Water Conservation Efforts
Facilities Services has taken many steps to ensure our campus is conserving water. In addition to addressing leaks, Facilities Services also works to investigate water use in the highest consumption campus buildings. For example, in Life Sciences Addition FS has monitored water meters, worked with building managers to change an Aquatics Lab policy, improved the efficiency of the cooling tower, and investigated the sump and vacuum pumps. The results are impressive: LSA’s water consumption has decreased by 32%.
Automated Irrigation Control
Irrigation is a major use of water on campus. UC Berkeley has an automated irrigation control system with many functions that allow us to track and manage irrigation water usage during the year. This is an important tool to budget and reduce irrigation water use.
The water used to irrigate the campus grounds is purchased water from East Bay Municipal Utilities District (EBMUD). All irrigation connections are served by the campus water distribution system, and the water used to irrigate is metered and logged by the central system.
TGIF Projects
Facilities Services has worked with The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) on multiple water reduction projects on campus. Read more about the accomplishments of one of these projects - Low Water Irrigation - here.