Water Stewardship

The ability to meet future demands for clean water from the Floridan Aquifer and the health of our lakes, rivers, and springs are concerns shared by Facilities Management at Stetson University. Facilities Management has taken steps to reduce consumption of clean water from the aquifer and create retention ponds and storm chambers that allow storm water to percolate into the Floridan Aquifer, reducing the volume of storm water that would flow into the St. Johns River, lakes, and springs.

We consumed 1,704,000 fewer gallons of clean water in 2015 than we did in 2011 while the campus community increased by 30 percent and additional facilities were added. The consumption of clean water has been reduced through understanding which facilities and systems consume large volumes of clean water. The largest consumers of clean water are the student residence halls, the Carlton Union Building, the irrigation system, the cooling towers of the central chilled water system and large academic buildings constructed before 1980.

The development of plans to reduce consumption in these facilities and systems. The improvements have included:

 

• Conversion of our landscape irrigation system to use reclaimed water rather than clean water.
• Renovation of residence hall bathrooms and the installation of efficient plumbing fixtures. Residence halls that have been renovated with efficient plumbing fixtures are Carson, Hollis, Conrad, Chaudoin, Emily and Gordis Halls. The bathrooms in Smith and Nemec Halls and the Sorority Houses are scheduled for renovation with efficient plumbing fixtures over the next several years.
• Replacement of inefficient plumbing fixtures in Presser Hall and Flagler Hall with efficient fixtures that use a third of the amount of water of the original fixtures.
• The engineering study is in process to determine if the source of the water that feeds the cooling towers at the central chiller plant can be converted from clean to reclaimed water. Provided that this conversion will not damage the central chiller plant equipment, the conversion is scheduled for 2016.
• The Carlton Union Building will be renovated over the next several years. The renovation will include installation of efficient plumbing fixtures and food service equipment that will consume less clean water.

 

Current and Upcoming Projects

Progress has been made in how storm water is managed with the construction of retention ponds and installation of storm water chambers which reduce the volume of rain water that flows into the storm drains eventually flowing in to the lakes and St. Johns River. The projects completed and planned for the near future include:

1. Construction of a storm water retention pond south of the parking area that serves Davis and Flagler Halls.
   
   
2. Design and construction of a system that captures storm water, installation of additional piping that allows more storm water to flow into the enlarged storm water retention pond on Amelia Avenue between Ohio and Wisconsin Avenues. This project reduced the volume of storm water from Minnesota Avenue that used to flow into the storm drains and alleviated the flooding on Minnesota Avenue.
   
   
3. Construction of a storm water retention pond on Amelia Avenue between Bert Fish and University Avenues.
   
   
4. Installation of storm water chambers in the center of campus that are designed to hold the storm water that from the areas near DeLand Hall, the new Welcome Center, the Carlton Union Building and Chaudoin Hall.
   
   
5. The parking area west of Allen Hall, Human Resources and Cummings Gym will be improved in 2016. The improvements include a storm water management system designed to reduce the flow of water onto Minnesota Avenue and into the storm drains and to help to alleviate the flooding at the intersection of Minnesota Avenue and Woodland Boulevard.

Facilities Management will continue to be good stewards of our natural resources and environment through conservation, planning, renovation and new construction.