Water consumption index in analytical, microbiology and material protection laboratories of the CNIC company.

Abstract

Scarcity of water resources, poor water quality, and inadequate sanitation negatively impact food security, livelihood options, and educational opportunities for poor families around the world. Drought affects some of the poorest countries in the world, worsening hunger and malnutrition, 3 for which it is necessary to use water resources effectively. Cuba develops strategies to achieve optimal operation and maintenance of hydraulic infrastructure, which is why the main objective of this work is to estimate the rate of water consumption in the Analytical, Microbiology and Materials Protection laboratories of the National Center for Scientific Research (CNIC). The knowledge of it allows to increase the efficiency of the use of water in the laboratories in such a way that savings are guaranteed and work strategies are drawn up for environmental sustainability. This work does not include the calculation of social consumption, only the drinking or distilled water used for each analytical test, that consumed by technological equipment and that used in the scrubbing of glassware and laboratory utensils is estimated. For this, the universe of activities that takes place in each laboratory was analyzed and a work methodology was drawn up. Once the consumption index of each laboratory was obtained, it was compared with Resolution No. 287/2015 of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INRH), the values of drinking water obtained being higher than those contemplated in the resolution. The result of this work serves as a proposal for an update of the consumption indices, in the industry and in the services.