Resumo:
Water, although essential to industrial activities, occupies a prominent place in a company's cost matrix. Activities, in the metal coating industry, demand a significant amount of water and generate effluents in the same proportion, which consumes a considerable slice of monthly revenue. The present work applies a methodology to develop a water conservation and reuse program - WCRP, for the piston ring chromium plating process, in an auto parts company. Water efficiency and effluent reuse were the conservation tools chosen to improve the plant's environmental and financial performance. Through a qualitative and quantitative analysis of manufacturing operations, it was possible to create a water matrix for the sector and suggest actions for water conservation for 4 operational flows, which represented 90% of the water demand and the generation of effluents in the sector. With the implementation of 2 actions suggested in WCRP, only in March 2020, 27,69m³/day in water demand (51%) and 5,70m³/day in the generation of effluents (13%) were reduced, providing savings of R$ 17,653.26 in the month. The projected reduction in water demand and effluent generated is approximately 45%, estimating savings over R$ 470,000.00/year. Regarding the economic viability, for the implementation of the 2 actions, the calculated payback was less than 01 month, emphasizing that with small operational and behavioral changes, significant gains could be achieved. We conclude that the methodology used in the work was effective to create a water conservation and reuse program and that the implementation of WCRP through the rationalization of water, the reduction of waste and reuse, is fundamental for the industrial sector to coexist in times of water scarcity and growing demands for the conscious use of water, since they minimize environmental impacts in addition to improving the financial results of the business.
