摘要：Aim. The aim of this work is to investigate about water use, wastage, saving and reuse in hospitals. Methods. An anonymous ad hoc questionnaire was tested in a sample of 36 public hos- pitals of Lombardy Region (21% of total public hospitals). Daily water consumption reported is on average equal to 481 m 3 , ranging from 30 to 2280 m 3 . There is a strong correlation between water consumption and number of hospital beds (p < 0.005). In 33 hospitals (92%) water consumption is measured and, among them, in about 48% more than one flow meter is installed; 86% consider "important" the reduction of water consumption and about 55% recognize that wastewater could be minimized within the structures. Discussion. There is consensus about the need to train health personnel and to imple- ment technical measures to improve the water resources management, but initiatives to raise knowledge and awareness of health personnel have been promoted only in 10% of hospitals. Results. Results show not only a lack of awareness regarding water use and saving among the personnel in general, but also among heads of the hospitas' technical office and en- ergy managers as well. For this reason, it will be of interest to carry out this investigation at national level and also to develop recommendations to support and promote a safe reuse of water in all the hospitals.
关键词：hospitals; water reuse; sustainability;management
