Overall Rating	Gold
Overall Score	66.63
Liaison	Mike Evans
Submission Date	March 3, 2022

STARS v2.2

Williams College
OP-21: Water Use

Status

Score

Responsible Party

4.00 / 4.00

Tanja Srebotnjak
Director
Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives

"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Level of ”Physical Risk Quantity” for the institution’s main campus as indicated by the World Resources Institute Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas:

Low

Part 1. Reduction in potable water use per person

Total water withdrawal (potable and non-potable combined):

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal	26,421,604 Gallons	46,595,979 Gallons

Potable water use:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use	25,433,766 Gallons	42,406,614.75 Gallons

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):

	Start Date	End Date
Performance Period	July 1, 2020	June 30, 2021
Baseline Period	July 1, 2004	June 30, 2005

If end date of the baseline year/period is 2004 or earlier, provide:

A brief description of when and why the water use baseline was adopted:

To attempt to keep a consistent baseline year throughout the report. 2004/5 was the fiscal year prior to our first greenhouse gas emission reduction goal and is used throughout the submission.

Water withdrawals were considerably lower in the performance year (FY21) due to COVID-19 impacts, which significantly reduced the on-campus population and hence water use. In addition, the college has been on a downward trajectory on water use. Between FY05 and FY21 the peak year for water withdrawals occurred in FY06 at 51,814,708 gallons and the lowest amount (aside from FY21) occurred in FY20 at 31,524,460 gallons.

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users":

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	1,975	1,851
Number of employees resident on-site	4	124
Number of other individuals resident on-site	0	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	2,143	1,997
Full-time equivalent of employees	1,140	989
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	0	0
Weighted campus users	2,957	2,733.25

Potable water use per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per weighted campus user	8,601.21 Gallons	15,515.09 Gallons

Percentage reduction in potable water use per weighted campus user from baseline:

44.56

Part 2. Reduction in potable water use per unit of floor area

Gross floor area of building space:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Gross floor area	3,032,396 Gross square feet	2,366,400 Gross square feet

Potable water use per unit of floor area:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per unit of floor area	8.39 Gallons per square foot	17.92 Gallons per square foot

Percentage reduction in potable water use per unit of floor area from baseline:

53.20

Part 3. Reduction in total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds

Area of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds	435.70 Acres	436.42 Acres

Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds	60,641.39 Gallons per acre	106,769.15 Gallons per acre

Percentage reduction in total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds from baseline:

43.20

Optional Fields

A brief description of the institution's water-related behavior change initiatives:

Bathrooms contain signs that show how many gallons of water are used for different lengths of shower time.

Water bottle filling and hydration stations are being increased in number to encourage users to use tap/filtered water and reduce plastic bottle use.

More information on installing high-efficiency water appliances is provided below.

The Class of 1966 Environmental Center is a Living Building Challenge building with net-positive water use achieved through high-efficiency faucets, no-flush composting toilets, precipitation harvesting, and greywater filtration. There are also water retention ponds in low-lying areas of the site, one of which contains a solar powered pump and allows for the rainwater to be used to water the orchard trees when it is needed.

A brief description of the institution's water recovery and reuse initiatives:

In the Class of 1966 Environmental Center, LBC petal certified, grey water is treated onsite. There are also water retention ponds in low-lying areas of the site, one of which contains a solar powered pump and allows for the rainwater to be used to water the orchard trees when it is needed.

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace plumbing fixtures, fittings, appliances, equipment, and systems with water-efficient alternatives:

We now replace 1.6 gallon flush toilets with 1.28 gallon flush toilets. Water efficient fixtures and appliances were added across campus such as low flow showers, low flow sink fixtures, waterless urinals, and water efficient dishwashers.

Website URL where information about the institution’s water conservation and efficiency efforts is available:

https://sustainability.williams.edu/water

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Data on water consumption were obtained from Joseph Kapas (see email to Tanja from 2/28/2022.