Gestão de demanda de água em instituições públicas de ensino superior. Estudo de caso: Centro de Ciências Jurídicas da Universidade Estadual da Paraíba.

Abstract

The perception that water is a finite natural resource added to the situations of water crises in areas such as the Brazilian semi-arid region brings a discussion about the measures that must be taken to mitigate the effects of these natural events. However, the population in general still immature on these issues, generating a high consumption and great waste of water. This fact is aggravated even more when the buildings are public, since the users are not directly responsible for the maintenance of the building or for the payment of tariffs. Based on this problem, this study proposed to diagnose the physical conditions of the hydrosanitary installations of the Centro de Ciências Jurídicas of the Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, as well as to evaluate the students’ perception about water consumption. Visits were made to the building, where an evaluation of all the wet areas and a data collection of the pathologies present in them. In a second moment, a questionnaire was applied with 90 students to understand the habits of consumption and their degree of consciousness. The questionnaires were elaborated in a way that approached the users' perception regarding their own use, the user's view regarding the use of the other users and how the interviewee evaluated the management of the site. Some problems, both structural and non-structural, were identified. However, it was also verified through questionnaires that the implementation of awareness campaigns would be well accepted in the institution. Based on these problems, three intervention programs were designed to solve them: a program to restructure the sanitary systems in the institution, a user awareness program and a monitoring program. For each program, actions and goals were established that could support the decisions to be taken by the managers, enabling the improvement of the water issue in the institution, both in the economic and environmental aspects.