Water consumption in public schools for the city of Bologna, Italy

Abstract

For most buildings considered to be of a public non-residential type there are insufficient published data to establish and compare the theoretical standards with actual consumption data. Therefore, water consumption per user in non-residential buildings is still a very complicated issue for engineers and designers involved in analysing water demand and water management. This is why linking water consumption and school occupancy is the goal of this paper, trying to set the basis for further design, conservation and educational interventions on this topic. This research integrates quantitative data of water consumption, through water metering and analysis, and historical data about users in buildings. We focused on consumptions for four types of schools: nurseries (0–3-year-old children), kindergartens (3–6 years), elementary schools (6–11 years) and secondary 1st grade schools (11–14 years). The results are that the rational basic demand for water is estimated as 48.8 l per pre-school student per day and 18.7 l per elementary/secondary school student per day. Therefore we found that younger children use more water on a daily basis than older ones, probably because they need more services, such as laundries and kitchens, whereas older students consume water mainly in restrooms.

A proposal for effective promotion of the rational use of water in school buildings

“…Regarding the school typology and age group of students, the per capita water consumption indicator ranged from 27 to 67 liters per student per day in early childhood education and nursery schools (Farina et al, 2013;Sanjuan-Delmás et al, 2016). In primary and secondary schools, values between 2 to 78 liters per student per day were found (Cheng;Hong, 2004;Farina et al, 2013;Antunes;Ghisi, 2019). While in high and technical schools, the indicator values ranged from 9 to 22 liters per student per day (Nunes et al, 2019;Antunes;Ghisi, 2019).…”

“…In the USA, approximately 6% of total water use in commercial and institutional facilities takes place in educational facilities, such as schools, universities, museums, and libraries (Dziegielewski et al, 2000). In a study conducted in the city of Bologna, Italy, Farina et al (2013) estimated a water demand equal to 48.8 L per pre-school student per day and 18.7 L per elementary/secondary school student per day. Although there is a variation in the typology of buildings, Nunes et al (2019) found a reference range for the consume indicator equal to 13.0 ± 2.0 L/ per student per day for water considering the set of all school typologies in the city of Recife, Brazil.…”

“…Previous studies have indicated that the main challenges for implementing a water management program in public buildings, including schools, are: (i) the data availability on the user population that accesses the building on a daily basis; (ii) the engagement of users to a rational water use; (iii) the sectorization of the water system, which is typically equipped with only one hydrometer for the entire system; (iv) the implementation of preventive and predictive maintenance system; (v) the implementation of a continuous water monitoring system; (vi) the continuous evaluation and review of water efficiency standard in facilities and equipment; (vii) the comparison of strategies and evaluation of performances by conducting a benchmark (Farina et al, 2013;Booysen et al 2019;Visser et al, 2021;Flores;Ghisi, 2022).…”