Just one improvement—conducting repairs to the campus irrigation system has yielded savings of 875,160 gallons. Considering that the average person uses 80 to 100 gallons per day, according to the EPA, it’s easy to see how reductions on this scale can have a big impact.
Humboldt State has been at the forefront of water conservation issues for years. The efforts of Take Back The Tap led to the installation of Hydration Stations being installed across campus followed by a 2011 campus-wide ban on plastic water bottles. While the move increased use of potable water on campus, it displaced the energy required to bottle and ship water from where it’s manufactured. Meanwhile, the Behavioral and Social Sciences building is one example where a building collects rainwater in twin 10,000-gallon tanks and recycles it for wastewater use.
Beyond these initiatives, water reduction efforts were immediately kicked into high gear on Jan. 17, when Calif. Governor Jerry Brown declared a statewide drought emergency and urged residents to cut water use by 20 percent. Gov. Brown also directed state agencies like the California State University system to take a range of steps to ease the effects of water shortages on agriculture, communities and fish and wildlife. Soon after, the CSU Chancellor’s Office issued a memorandum for individual campuses to develop campus-specific water reduction strategies to comply with the statewide effort.
“We’ve taken a good first step,” says TallChief Comet, director of Sustainability in HSU’s Facilities Management. “I’m excited for our long term efforts, which can really help us achieve substantial water savings.”
According to data compiled recently by Facilities Management, the campus has reduced water use by almost 17 percent since Gov. Brown issued the reductions order. This places the university well on its way to meet CSU water reduction targets by 2020.
Initiatives and projects to reduce water use can be found across campus. Here’s a look at projects already completed and upcoming long-term efforts.
Short-Term Water Reduction Strategies
· Install 0.5 Gallon-Per-Minute (GPM) aerators at sink faucets.
· Install low-flow showerheads in shower stalls located in Kinesiology & Athletics, Recreation & Wellness Center, Behavioral & Social Sciences Building, Theatre Arts Building ,and the Forestry Building.
· Retrofit existing flushometers to reduce water to 2.4 GPM for toilets and 1.0 GPM for urinals.
· Maintain efficiency of recirculation pumps.
· Conduct domestic and irrigation water system leak detection, saving an estimated 1170 CCF per year based on leak survey data. That’s equitable to 1 percent of total use and 20 percent of irrigation-only use.
· Campus education program placed informative stickers in all campus bathrooms urging water conservation.
· Reduce irrigation watering based on plant’s drought tolerance.
· Elimination of pressure washing prior to major campus events
Long-Term Strategies
· Continue surveying for leaks and conducting repairs to domestic and irrigation water systems
· Install building & system-level metering or irrigation systems
· Install soil-moisture and weather controlled irrigation system with programmable data lines
· Install low-flow toilets, urinals, etc.
· Collect rainwater for re-use in Science D Greenhouse