Proactive analysis of water supply efficiency on university campuses

Abstract

Water is a scarce and fundamental natural resource for the maintenance of life, and its rational use should be a concern of all. In higher education institutions, although it is an environment of high scientific production, often its facilities do not present conditions of efficiency in the use of natural resources, providing negative impacts such as the reduction of water availability in the region, increased generation of effluents, increased operational costs and even indirect impairment in the training of students,  since it would be beneficial to contact with an environmental management aligned with the curricular matrices of the courses. The reduction in water consumption in building facilities can be made possible in several ways, depending on the construction characteristics, its purpose of use and the investment available for the changes. This paper analyzes the building facilities and the history of water consumption of the Porto Campus of the Federal University of Pelotas, indicating changes for a more efficient use of water resources through the reduction in the volume of leaks and modifications in sanitary appliances, conditions that would provide an estimated reduction in water consumption of 26.91%, combined with increased comfort in the use of facilities by users. The analysis also contributes to the description of water consumption in higher education institutions, a condition that enables the dimensioning of complementary systems, such as the use of rainwater or gray water, aiming at better efficiency in water supply and contributing to the sustainability of educational institutions.