Water use patterns and demand forecasting in healthcare facilities: implications for water conservation

Water consumption in healthcare facilities is influenced by building typology, healthcare complexity, physical and operational characteristics. This study analyses water use patterns and end-use consumption in Primary Healthcare Units, Emergency Care Units, and hospitals in the Federal District, Brazil, and develops a water demand forecasting model. The methodology integrates building water audits, consumption indicators (per capita, per bed, and per built area), end-use disaggregation, and multivariate statistical modelling. Clear differences were observed among typologies: Primary Healthcare Units showed lower consumption and greater heterogeneity; Emergency Care Units exhibited intermediate consumption with moderate variability; and hospitals presented the highest consumption levels, with median values of approximately 80 L/person/day, 671 L/bed/day, and 9.4 L/m2/day. Toilet flushing was the main end-use across all typologies, accounting for 65%, 43%, and 29% of total consumption, respectively. The regression model demonstrated strong predictive performance (R2 = 0.839), supporting water demand estimation in healthcare facilities.