Water conservation as a tool to support sustainable practices in a Brazilian public university

•“Practice what you prey” is essential for sustainability building in universities.•Water conservation in universities demand association of research and administrative action.•Environmental management in universities: a bridge between what we say and what we do.•Water conservation in universities depends on know-how and good will.

Rational use of water can be a powerful tool to promote sustainability on university campuses. Other than resource and financial savings, it aims to support technological and behavior innovation towards a more balanced relationship between human activities and nature. This work reports on a water saving program case study, led by a research group at a university in the northeast of Brazil. It describes and discusses methods used and results obtained. From 1999 to 2008 the program reduced per capita water use by half at the university. It has brought significant resource savings to the institution. Internal results foster the implementation of cooperative projects between the university and public and private partners. All these projects involve engineers, social workers and undergraduate students from different courses. However, internal and external results have been insufficient to guarantee the internalization of the program in routine activities of the university. The permanence of the program still depends on the research group that created and manages it. The paper also presents the difficulties faced in sustaining a program like this at a Brazilian university and discusses future action to be taken to achieve the program's goals.