Water Conservation in Student Dorms
For the Think Global Act Local project, our principal concern was reducing water consumption in Student Resident Dorms. High rates of water consumption can easily be found on grounds, especially in student dorms. This might be because students do not get to see a water bill while living in dorms, and they use the water available without being conscious of what are the possible consequences. As we consider that water is an essential resource in our world that is being threatened and depleted, we decided to tackle this issue and begin making a change that might positively affect this problem of water consumption. Thus, our goal was to lower the consumption of water in Student Resident Dorm Woody. We sent out a principal survey to Woody Dorms that covered some facts about the average daily use of water and the amount of water consumed by Woody dorms on an average, annual and monthly basis, with data obtained from the Energy & Utilities Division of the University of Virginia Facilities Management department. Through this survey, we were able to understand if the students were educated or not in the issue of water usage. The results from the surveys and water consumption data following the completion of the survey by the students showed a slight decrease in water consumption during the month of November in Woody. The next step of our project to get a more successful decrease in water consumption in Woody is to replace the water faucet aerators from 2.2 gpm to 0.5 gpm heavy duty and locking aerators. The estimated savings from such a reduction is approximately $2835.33 per academic year for the combined 11 McCormick Road dorms.
Water Conservation, Student Dorms, low flow aerators, University of Virginia, student engagement, Ana Aleman, Carolina Gutierrez, Viola Li
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Water Conservation in Student Dorms

WaterConservationDorms (click PDF)

Fall 2010

Team members: Ana Aleman, Carolina Gutierrez, Viola Li

For the Think Global Act Local project, our principal concern was reducing water consumption in Student Resident Dorms. High rates of water consumption can easily be found on grounds, especially in student dorms. This might be because students do not get to see a water bill while living in dorms, and they use the water available without being conscious of what are the possible consequences. As we consider that water is an essential resource in our world that is being threatened and depleted, we decided to tackle this issue and begin making a change that might positively affect this problem of water consumption. Thus, our goal was to lower the consumption of water in Student Resident Dorm Woody. We sent out a principal survey to Woody Dorms that covered some facts about the average daily use of water and the amount of water consumed by Woody dorms on an average, annual and monthly basis, with data obtained from the Energy & Utilities Division of the University of Virginia Facilities Management department. Through this survey, we were able to understand if the students were educated or not in the issue of water usage. The results from the surveys and water consumption data following the completion of the survey by the students showed a slight decrease in water consumption during the month of November in Woody. The next step of our project to get a more successful decrease in water consumption in Woody is to replace the water faucet aerators from 2.2 gpm to 0.5 gpm heavy duty and locking aerators. The estimated savings from such a reduction is approximately $2835.33 per academic year for the combined 11 McCormick Road dorms.