The greywater piping system at BIF uses potable water, but in FY19 F&S started tracking the water consumption that goes through the greywater pipes. The meter for that water consumption is not in the Energy Billing System because it does not get billed separately. It is on the DDC system as 1206-W3. The meter base ID is 1206-W3. Usage can be requested from accounting or email Robbie Bauer.
Fall 2017 Semesterly Report Submitted to the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
The real-time water-use meter for the greywater piping system (still using potable water), is scheduled. The work is scheduled to be done 11/23 – 11/25, 2017.
The Water and Stormwater SWATeam recommendation to install a real-time water meter on the greywater pipes in the Business Instructional Facility has been approved by F&S leadership. This project will proceed with funding from the Student Sustainability Committee and F&S Utilities & Energy Services.
The Business Instructional Facility (BIF) was designed for future use of greywater, which is raw (untreated) water. Although the building is fed from the potable water supply, there is separate piping for the urinals and water closets in the building. Utilities does not yet have a greywater system in place. When such a system becomes available, the connection in BIF that serves its fixtures can then be transferred to the greywater supply.
Following the completion of iWG assessment of Water001 BIF Greywater Meter, the recommendation was transmitted to the Facilities & Services (F&S) department on July 12, 2017.
See iWG assessment of Water001 BIF Greywater Meter here.
See SWATeam recommendation Water001 BIF Greywater Meter here.
The Business Instructional Facility (BIF) was constructed with a separate raw water system that conveys non-potable water for the purpose of flushing toilets. While the system is in place, it was never connected to an outside source of non potable water largely due to current non-progressive plumbing codes. Metering the raw water system at BIF would provide data about the temporal total and non-potable water demand in a typical class/office building. F&S installed a temporary meter to measure flow to the raw water system and operated this meter for approximately one month between April and May 2016, which yielded promising results. In particular, for the month that the meter was in place, results indicated about 2/3 of the water used in BIF was for the non-potable lines. Because building usage can vary dramatically during the year, it is recommended to install a meter permanently. Once the meter is installed, the data is intended to be used to support changes to plumbing codes, allowing raw water to be used more easily, as well as changes to the campus construction codes, requiring that separate raw water systems be installed in new buildings and during major renovations of existing ones. This proposal directly funds: 1) An additional meter for the BIF Raw Water line 2) Installation costs.
The Business Instructional Facility (BIF) was designed for future use of greywater, which is either recaptured water or raw (untreated) water. Although the building is fed from the potable water supply, there is separate piping for the restroom facilities and similar greywater-viable systems in the building. Data from about potential use of greywater can be very valuable for campus and others to know how much water can a building use for flushing toilets, comparing to the potable water we actually need, such as drinking water. In spring 2017, members of the Water SWATeam submitted a proposal about implementing a real-time water meter to the Student Sustainability Committee, and it got approved. They are working with Facilities & Services (F&S) to purchase the real-time meter and install it. Then this data will be made available publicly, so the students can use them for research or different sustainability questions.
Discussion of upcoming joint meeting with Agriculture, Land Use, Food and Sequestration (ALUF) SWAT. Development of ideas for student projects, including georeferenced inventory for F&S, analysis of green roofs and solar panels, and phoshorus monitoring of stormwater.
Updates and discussion of greywater meter, greywater design standards, cooling tower cycles of concentration, water use dashboard, and student outreach.
Updates on BIF Greywater Meter application. Discussion on Cooling Tower COC and "Zero" blowdown systems.
Updates on BIF Greywater Meter, Increase Cooling Tower COC, and Design Center Greywater Piping recommendations. Discussion on the development of water use dashboard.
Review of pending recommendations: BIF Greywater, Increase Cooling Tower COC, Design Center Greywater Piping. Discussion on possible edits to the SWAT/iWG process. Student members will submit proposal to Student Sustainability Commision for apermanent meter to measure BIF greywater use. The Water SWATeam will meet every other week and will have a joint meeting with the Agriculture, Land Use, Food, and Sequestration (ALUFS) SWATeam this semester.
The iCAP Working Group (iWG) met on December 20, 2016, to discuss and start the assessment of SWATeam recommendation, Water001 BIF Greywater Meter. The iWG's official comment on the recommendation was:
"A permanent real-time water meter should be installed on the greywater piping system in BIF, and the collected data should be made available in the Energy Billing System and through an online dashboard."
See attached the iWG assessment of Water001 BIF Greywater Meter complete with official comments from all the iWG members.
See SWATeam recommendation Water001 BIF Greywater Meter here.
The Water and Stormwater SWATeam submitted a recommendation to the iWG stating,
"Monitoring the water usage in the Business Instructional Facility (BIF). Specifically, both the total water use and the amount of water used by the raw water system should be measured and the data made available to the campus community.
BIF is unique in that it was constructed with a separate raw water system that conveys non-potable water to be used for purposes such as flushing toilets. While the system is in place inside the building, it was never connected to an outside source of non-potable water. Use of non-potable water for purposes such as toilet flushing, landscape irrigation, cooling, etc. is recognized as a sustainable practice (e.g., Asano et al, 2007; EPA, 2012). Data to quantify the impact this could have on water use at UIUC, however, is largely unavailable. Metering the raw water system at BIF would provide data about the temporal total and non-potable water demand at a typical campus class/office building. These data would be valuable to consider whether such systems should be considered in future campus construction and renovation.
F&S installed a temporary meter to measure the flow to the raw water system and operated this meter for approximately one month (April – May 2016), so this recommendation has already been demonstrated to be feasible. However, because building usage is highly variable over the course of an academic year, we recommend that this should be a permanent installation. We also recommend that the data be made available to the campus community to encourage consideration of such water reuse options."
See attached the SWATeam recommendation Water001 BIF Greywater Meter complete with comments from all the Water and Stormwater SWATeam.
Meeting focused on drafting recommendation studies to submit to the iSEE working group.
Recommendations included Business Instructional Facility greywater piping system and infrastructure for raw water piping in the design center.
Topics of discussion for the Water and Stormwater Team meeting included recommendations studies, the function, and role of the iCAP working group, expectations for the SWATeam, metering at BIF, and the use of greywater in the Design center (a new building on campus).
This was the first meeting of the Fall 2016 semester. Discussion was focused on non-potable water and meeting schedule for the rest of the semester.
We are going to place a temporary strap on meter and keep it in place until after 5-15-16.
