COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUALIZED AND COLLECTIVE WATER MEASUREMENT SYSTEM IN RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

Abstract

One of the biggest problems today is water consumption in urban areas. Domestic consumption is one of the main components of waste in large cities, far exceeding the use of this natural resource. In this context, the objective of the study is to evaluate the viability, consumption and the difference between two residential buildings with the same number of floors and apartments, one with and the other without the individualized water measurement system in the municipality of Salvador, in the state of Bahia. To this end, data was collected to survey water consumption supplied by the state water concessionaire in both buildings. Using the R program, a statistical software, to analyze water bill data collected during the period from January to December 2023, to arrive at an average consumption. Data on monthly and total water expenditure were then analyzed to make a comparison between buildings regarding the individualized water system. The results demonstrated that the building that has an individual water measurement system has an annual consumption of 13,164 m³, while the building with a collective measurement system consumed around 15,156 m³ annually, a difference of around 1,992 m³ annually. The building with collective metering spent around 15% more than the building with an individualized system. With this, it can be concluded that water individualization is one of the most effective ways to guarantee water savings, where there is a significant comparison between buildings with and without water individualization, due to the awareness of residents and the payment for water consumption used by each apartment.