Uso eficiente de água em campus universitário: o caso da Universidade Federal de Campina Grande.

Abstract

The water consumption in urban áreas has shown an increasing rate due mainly to population growth followed by lack of planning and infrastructure on land use. Conservation soon becomes the primary tool in the process of water demand management (WDM). Studies claim that the waste caused by the losses of leakage and misuse is of great magnitude in the public sector, where the user is not directly responsible for paying the water bill, have no incentive for the racional use of water and equipament. Several public and private enterprises are already implementing programs of rational use of water in their facilities, motivated by the need to reduce consumption and amounts spent. The objective of this work is provide subsidies for future planning of efficient use of water for Campina Grande campus of the Campina Grande Federal University (UFCG). This research, accomplished on the campus, diagnosed a population growth of 67.5% in just nine years and an increase of 128.09%) in the water consumed in the same period. In the field survey of the 135 buildings of the Institution, it was found that from 1923 points of water consumption, 11.02% of appliances show pathologies due to lack of maintenance on building systems. Distinguishing the activities of the university community, was estimated monthly consumption of water in sanitary uses (3588.82 m3), loss caused by leaks (401.59 m3), cleaning of buildings (45.01 m3), kitchens and University Restaurant (RU) (1265.00 m3) and the distillation process (77.84 m3), while the surplus distributed in civil construction, laboratory consumption, irrigation of gardens, experiments conducted in greenhouses, among others. Due to the lack of sectorial sub metering and monitoring it becomes increasingly difficult to detect internai leaks and significant waste. Therefore, measures should be imposed for viable management for sites that have the highest rates of consumption, thus enabling the development of the plan for the rational use of water for UFCG.