Overall Rating Platinum - expired
Overall Score 86.01
Liaison Patrick McKee
Submission Date March 6, 2020
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Connecticut
IN-17: Natural Wastewater Systems

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 0.50 Richard Miller
Director
Ofice of Environmental Policy
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Estimated percentage of the institution’s wastewater treated and managed on-site using natural wastewater systems (1-9%, 10-24%, 25-49%, 50-74%, 75-99%, 100%):
100%

A brief description of the institution’s sustainable wastewater systems and technologies:

UConn owns and operates its own sewage treatment plant for the campus and some of the surrounding community in Mansfield. In 2013, the university completed construction on, and began operating, a $27 million, state-of-the-art, award-winning Reclaimed Water Facility which uses two forms of tertiary treatment in order to enable reuse of the University’s wastewater. This process uses microfiltration and ultraviolet disinfection, which allow UConn to reuse up to one million gallons of water each day, distributed through a separate "purple pipe" system, in order to meet campus needs that don’t require potable water. Much of the water is used in our CoGen power plant’s cooling towers and boilers, creating a semi-closed loop, significantly easing our demand on source waters, and lessening our municipal wastewater discharge.
The Reclaimed Water Facility eases the campus demand on source waters, including the Fenton and Willimantic groundwater wellfields, which, when used excessively during mid- and late-summer droughts, can exacerbate low flow conditions in the rivers near those wells. The reclaimed water facility reduces the campus’ potable demand by about 50% during those peak periods and 20% during the rest of the year. Moreover, by directing treated wastewater to the Reclaimed Water Facility, the process significantly reduces the amount of effluent pollution discharged into the Willimantic River. The Facility also serves as a living laboratory for the campus, allowing students to conduct research on sustainable water treatment technology.


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.