Estimating the domestic solid waste generation based on water consumption in multifamily buildings

Abstract

The possibility of estimating from water and electricity consumption the amount of domestic solid wastes (DSW) generated was studied in four multifamily buildings. The correlation coefficients between the amount of DSW and water consumption were moderately high and significant for three out the four buildings. This situation occurred for both the case of absolute data and per capita data. With relation to the electricity consumption and the mass of DSW, the r values were neither high nor significant for the cases of each building in separate, but for the whole amount of data from the four buildings, a moderate correlation was found. Results showed to be possible to estimate the amount of DSW generated from utilization indicators, being the water consumption the most suitable for that. A mathematical model was proposed.