UConn has cut its daily water demand in half at Storrs since 2005 through new technologies, diligent maintenance, and widespread conservation efforts that underscore its commitment to sustainability on campus and throughout the region.
The 51.4% drop in the amount of potable water that UConn uses daily comes despite having a 22% larger on-campus service population compared to 2005, according to UConn’s latest annual water quality report.
The secrets: The tremendous impact of UConn’s innovative Reclaimed Water Facility since it opened in 2013; green-friendly design and operations of new and renovated buildings; diligent facilities operations work to locate hidden leaks or other problems; and the unflagging conservation efforts of students, employees, and visitors.
UConn’s sharp decrease in water demand at Storrs demonstrates the impact that the University can achieve by marshaling its strengths toward important goals – including its work to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 and carbon negativity by 2040 and others in its Strategic Plan.
UConn’s water conservation efforts also contributed to its 9th place ranking worldwide in the latest UI GreenMetric scoring system, which evaluates more than 1,000 educational institutions on multiple sustainability measures.
In fact, UConn’s ranking specifically in water stewardship placed it at No. 8 in that category, one of only two universities in the U.S. among the top 10.
“UConn has been serving as a living laboratory to demonstrate how various technologies, policies, and conservation activism can all come together for tremendous results,” says Stanley Nolan, UConn’s interim associate vice president of facilities operations. “Our progress in reducing water demand so significantly serves as inspiration as we advance the focus in our Strategic Plan on the wellness of people and the planet.”
The importance of conserving water comes as Connecticut and the region are suffering from abnormally dry and moderate drought conditions, with only a fraction of the rainfall experienced in an average autumn.
In the years before UConn opened its Reclaimed Water Facility in 2013, the Fenton and Willimantic rivers’ wellfields – from which UConn drew much of its water – often ran alarmingly low during dry and drought conditions.
In 2005, in fact, a section of the Fenton River ran dry and prompted UConn to kick its conservation goals into overdrive, and later to add service from Connecticut Water Co. to ease demand on those wellfields.
In 2005, the average daily demand on the UConn water system was 1.49 million gallons daily of drinking-quality water, also known as potable water.
In 2023, the last full year for which figures are available, it was down to 0.72 million gallons daily – and that comes despite an increase of 22% in the on-campus service population since that time due to new buildings.
“These numbers are a real credit to our students and employees, who have clearly made water conservation a priority,” says Nolan, whose oversight areas include the Reclaimed Water Facility and other departments most directly involved in water compliance and conservation.
Some of the key drivers of the conservation efforts that have reduced potable water demand at UConn Storrs over the last 18 years include:
• The innovative Reclaimed Water Facility has processed more than 1 billion gallons of wastewater since it opened in 2013. It uses a high-tech filtration and treatment process to remove most of the contaminants, then circulates the reclaimed water to UConn’s Central Utility Plant (CUP) and elsewhere for non-drinking purposes.
As the largest on-campus water user, the CUP previously used potable water to cool its turbine fans; using reclaimed water has eliminated that demand. The treated water is also used for toilets in the Innovation Partnership Building, Science 1, and several other newer buildings on campus.
• UConn students and employees are deeply involved in formal and informal water conservation efforts, and including the work of student groups such as EcoHusky; the annual EcoMadness conservation challenge; the “Stop the Drop” awareness campaign in residence halls; and other efforts to cut water use in dorms, offices, dining halls, and elsewhere.
• UConn Facilities Operations initiated a program to install and upgrade meters in the 182 buildings that use the most water on campus, using the metering systems to spot unusual increases and track down leaks. It also added low-flow water fixtures in several older buildings, saving about 44,000 gallons daily through that effort.
• UConn adopted a policy in 2007 for sustainable methods in all major projects, and followed up in 2016 with a policy that all new building projects worth $5 million or more on campus must pursue LEED Gold certification. In addition to other conservation methods, LEED design includes water conservation strategies.
