Estudo do Efluente de Lavagens Automotivas e de sua Viabilidade Econômica para Reúso

Abstract

Conscious water consumption has been the subject of several campaigns conducted by environmentalists and is also the target of public policies. In addition, several regions of Brazil suffer from long periods of drought. The municipality of Bagé, located in the region of the Rio Grande do Sul Campaign, periodically it is necessary to implement water rationing for consumers, reaching a period of 15 hours daily at the beginning of the year 2020, in order to supply the demand of the resource and due to the lack of rain caused by the presence of the La Niña phenomenon. Thus, the search for alternatives to reduce the consumption of the natural resource is growing. Among the available alternatives is the reuse of water, which becomes an important ally to the reduction of water consumption and waste. The reused water can be used for several activities, mainly in enterprises that have a great demand for water, such as car washes. This type of establishment is easily found in the municipalities, because in addition to being considered of relative simplicity, the demand for the service is high. Among the types of car washes, the jet wash system is the one that consumes the most water, occurring a large generation of effluents. Thus, the implementation of an effluent treatment system in projects like the one mentioned above, would contribute effectively to sustainable water management. However, the reuse of water is not yet an established culture in the region described, thus, the search for an economic attraction for car wash entrepreneurs would be an important factor for the implantation of treatment systems for the generated effluent. Thus, through the case study in an automotive wash located in the municipality of Bagé, the characterization of the effluent generated by the same was made through bibliographic research, considering the important parameters for reuse. A pilot treatment system for the study effluent was also proposed, based on its characterization and on a previous installation present at the site. Finally, an economic analysis of the investment to be made by the entrepreneur was carried out, through payback, net present value and internal rate of return, the enterprise being considered economically viable.