Values ofQijAgricultural1.560.910.73Industrial0.371.071.09Domestic0.421.041.23Grades ofQijAgriculturalHighLowLowIndustrialLowSlightSlightDomesticLowSlightHighTable2 shows that according to the improved LQ model, Q11 is 1.56, which is the largest of all. This observation indicates that the water consumption in Northwest China is significantly concentrated in the agriculture department in Xinjiang. Q22, Q23, and Q32 are also higher than 1 but less than 1.2, indicating that the water consumption is sightly concentrated in the industrial and domestic departments in Gansu Province and Shaanxi Province.The comparison of Table2 with Table 3 shows obvious differences between the conventional and improved LQ results. According to the conventional model, q11 is only 1.06, which is much less than q22, q23, q32, and q33. This result indicates that the degree of agricultural water consumption concentration in Xinjiang Province is slight and is much less than the degrees of industrial and domestic water consumption concentrations in Gansu Province and Shaanxi Province. However, the improved model showed that Q11 is 1.56, which is much larger than Q22, Q23, Q32, and Q33. This result indicates that the degree of agricultural water consumption concentration in Xinjiang Province is significant and much higher than the degrees of industrial and domestic water consumption concentrations in Gansu Province and Shaanxi Province. Table 1 and the result of the improved LQ model are consistent with the conclusion that “the agriculture department of Xinjiang Province plays a dominant role in the water consumption of Northwest China.”The inconsistency in the domains of the conventional LQ values in different water-using departments causes differences. Table3 shows that the agricultural water consumption of Xinjiang Province accounts for approximately 70% of the total water consumption of Northwest China. Thus, the upper limit of its conventional LQ is only 1.42. Although the conventional LQ is only 1.06, it is equivalent to 74.6% of the maximum possible limit. The conventional LQ values for industrial and domestic water consumptions are 2.10 and 1.50, respectively, in Gansu Province and 3.13 and 3.85, respectively, in Shaanxi Province. These values are much larger than the conventional LQ value for agricultural water consumption of Xinjiang Province. However, their maximum possible values according to the improved LQ results are 61.15, 55.91, 95.45, and 50.82. The conventional LQ only accounts for less than 8% of the maximum possible values.The conventional LQ values in different water-using departments are not consistent. In particular, the upper limit of the conventional LQ is too small for the dominant water-using department. Therefore, the conventional LQ values of different water-using departments are not directly comparable. However, the introduction of the standardization procedure makes all the domains of the improved LQ values of different water-using departments become [0,L], thereby making them directly comparable. Therefore, the evaluation results of the improved LQ model are more realistic and more suitable for the government’s water resource management than those of the conventional LQ model.


## 4.1. Improved LQ Model

As is discussed in Section3, the mathematical essence of the distortion in the conventional LQ model is that the domains of the LQ values in different water-using departments are not consistent. Therefore, the conventional LQ model should be improved. In the improved model, the domains of the improved LQ values in different water-using departments are consistent.In this study, the improved LQ model is designed according to the following principles:(i)
All the domains of theQij values from each water-using departments are [0, L], where Qij is the improved LQ value of the i-th department of the j-th province.(ii)
Whenqij is less than 1, Qij is also less than 1; when qij is larger than 1, Qij is also larger than 1.The following simplest function satisfies the above principle:(10)Qij=qij−dij1−dij,dij≤qij≤11+qij−1dij−1−1×L−1,1<qij≤dij−1.In (10), L is a scale parameter, which can be flexibly chosen according to the researcher’s habit or the actual situation of the study area.We determined from various water resource management practices in China that whenqij−1/dij−1−1 is more than 0.05, the water consumption concentration degree can be regarded as significant. For consistency with the traditional method, this study makes L = 5. Accordingly, Qij is calculated by the following:(11)Qij=qij−dij1−dij,dij≤qij≤11+qij−1dij−1−1×4,1<qij≤dij−1.The threshold division method of the improved LQ model is also consistent with the traditional model.(i)
Low (0 ≤Qij ≤ 1). The water consumption is not concentrated in the i-th department of the j-th province.(ii)
Slight (1 <Qij ≤ 1.2). The water consumption is slightly concentrated in the i-th department of the j-th province. However, this concentration is not significant.(iii)
High (Qij > 1.2). The water consumption is significantly concentrated in the i-th department of the j-th province.The improved LQ model is not a negation of traditional methods. On the contrary, it can be regarded as a further standardization of the conventional LQ model, in which the domains of the LQ values in different water-using departments are consistent.


