Estimación de la huella hídrica e identificación de estratégias para la conservación del recurso hídrico, para la Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito “Luz del Valle” Ltda., ubicada en el Valle de los Chillos

Abstract

In the present research work it has been determined to perform the Water Footprint Estimate for the 14 locations of the Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito “Luz del Valle” Ltda., for the year 2019 as a result of the direct and indirect activities of water use developed within the institution in order to generate proposals that promote the conservation and sustainable use of the water resource. By applying the methodology proposed by Hoekstra in 2011 (Water Footprint Network), which consists of four phases: goal setting, direct water footprint accounting (HH Blue, HH Gray, HH Green) and indirect (HH for electric power, HH for office supplies and HH for cafeteria supplies), evaluation of sustainability and formulation of proposals for reduction. To determine the total HH of the institution, the previously calculated direct and indirect HH were added, which allowed identifying activities that generate an increase in footprint, such as the use of bond paper, electrical energy and coffee. This allowed to propose HH reduction strategies to guarantee the decrease and generate savings avoiding unnecessary expenses in the COAC.