1. Introduction
COVID-19, which started in 2019, resulted in a series of unexpected challenges, including health [
1,
2,
3,
4,
5], social [
6,
7,
8,
9], environmental [
10,
11,
12,
13,
14] issues which humanity continues to face as of 2021 and must overcome to ensure a sustainable and optimistic future. As an emergency and management response, global lockdowns in cities worldwide have aimed to reduce the propagation of the virus [
15]. Issues and challenges related to COVID-19 and lockdowns exist at both macroscopic (e.g., environment, economy, etc.) and microscopic (individual) levels [
16]. The microscopic level influences of the pandemic include changes in people’s daily habits and time spent at home, which may consequently result in macroscopic changes such as environmental resources consumption and sustainability of residential buildings [
8,
17,
18].
The environmental impact of COVID-19 has demonstrated itself in both positive (such as increased water and air quality in urban areas) and negative directions (including waste generation due to disposal of medical consumables) [
13]. The waste management of highly urbanized areas has been particularly strongly influenced by COVID-19, which influenced the waste recycling flow, reuse, and waste reduction and has led to new measures such as creating new sanitation requirements [
19]. Even though most of the pandemic-related changes seem temporary, some others might remain well after the pandemic is over; indeed, some researchers argue that COVID-19 could be critical in policy-making for global sustainable energy transition [
20]. On top of habit changes and environmental impact, the current pandemic highlights the importance of social and built environment, including quality of housing and living conditions for maintaining a healthy population [
7]. Another social impact of the pandemic is the switch of education and certain types of work to online mode, which resulted in multiple issues and challenges related to remote education and working [
21,
22,
23,
24]. Finally, the pandemic is a transformational event that influences social responsibility and behavioral change toward environmental awareness [
25].
Kazakhstan was not left uninfluenced by the current pandemic. Following 13 March 2020, the first case of coronavirus infection registered in Kazakhstan, a state of emergency was introduced on 16 March to prevent the spread of infection in the country. As a preventative measure, entry to and exit from the two largest cities (Nur-Sultan and Almaty) were prohibited on 22 March. Later, the rest of the country was also put into quarantine. The state of emergency lasted until 11 May, during which all citizens stayed home for isolation purposes [
26]. Due to the pandemic, Kazakhstan’s economy experienced a contraction of 3% (for the first time since the late 1990s) in 2020, while a moderate recovery of 2.5% followed it in 2021 [
27]. The adverse economic conditions during the pandemic in Kazakhstan are likely to cause a wave of pandemic-related depression [
28]; recent World Bank estimates for Kazakhstan show that the pandemic will reduce education quality by eight on the P.I.S.A. (Program for International Student Assessment) scale [
29]. The difficulties in the transition to remote education may be held responsible for the decrease in the education quality, which is related to poor internet infrastructure, ineffective interaction with stakeholders, and biased statistical information [
30]; however, the pandemic is expected to enhance the digitalization of transitional economies, such as Kazakhstan [
31].
The effect of the pandemic on water consumption has been studied to an extent by researchers around the globe [
6,
11,
15,
32,
33,
34]. COVID-19 raises a question of the sufficiency of the regular water supplies in cities which is directly related to sanitation and public health, especially in regions with water shortages before the pandemic [
6,
32]. More specifically, Kalbush et al. [
6] demonstrated that the water consumption by industrial, commercial, and public sectors decreased, whereas the consumption by the residential sector increased. Moreover, the increase in consumption was higher in apartment buildings than in single-family houses. Similarly, the demand modeling of California’s urban water consumption showed a 7.9% decrease due to an 11.2% lower consumption in the industrial, commercial, and institutional sectors and a 1.4% increased consumption in the residential sector [
35]. In the Iranian metropolitan area Tabriz, water consumption increased by up to 18% [
36]; even water consumption peaks changed during the pandemic, resulting in a delay of morning consumption peak by 2 h [
16]. Another study has also highlighted the significant increase in water consumption patterns related to the COVID-19 lockdowns in England [
34]. In addition, water plays a significant role in hindering the spread of the coronavirus by washing hands, which is expected to have a significant impact on the quantity and quality of water consumption in near future [
37,
38]. A study conducted in Bangladesh shows that tap water was used extensively for hand washing during pandemic quarantines, reaching 13-times more compared with pre-pandemic tap water use [
39]. Water consumption in Nepal during the pandemic increased; however, the payment for water decreased [
11], highlighting the need to implement a proper policy to regulate water consumption. Behavioral change during lockdowns also resulted in a change in the consumptive water footprint of European thermal power plants, 16% of which is related to decreased electricity demand [
40]. At the same time, water security and scarcity in Europe, which was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, was addressed by 11 out of 27 European countries in the form of policy intervention mostly related to water bills [
33]. The water sector will have to adapt to the new requirements and conditions set by the current pandemic, which will have a positive impact, such as ICT upgrades, remote working load resilience, and project delivery [
41].
