Application of the urban water use model for urban water use management purposes

The aim of this work is to present an application of the urban water use (UWU) model, which is a support decision tool to define the best group of efficient water use measures for UWU management purposes. Therefore, the UWU was developed under integrated urban water management (IUWM) and strategic planning principles to promote a systemic approach for decision taking. The IUWM considers the interfaces between water service systems, while by strategic planning it is possible to elaborate a vision to be achieved in future scenarios. Specifically to define the best measure group of efficient water use, the UWU has many alternatives for these measures, which are based on water demand management, decentralized sanitation, ecological sanitation and sustainable urban drainage system philosophies. In this context, the UWU application presented was developed for Seara city, Santa Catarina State, Brazil. In this application a vision and five scenarios were built. The measure groups were composed by greywater systems, filterstrips, water saving devices in buildings, and water loss reduction in water supply systems and wastewater treatment system. In this context the UWU model was applied. The measure group that presented the highest effectiveness was based on the water demand management and decentralized sanitation strategies.