Automation of supply water monitoring programs in sustainable university campuses

Abstract

The supply of drinking water and its sustainable management constitute one of the most significant challenges today, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation. Universities, as centers of research and education, have the responsibility to propose solutions to these challenges and become models of sustainable campuses. This involves implementing practices that ensure the conservation of the resource and the maintenance of water quality for human consumption, thus benefiting their entire university community. In many universities, water monitoring programs have traditionally been carried out through manual sample collection, while in some cases, automatic or online systems have been incorporated for parameter measurement. This article focuses on analyzing the feasibility of modernizing and automating these programs within the context of sustainable university campuses in Venezuela. To achieve this objective, the proposed water monitoring program for the Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas (CUC-UCV) was studied as a reference case, along with the experience gained from implementing the monitoring program at the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (UCAB), Montalbán campus. The analysis includes the identification of strategic sampling points, the design of monitoring stations (both manual and automated), and the selection of the parameters to be evaluated for water quality proposed for the networks of both campuses. From the analysis, it is concluded that the automation of drinking water monitoring programs in Venezuelan universities can be feasible for parameters such as residual chlorine, but only at key monitoring stations. This aims to contribute to sustainable campus management and enable more informed decision-making to improve and ensure the quality of the water supply.