Water end-uses in construction sites: a case study in Criciúma, SC

Abstract

¹Tiago Diehl Souza

¹Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

Florianópolis – SC - Brasil

^2,3Tânia Mara Sebben Oneda

²Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

³Laboratório de Eficiência Energética em Edificações

Florianópolis – SC - Brasil

^4,5Enedir Ghisi

⁴Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

⁵Laboratório de Eficiência energética em Edificações

Florianópolis – SC - Brasil

Recebido em 22/02/24

Aceito em 29/04/24

Understanding the use of water in a construction site is essential for decision-making regarding the search for alternative solutions aimed at the rational use of water and sustainability. This research aims to analyse the water end-uses in six construction sites in the city of Criciúma-SC. After the identification of the water appliances and activities that use water in the buildings under construction, three forms of data collection were applied: through the measurement of the water flow and time, through the frequency of use of the appliances that had cycles and through buckets. The results showed the quantities of drinking water used on each construction site and in each appliance. On average, the toilet was the appliance with the highest use of water (34.9%), followed by the use for making pre-mixed mortar (17.2%) and cleaning (14.4%). When the average consumption was split into potable (drinkingfountain, sink, washbasin, shower, pre-mixed mortar, adhesivemortar,subfloorandplaster) and non-potable uses (toiletflushing, cleaning and concrete-slabcuring), the percentage of non-potable uses was 53.5%, i.e. more than half of the water could be replaced with a non-potable water source, such as rainwater or greywater.