WATER CONSUMPTION IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

WATER CONSUMPTION IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

en

Water in general and especially drinking water, is becoming an increasingly scarce commodity in the Central Europe region due to the climate change. For a human, water is a bare necessity of life. The necessary amount of water to maintain human life is several litres a day. However, in a modern way of life, daily water consumption is usually over 100 litres. This amount accounts only for the personal consumption. To ensure the operation of national economy, consumption must be much higher. There are two ways how to provide sufficient amount of water. The first option is to increase the resources but that is very expensive for the Czech Republic which is situated “on the roof” of Europe. The only source of water is rainfall, which should be captured on the territory and gradually released when needed. The second option is to reduce water consumption, use it more efficiently and the reuse of water - recycling. Industrial production is a huge consumer of water. This also includes construction industry with a number of technological processes that cannot function without water. In addition to the technological consumption, water is used for personal hygiene purposes (toilets, washrooms) and environmental protection (washing the machinery, dust reduction, fire protection). The aim of this paper is to quantify water consumption during new construction activities and to indicate how to reduce total water consumption within the construction project management.

Water in general and especially drinking water, is becoming an increasingly scarce commodity in the Central Europe region due to the climate change. For a human, water is a bare necessity of life. The necessary amount of water to maintain human life is several litres a day. However, in a modern way of life, daily water consumption is usually over 100 litres. This amount accounts only for the personal consumption. To ensure the operation of national economy, consumption must be much higher. There are two ways how to provide sufficient amount of water. The first option is to increase the resources but that is very expensive for the Czech Republic which is situated “on the roof” of Europe. The only source of water is rainfall, which should be captured on the territory and gradually released when needed. The second option is to reduce water consumption, use it more efficiently and the reuse of water - recycling. Industrial production is a huge consumer of water. This also includes construction industry with a number of technological processes that cannot function without water. In addition to the technological consumption, water is used for personal hygiene purposes (toilets, washrooms) and environmental protection (washing the machinery, dust reduction, fire protection). The aim of this paper is to quantify water consumption during new construction activities and to indicate how to reduce total water consumption within the construction project management.