Regarding the energy consumption during the pandemic, studies mainly show that the residential sector faced an increase which is, however, contrasted with commercial energy consumption decrease. For instance, in the United States, energy use in houses has increased by 30% during pandemic lockdowns [
42]. In contrast, Wang et al. [
43] compared the total (residential, commercial, etc.) energy consumption in China with a simulated COVID-19-free scenario, and showed that the actual energy consumption would be reduced by an average of 29% due to pandemics. COVID-19 related changes resulted in an increased heating energy consumption of residential buildings, e.g., in Barcelona, Spain, by 182% [
17]. A study conducted on Canadian social housing showed that electricity and hot water consumption slightly increased during the first two months of the lockdown. The consumption was distributed throughout the day, rather than having a peak in the evening as before the pandemic [
44]. The energy consumption in South Korea has decreased for most of the facilities; at the same time, there was an increase in consumption by residential buildings, indicating the need to develop a new energy system management [
45]. The main factors affecting energy consumption were social distancing, self-quarantine, and home transformation [
46]. In addition, optimal population distribution can lead to decreased energy consumption by 32%, mainly due to a lower use of HVAC systems [
47], which, when used, is claimed to substantially increase energy consumption [
48]. Qarnain et al. [
49] suggest that governments consider domestic energy consumption as an emergency sector and healthcare due to higher consumption and importance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three D’s: Digitization, Decarbonization, and Decentralization of the energy sector should be one of the main goals of the policymakers as a lesson learned from COVID-19 [
50]. ICT innovations, including Big Data analysis using artificial intelligence, could be useful for efficient energy management in near future [
42,
48]. Finally, it is important to research the duration of the changes brought by COVID-19, and its effect on energy consumption [
51].
There is no comprehensive study related to water and energy residential consumption in Kazakhstan during the COVID-19 pandemic. One study reported on the country’s total energy situation [
52] and stated that electricity production in Kazakhstan for the first quarter of 2020 increased by 3.6% compared to the same period in 2019. Due to the introduced quarantine, demand was expected to decrease by 12% in the second quarter of 2020. In such a case, the direct revenues of energy companies would be significantly reduced, possibly forcing energy companies to ask for state support or to lay off staff. The current energy sector situation in the country shows the need for radical reforms and expects upcoming changes in the global and Kazakhstani energy sector under the influence of the COVID-19 crisis [
52].
Moreover, the energy sector of Kazakhstan is currently highly dependent on coal and oil as energy fuels, only with a small number of renewables in the presence [
53]. Regarding the situation for water, Kazakhstan is soon expected to face a water crisis, which makes the development of sustainable water consumption strategies critical for the environment and population wellness [
54]. If the COVID-19 pandemic has indeed led to a surge of water and energy use in the country, the pressure on the supply companies and the environmental situation in the country can rapidly become critical.
The present study aims to assess how the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has affected household water and energy consumption in residential housings in Kazakhstan’s cities. First, water consumption and wastewater generation trends were analyzed for periods defined as pre-pandemic, during the lockdown, and post-lockdown. Then, the electricity consumption was investigated by surveying city residents and analyzing electricity bills.
