Water end-use analysis in a public hospital in Brasília, Brazil

ABSTRACT

Hospitals are large consumers of water. A detailed understanding of how water is used in hospital buildings allows greater precision evaluating water conservation strategies, sizing building plumbing systems, forecasting urban water demand and, consequently, managing water demand and creating public policies for water conservation in hospitals. However, there is a lack of specific data on water use in health care buildings. In order to contribute to knowledge, this research aimed to analyse water end-use consumption in a public hospital in Brasilia, Brazil. With this in mind, a method was designed that was capable of collecting information on consumption, flow, frequency and duration of water use per fixture device, understanding water use habits and building maintenance routines, in addition to identifying plumbing inefficiency in hospitals. The method proved to be capable of generating building consumption indicators (per capita, per area and per bed), sectorized consumption and end uses of water, based on the main variables that affect water consumption in hospitals. Overall, the hospital presented building consumption indicators equivalent to 113.46 litres per person per day, 11.16 litres per built area per day and 854.81 litres per bed per day. Results indicate that toilet flushing had the highest water consumption rate (23%), followed by general purpose sinks (18%), washing machines (18%) and kitchen sinks (15%), due to high frequency of daily use and fixture/appliance flow-rates. Elevated fixture flow-rates and leakage rates (10%) are associated with an out-dated and worn-out plumbing system, suggesting that public investments are needed for building retrofit in order to promote water saving and conservation.

Keywords:
water audit; water consumption indicators; water end-uses; hospital; building services; plumbing