Analysis of water consumption on construction sites in the city of Joinville, SC

Abstract

This article sought to estimate water consumption and examine its relationship with the characteristics of 19 construction sites in Joinville, Santa Catarina. For quantitative variables, graphical and statistical analyses were performed, with the creation of scatter plots and calculation of Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients. For categorical variables, box plots were used, in addition to the application of Student's t, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. Quantitative variables include total built area, number of floors and housing units, and construction time, among others. Construction characteristics, delays, and water conservation actions are some of the qualitative variables in the study. The results showed that water consumption ranged from 0.1072 to 0.5935 m³/m². The variable construction time showed a moderate positive linear correlation with water consumption per area. Regarding the use of a prefabricated system, the difference between the average water consumption for projects that utilized it (0.3511 m³/m²) and those that did not (0.2319 m³/m²) was statistically significant.