Development of novel assessment system for assessing and monitoring the current situation of water efficiency practices and components at schools

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Fırat M., Güngör F., Bozkurt C.

PAMUKKALE UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING SCIENCES-PAMUKKALE UNIVERSITESI MUHENDISLIK BILIMLERI DERGISI, cilt.32, sa.6, ss.1308-1319, 2026 (ESCI, TRDizin)

Özet

Climate change, the decrease in clean water resources and the increase in water demand necessitate systematic implementation of water efficiency practices. The sustainability of water efficiency practices in high-consumption users should be monitored. The aim of this study is to develop a comprehensive and holistic assessment system to monitor the current level of water efficiency practices at schools. Assessment components were defined within the scope of training and capacity development, maintenance, control, water consumption and efficiency monitoring. An assessment scale between 1 and 5 was defined to evaluate the current level of implementation of components. The assessment system was implemented based on on-site inspections at a total of 12 schools. The assessment components under training and capacity building and water consumption analysis and monitoring are generally insufficient performance. The components under control and maintenance are generally above average performance. Awareness, training and event organization practices within the scope of water efficiency are insufficient. The proposed assessment system should be applied to schools annually. This assessment system will make significant contributions to identifying weaknesses in water efficiency, monitoring the improvement of weaknesses over time, and evaluating the impact of practices on water efficiency.