1.1. Study Area
1.1.1. Shymkent City
Shymkent is the third most populated city in Kazakhstan, with 1,093,084 people as of 2021 [
55]. Located in South Kazakhstan, bordering Uzbekistan, it is a major industrial and commercial activity center. L.L.P. “Vodnye Resursy-Marketing” provides water supply to Shymkent. There are 45 wells in operation, which provide the city with 90% of its water. The underground water obtained with the help of pumping stations is fed into the main water conduit. The water extracted from the wells and then disinfected is delivered through three main water pipelines; further, it is transported through the quarterly distribution networks. For the operational management of the water supply and sewerage system, eight operational sites have been created where outsourcing companies operate [
56]. Shymkent has a humid continental climate with hot and dry summers and cold winters [
55]: The precipitation decreases through the spring-summer period, becoming the lowest in August and the highest is in March (approx. 33 mm) (
Figure 1), and the average temperatures in summer and winter are 35 °C and −4 °C, respectively.
1.1.2. Almaty City and Almaty Region
Almaty city, the former capital of the country, is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with 1,996,700 people [
57]. Almaty city was the regional center of the Almaty region until 2001, after which it has, due to its large population, become a city of republic importance, and is also considered a cultural, financial, and historical center of the country [
58]. Almaty region contains three cities and seventeen districts, with 2,092,400 people [
59]. The energy in Almaty city and region is provided by three combined heat and power stations; two of them are working on coal and oil byproducts, while another one recently converted to natural gas [
60,
61]. It is important to note that electricity is not used for heating in the city. Therefore, it is not a seasonal-dependent utility.
1.1.3. Atyrau City
Atyrau city is located both in Europe and Asia in the west region of Kazakhstan, at the delta of the Ural River that flows to the Caspian Sea. The city is well known as the leading oil and gas industry region in Kazakhstan and worldwide. It is a medium-sized city that experienced a 22.5% growth with 290,700 people in 2020 compared to 2018 [
62]. This intense population growth of the city puts it in an important position for the efficient consumption of energy resources.
The Atyrau Combined Heat and Power Plant (C.H.P.P.) is the third power plant in Western Kazakhstan in terms of installed capacity and one of the important electricity suppliers in Atyrau since 1963. As of 2014, the installed electric capacity was 314 MW, the estimated electric capacity was 283 MW, and electricity generation was 1.75 billion kWh. In 2015, after installing the new turbine unit, the power plant’s capacity increased to 414 MW [
63]. The main type of fuel is natural gas; also, fuel oil is used as a backup. However, Atyrau city is one of the most polluted cities in Kazakhstan in terms of air and water contamination because of the abundance of manufactories. The Atyrau C.H.P.P. is not an exception, as, in the winter of 2018, it was involved in a catastrophic environmental occasion, where more than 110 tons of fish, including sturgeon, were killed in the Ural River by the discharge of contaminated water from the combined heat and power plant [
64].
4. Conclusions
The COVID-19 pandemic has astonished the world with its scale, rapid transfer, and fast development of new strains. Resultingly, strict lockdowns have occurred globally, forcing billions of people to stay at home for long periods to improve social distancing and prevent virus transmission. Around 1.5 years after the first outbreak, the coronavirus still kept raging around the world, negatively affecting the health of millions of people. Therefore, as new lockdowns are possible to occur during COVID-19 or possible future pandemics, it is essential to study how the pandemic affects residential buildings—the main shelter and new working, studying, and even leisure space during the pandemic. The novelty of this research lies in the study of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic on household water and electricity consumption in Kazakhstani cities, Almaty, Shymkent, and Atyrau. It was found that both energy and water usage increased during lockdown periods. Thus, the pandemic measures have led to an increase in water/energy consumption; however, the increase was not significant compared to similar timeframes without pandemic measures. These results are somewhat different from the results of other countries, which have noted energy and water consumption increase over the pandemic period. Nevertheless, the results are limited to the three cities in Kazakhstan.
For future works: the change in waste behaviors during the lockdown and/or pandemic is suggested to be analyzed for improvement of waste management plans towards not only more sustainable but also safe, as the recent COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased use of medical personal protective equipment by ordinary users, whereas the knowledge and experience on treating the resulting waste after use are limited.