## 4.2. Results of Improved LQ

The LQ of Northwest China is evaluated according to the improved model designed in Section4.1 and listed in Table 3.Table 3
Conventional LQ results of Northwest China.
Water-using departmentXinjiangGansuShaanxidijAgricultural70.40%1.70%1.57%Industrial12.50%1.64%1.05%Domestic7.40%1.79%1.97%pijAgricultural95.56%82.32%66.32%Industrial2.31%10.77%16.04%Domestic2.13%6.90%17.64%Values ofqijAgricultural1.060.910.73Industrial0.452.103.13Domestic0.471.503.85Lower limit ofqijAgricultural0.700.020.02Industrial0.120.020.01Domestic0.070.020.02Upper limit ofqijAgricultural1.4258.8563.63Industrial8.0061.1595.45Domestic13.5255.9150.82Values ofQijAgricultural1.560.910.73Industrial0.371.071.09Domestic0.421.041.23Grades ofQijAgriculturalHighLowLowIndustrialLowSlightSlightDomesticLowSlightHighTable2 shows that according to the improved LQ model, Q11 is 1.56, which is the largest of all. This observation indicates that the water consumption in Northwest China is significantly concentrated in the agriculture department in Xinjiang. Q22, Q23, and Q32 are also higher than 1 but less than 1.2, indicating that the water consumption is sightly concentrated in the industrial and domestic departments in Gansu Province and Shaanxi Province.The comparison of Table2 with Table 3 shows obvious differences between the conventional and improved LQ results. According to the conventional model, q11 is only 1.06, which is much less than q22, q23, q32, and q33. This result indicates that the degree of agricultural water consumption concentration in Xinjiang Province is slight and is much less than the degrees of industrial and domestic water consumption concentrations in Gansu Province and Shaanxi Province. However, the improved model showed that Q11 is 1.56, which is much larger than Q22, Q23, Q32, and Q33. This result indicates that the degree of agricultural water consumption concentration in Xinjiang Province is significant and much higher than the degrees of industrial and domestic water consumption concentrations in Gansu Province and Shaanxi Province. Table 1 and the result of the improved LQ model are consistent with the conclusion that “the agriculture department of Xinjiang Province plays a dominant role in the water consumption of Northwest China.”The inconsistency in the domains of the conventional LQ values in different water-using departments causes differences. Table3 shows that the agricultural water consumption of Xinjiang Province accounts for approximately 70% of the total water consumption of Northwest China. Thus, the upper limit of its conventional LQ is only 1.42. Although the conventional LQ is only 1.06, it is equivalent to 74.6% of the maximum possible limit. The conventional LQ values for industrial and domestic water consumptions are 2.10 and 1.50, respectively, in Gansu Province and 3.13 and 3.85, respectively, in Shaanxi Province. These values are much larger than the conventional LQ value for agricultural water consumption of Xinjiang Province. However, their maximum possible values according to the improved LQ results are 61.15, 55.91, 95.45, and 50.82. The conventional LQ only accounts for less than 8% of the maximum possible values.The conventional LQ values in different water-using departments are not consistent. In particular, the upper limit of the conventional LQ is too small for the dominant water-using department. Therefore, the conventional LQ values of different water-using departments are not directly comparable. However, the introduction of the standardization procedure makes all the domains of the improved LQ values of different water-using departments become [0,L], thereby making them directly comparable. Therefore, the evaluation results of the improved LQ model are more realistic and more suitable for the government’s water resource management than those of the conventional LQ model.


## 5. Conclusion

The water used by the agriculture department of Xinjiang Province is 55.10 billion m3, accounting for more than 70.4% of the total water consumption in the whole study area. This department plays a dominant role in the water consumption of Northwest China. However, its conventional LQ is only 1.06, which is much less than the conventional LQ values of the industrial and domestic water consumptions in Gansu Province and Shaanxi Province.The mathematical essence of this distortion in the conventional LQ model is that the conventional view that all the domains of the LQ values in different water-using departments are [0, +∞) is not tenable. The actual domain of the LQ value of thei-th department in the j-th province is [dij, dij−1], where dij is the water consumption proportion of this department accounting for the whole study area. For the department with high water consumption, the upper limit of its LQ is too small. Thus, the conventional LQ values of different water-using departments are not directly comparable.



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*Source: 9600265-2022-05-16.xml*