University of Connecticut
OP-T2-46: Non-Potable Water Usage

An irrigation pond at the research farm has a network of channels meant to increase the amount of rainwater collected during storms, lowering the need for pumping to irrigate the research fields. Water from the new water reclamation plant will be used in the cogeneration facility processes that can be run with non-potable water. This project will be live in April, 2013.. Rainwater collection is a feature of the new Oak Building. The water will be used for irrigating adjacent quads.. There are two 25,000 gallons tanks that are designed to collect infiltrating rainwater from around the BMP and LID features near Oak Hall.

The percentage of irrigation water usage from recovered, reclaimed or untreated sources : There are two 25,000 gallons tanks that are designed to collect infiltrating rainwater from around the BMP and LID features near Oak Hall. They will be used to irrigate adjacent quad areas. The percentage of building space using water from recovered, reclaimed or untreated sources: There is currently no data on the building space using recovered water; however, data collection will begin once the reclaimed water facility begins operation. The percentage of water used in utility plants from recovered, reclaimed or untreated sources: UConn’s Central Utility Plant (CUP), which houses the Cogeneration facility that supplies the majority of electricity and heating for campus, will use on average 300,000 gallons of reclaimed water from a water reclamation facility on campus that will be operational in late May 2013. The water reclamation facility is designed to have the capacity to treat 1 MGD. On-site reclaimed water facility: “This process uses microfiltration and ultraviolet disinfection, which will allow UConn to divert a maximum of 1 million gallons of non-potable – not drinkable – water each day to meet the aforementioned campus needs that don’t require fresh water. One of these needs is the CoGen power plant, which uses anywhere between 250,000 and 450,000 gallons of cooling water each day” http://www.ecohusky.uconn.edu/living/index.html UConn Today and Environmental Leader articles about the reclaimed water facility: http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2012/10/water-reclamation-facility-nears-completion/ http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/10/17/uconn-water-reclamation-plant-can-treat-up-to-1m-gallons-a-day/ http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2010/12/reclaiming-water-a-green-leap-forward/