Study Finds Students The Biggest Water Consumers On Campus
Caitlin Emma
Issue date: 4/28/08 Section: News
Residential buildings use an estimated 101 million gallons per year, making it the largest category for water usage on campus, according to a recent university water audit. The audit detailed UConn's water consumption, problem areas, and possible ways to save water more efficiently.
The report revealed that students flush the toilet an average of 4.8 times daily, use the bathroom sink for 12 minutes daily and use 17 gallons of water each time they wash their clothes.
The existing steam system produces 80,000 pounds of steam per hour, and loses an average of 124,000 gallons of condensate per day.
"This study really gets into the nooks and crannies of water usage at UConn," said Thomas Callahan, UConn's associate vice president of operations and an advocate of improving water consumption.
According to the audit, residential and academic buildings make up 20 percent and 19 percent of the university's total water consumption respectively. The Central Plant uses an estimated 18 percent, Dining Services makes up 8 percent, and the remaining 35 percent is divided between irrigation, agriculture, process cooling, off-campus use and other miscellaneous or unaccounted losses.
An estimated 498 million gallons of water per year is used, and the estimated cost to imple
ment the changes recommended by the audits will total $3.2 million. The savings will total 167 million gallons per year, a 34 percent reduction in water use.
Callahan said that there are many places wehre UConn can improve water conservation such as constructing new buildings, building better water systems and attentively tracking water use in facilities.
"There are many opportunities to improve the way UConn operates," he said.
According to Richard Miller, director of the Office of Environmental Policy at Uconn, the water study began in 2005 when UConn was forced to pump water from the Fenton River during one of the driest summers on record, and a section of the river ran dry when students returned for the fall and the demand for water rose.
The report revealed that students flush the toilet an average of 4.8 times daily, use the bathroom sink for 12 minutes daily and use 17 gallons of water each time they wash their clothes.
The existing steam system produces 80,000 pounds of steam per hour, and loses an average of 124,000 gallons of condensate per day.
"This study really gets into the nooks and crannies of water usage at UConn," said Thomas Callahan, UConn's associate vice president of operations and an advocate of improving water consumption.
According to the audit, residential and academic buildings make up 20 percent and 19 percent of the university's total water consumption respectively. The Central Plant uses an estimated 18 percent, Dining Services makes up 8 percent, and the remaining 35 percent is divided between irrigation, agriculture, process cooling, off-campus use and other miscellaneous or unaccounted losses.
An estimated 498 million gallons of water per year is used, and the estimated cost to imple
ment the changes recommended by the audits will total $3.2 million. The savings will total 167 million gallons per year, a 34 percent reduction in water use.
Callahan said that there are many places wehre UConn can improve water conservation such as constructing new buildings, building better water systems and attentively tracking water use in facilities.
"There are many opportunities to improve the way UConn operates," he said.
According to Richard Miller, director of the Office of Environmental Policy at Uconn, the water study began in 2005 when UConn was forced to pump water from the Fenton River during one of the driest summers on record, and a section of the river ran dry when students returned for the fall and the demand for water rose.
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