Abstract
Urban areas require intense water flows in order to operate. The analysis of the state of such water flows is better understood from metabolic studies that allow analyzing water flows entering and leaving the urban system. Objective: Quantify water flows of the Colombian Central-Western Metropolitan Area, determining the extent of its demands and the strictness of the city on water resources. Method: The material flow analysis was used as methodological tool to quantify the urban system inflows, intermediate flows and output flows. Results: In the area studied, 86% of the water is supplied by the Otun river as the main local source and the remaining 14% is supplied by external water sources. The water diverted annually for the urban supply of its 599.618 inhabitants consumption reached 31.2 MMC/year that is 113 l/person/day. Regarding outflows it is important to highlight that wastewater is discharged directly into water sources without any pre-treatment. The material balance determined a volumetric water flow for 2011 of 155.2 MCM/year that enters and leaves the metropolitan region. Conclusion: In the Central-Western Metropolitan Area water resource management follows a linear process (collection, distribution, consumption and discharges) generating untreated waste streams that are reintroduced into the ecosystem cycle. The demand and consumption of water have a decreasing trend in opposition to population growth, indicating better rational use of resources or an adaptation strategy to the public service cost.
Highlights
Urban areas require intense water flows in order to operate
In the Central-Western Metropolitan Área water resource management follows a linear process generating untreated waste streams that are reintroduced into the ecosystem cycle
El problema es especialmente agudo en las grandes áreas urbanas, como en la Ciudad de México y Lima (ONU-HÁBITAT, 2012)
Summary
387) afirman que el metabolismo urbano puede “[...] ser usado como herramienta en la identificación de problemas ambientales relacionados con el crecimiento de las entradas, la gestión de las salidas y el diseño más eficiente de las políticas de planeamiento urbano”, lográndose además determinar las características de disponibilidad natural de los recursos (Girardet, 2004), obtener una mayor comprensión de la forma en la que evolucionan las demandas de recursos de una ciudad (Stimson, Westem, Mullins y Simpson, 1999) y el deterioro causado por su aprovechamiento (Brunner, 2007). Este articulo pretende analizar los flujos de agua que entran y salen de una región urbana; pues el agua puede ser considerado el recurso natural que más limita el crecimiento y desarrollo futuro de los centros urbanos especialmente de países no desarrollados (Morales, Flórez y Ramírez, 2011)
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