Análise do erro do parque de hidrômetros: unidades habitacionais do Conjunto Tenente Coelho II e III em Juazeiro do Norte-CE

Abstract

Combating losses in a water supply system is a constant challenge that Brazilian sanitation companies face with great difficulty. Current estimates show that 39% of all treated water in the country is wasted, either in real losses, such as leaks, or in apparent losses, mainly caused by measurement errors. The objective of this work was to analyze the error in the volume of apparent losses in hydrometers, focusing on their time of use, located in the Tenente Coelho II and III Housing Complex in Juazeiro do Norte – CE/Brazil. To this end, as a methodology, the replacement, in March 2021, of 619 existing water meters in housing developments, all with more than seven years of use, by new water meters of the same hydrometric class was used. For a sample quantity of 21 houses, hydrometers were installed in series, in order to identify the relative error between the old meter, considering measurements from 2020, with the meter installed in 2021. The results obtained showed that the volume measured with the park of new water meters was lower than the demand measured by the number of old water meters. In the group with a series layout sample, the total volumetric gain was below the percentages known in the literature. These results indicated that the action of total replacement, in a given location, by meters of the same hydrometric class, must consider other factors besides the time of use of the hydrometers, such as: supply of homes to be indirectly; survey of the consumption profile of the study population and; sample calculation of the Measurement Performance Index. Thus, avoiding actions that will not bring reductions in apparent losses and diverting possible efforts of the company in actions that are more interesting for the system.