Water Conservation Retrofit Strategies in Residential Houses of Public University in Multan

Abstract

Due to rapid increase in population, Pakistan is being a water-stressed country from last few years. According to WRI, 2003b, the annual per capita water availability in Pakistan dropped to 1,384m3 in 2002 and it is estimated that Pakistan will be water-scarce by 2025.This research will deal with Behavioral changes to educate and motivate people to become conservation-conscious and engage in conservation practices. After conducting a detail survey of residential houses in Public Sector University of Multan (a city in Pakistan), some retrofit strategies are suggested to modify, repair, or remove/replace water using fixtures or appliances used in base case. Almost 100 leaks were observed in different houses from severe to moderate. Severe leaks effectively drain over 575 liters per day per device and modest leaks from fixtures and showerheads approximately lost 170 to 200 liters per day per device. Hence by just repairing cracks 1000 liters per day per house can be saved. Similarly, Low-flow faucet, showerheads contribute a lot towards water conservation. More or less all houses have big inside and outsides lawns and most residents have 2 cars per houses so reuse of grey water and storm water also contribute almost 50300 gallons per day for gardening and car washing. Although retrofits are still relatively expensive in relation to their annual cost savings, there are multiple benefits relating to water saving retrofitting of existing residential buildings, reduce water shortage of country, financial savings, protects drinking water resources, minimize water pollution and health risks, less waste water resulting from reduced water usage, cut sewer service costs, various environmental benefits, positive publicity stemming from environmental protection efforts, and energy saving by using less energy for heating, pumping, and treating water.