Question:medium

A city's population in 2025 is 1,75,000 and is expected to increase in the next three decades at a growth rate of 8.5% per decade. In 2055, the estimated per capita domestic water demand will be 175 litres per day. The total daily domestic water demand for the city in 2055 (in million litres per day) will be (rounded off to two decimal places).

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Grow the 2025 population by 8.5% per decade for 3 decades (compound growth), then multiply by 175 lpcd and convert to MLD.
Updated On: Aug 6, 2026
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Correct Answer: 39.12

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Set up the growth year by year.
Instead of using the compound growth formula directly, we can build up the population decade by decade. Starting population in 2025 is $175000$, and it grows by $8.5\%$ each decade.

Step 2: Population after the first decade (2035).
$$P_{2035} = 175000 + 175000 \times 0.085 = 175000 \times 1.085 = 189875$$

Step 3: Population after the second decade (2045).
$$P_{2045} = 189875 \times 1.085 = 205984.375$$

Step 4: Population after the third decade (2055).
$$P_{2055} = 205984.375 \times 1.085 \approx 223525.6$$
This matches the direct formula $175000 \times (1.085)^3$, confirming the population.

Step 5: Compute the water demand.
Multiply the 2055 population by the per capita demand of 175 litres/day, then convert to million litres per day (divide by $10^6$).
$$\text{Demand} = \frac{223525.6 \times 175}{1000000} = \frac{39116980}{1000000} \approx 39.12 \text{ MLD}$$

Final Answer:
The total daily domestic water demand of the city in 2055 is close to 39.12 million litres per day.
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