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Household consumption activities affect energy and water consumption directly and indirectly. Based on input-output modeling, this paper divided Chinese urban and rural residents into 12 groups, and investigated the impact of the consumption activities of residents with different levels of income on China's energy and water consumption from the perspective of consumers. Two main results were found. 1) In 2012, the energy consumption caused by the consumption activities of the highest-income urban residents accounted for 17.3% of the total energy consumption. For water resources, the per capita water withdrawal and consumption of the highest-income urban residents reached 481.21 m3 and 284.45 thousand m3, 6 times more than that of the low-income rural residents. 2) We identified medium and medium-high income urban residents as the key groups of residents. From the perspective of the industrial sectors, the key sectors for high energy consumption and water usage included the Electricity and Agricultural sectors, and we identified the Electricity sector as the key sector for the water and energy nexus of the residential sectors. The conclusions of this paper have pertinence for policymaking, and they provide an appropriate policy basis for guiding residents' energy and water consumption. • Energy and water usage caused by household consumption in China is investigated. • Chinese urban and rural residents in input-output table are divided into 12 groups. • Energy consumption caused by the highest-income urban residents accounted for 17.3%. • Water usage of the highest-income urban residents is 6 times more than that of the low-income rural residents. • Electricity sector as the key sector for the water and energy nexus of the residential sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Water is a critical issue in China for a variety of reasons. China is poor of water resources with 2300m3 of per capita availability, which is less than of the world average. This is exacerbated by regional differences; e.g. North China''s water availability is only about 271m3 of per capita value, which is only of the world''s average. Furthermore, pollution contributes to water scarcity and is a major source for diseases, particularly for the poor. The Ministry of Hydrology [1997. China''s Regional Water Bullets. Water Resource and Hydro-power Publishing House, Beijing, China] reports that about 65–80% of rivers in North China no longer support any economic activities. Previous studies have emphasized the amount of water withdrawn but rarely take water quality into consideration. The quality of the return flows usually changes; the water quality being lower than the water flows that entered the production process initially. It is especially important to measure the impacts of wastewater to the hydro-ecosystem. Thus, water consumption should not only account for the amount of water inputs but also the amount of water contaminated in the hydro-ecosystem by the discharged wastewater. In this paper we present a new accounting and analytical approach based on economic input–output modelling combined with a mass balanced hydrological model that links interactions in the economic system with interactions in the hydrological system. We thus follow the tradition of integrated economic–ecologic input–output modelling. Our hydro-economic accounting framework and analysis tool allows tracking water consumption on the input side, water pollution leaving the economic system and water flows passing through the hydrological system thus enabling us to deal with water resources of different qualities. Following this method, the results illustrate that North China requires 96% of its annual available water, including both water inputs for the economy and contaminated water that is ineligible for any uses. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]