As a scarce resource, water is a finite commodity. Over the past four years, the average consumption of drinking water by the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) community has been 16,000 m³. It is therefore imperative that FEUP monitors its consumption and implements measures to reduce it in order to ensure the sustainability of the institution.

In terms of initiatives with an impact on reducing water consumption, it is noteworthy that during the 2019/2020 period, all cisterns were replaced, and automatic flow meters (with sensors) were installed in all urinals.

A comparison of the four-year period from 2015 to 2018 with the subsequent four-year period from 2019 to 2022 reveals a reduction in the average consumption of drinking water per capita by 50%. It is important to note that in 2015, a rupture occurred which resulted in an atypical increase in water consumption that year.

In 2023, the University of Porto (FEUP) was responsible for the consumption of approximately 15 million litres of water, equating to 1,600 litres per member of the academic community (per capita).

The following figure illustrates the evolution of water consumption per member of the academic community over the past decade:

Did you know…

That a tap dripping every 5 seconds for 24 hours can waste 30 litres of water a day, which corresponds to more than 10,000 litres of water a year!?

  • Do not leave taps dripping. In the event of a malfunction, report it to the Technical Maintenance Services.
  • Do not use more water than necessary.
  • When brushing your teeth with an open tap, you can use an average of 14 litres of water a day.
    If you use a glass, you can reduce this to just 1 litre.
  • Stay hydrated by drinking tap water. Prefer tap water to bottled water.

Water Consumption since January