Potential for Campus Water Reuse in the United States

The price of potable water in the United States is increasing rapidly and will continue to increase in the foreseeable future. According to an ongoing national survey, water prices in 30 major U.S. cities rose 18 percent over the last two years. For large institutional users of potable water, such as colleges and universities, significant cost and water savings can be realized by adopting practices including sewer mining, state-of-the-art decentralized wastewater treatment and water reuse. Water reuse practices can protect sensitive aquatic ecosystems while significantly reducing energy costs associated with centralized water treatment and potable water distribution.

The University of North Carolina pioneered reuse of municipally reclaimed water for campus cooling towers and irrigation. Subsequently, Furman University demonstrated sewer mining and a decentralized ecological treatment system for toilet flushing reuse. Most recently, the University of the District of Columbia received a grant to demonstrate sewer mining and innovations in decentralized treatment to provide reclaimed water for onsite applications. These forward looking universities have adopted state-of –the-art water reclamation technologies and in the process made available living-laboratories for allied student research and curriculum development.

This three-part presentation will review relevant case studies, regulatory issues, and provide compelling economic and environmental reasons for colleges and universities to implement integrated systems which facilitate wastewater reclamation and reuse. Quantitative analyses will demonstrate that by adopting these practices, large users of potable water can save tens-of-millions of gallons of potable water annually while significantly reducing utility costs and their respective carbon and environmental footprints. Furthermore, by using reclaimed wastewater for irrigation and other applications, rather than discharging to surface streams, it will be possible to recharge groundwater supplies and enhance the health of degraded aquatic ecosystems. In an era of water shortages, pollution and escalating costs it is necessary and prudent to embrace innovation.