Household water use

habits of kitchen sink usage in a single-family residence

Abstract

The adoption of actions to promote water conservation in buildings should initially start with an understanding of the usage habits of sanitary appliances, in order to act precisely on the activities that consume the most water and on habits that directly affect water volume. Therefore, the objective of this work is to describe the use of the kitchen sink in a typical Brazilian residential building in the city of Goiânia. To this end, the instant consumption of the kitchen sink in a single-family residence was observed for 9 months by installing a device that allowed for the measurement and recording of instant flow rates. It was found that approximately 21 liters per person per day are consumed, with an average usage volume of around 0.046 L/s and an average time of 17 seconds. It was also observed that, in general, the number of uses and the average flow rate were affected by the considered month, while on weekdays, the average flow rate was affected. Based on these results, it is possible to use probabilistic methods to dimension cold water systems in buildings and promote actions aimed at reducing water consumption in kitchen sinks.