Water Sustainability, Efficiency and Conservation

Important Numbers

24-hour Maintenance: 723-2281
Water Hotline: 725-8030

Water Sustainability at Stanford University involves a comprehensive integration of adequate and appropriate water supplies for the university’s education and research mission balanced with the hydrologic environment and the health of the ecological systems dependent on it. Stanford’s water managers are collaborating with knowledgeable faculty and representatives from its academic and residential constituencies to formulate a vision, goals, strategies, and a master plan for managing water sustainably. The plan encompasses preservation of Stanford’s water resources, direction for development of its supplies, storage and distribution facilities and systems, and continued implementation of water conservation and efficiency for existing and new facilities and landscaping, continuing one of the most extensive and successful such programs in the Bay area.

What's Been Done

In 2001, Stanford University developed the Water Conservation, Reuse and Recycling Master Plan to identify ways to keep water demand below the current San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) allocation of 3.033 million gallons per day (mgd). The success of Stanford's water conservation, reuse and recycling program is demonstrated by a steady decrease in domestic water use from 2.7 mgd in 2000 and 2001 to 2.3 mgd as of June 2008.

We have successfully launched conservation initiatives across campus that have helped us be successful in our water reduction goals.

 

 

Learn more about specific water reduction activities in the following areas:

FY 2001-FY 2009 Key Water Conservation Accomplishments

 

Stanford has received the 2009 Silicon Valley Water Conservation Award.  This award honors outstanding achievements in water conservation among businesses, local governments, organizations, and individuals in the Silicon Valley region. “Recognizing the primacy of water issues to the health and economic vitality of our region and to the environment, the Silicon Valley Water Conservation Awards are presented to organizations, agencies, businesses and individuals whose programs and leadership have advanced water conservation in Silicon Valley (San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, and Alameda County from Hayward south)”.  Source:  http://www.waterawards.org/.

Congratulations Stanford Utilities!

For more information, see the Stanford Utilities Water Conservation Fact Sheet.

 

 

Other Water Conservation Accomplishments

  • Water mizers have been installed on almost all campus autoclaves and sterilizers.
  • Replaced more than 10,000 academic and student housing bathroom fixtures with water-efficient ones, including low-flow shower heads, sink aerators, high efficiency toilets and urinals. Almost 95% of the academic and student housing inefficient toilets have been retrofitted.
  • All once-through cooling for equipment has been replaced with re-circulating systems.
  • Majority of Campus Grounds are on evapotranspiration (ET) controllers for irrigation and installed a WaterWise Demonstration Garden.
  • We developed a Water-Efficient(WE) technology demonstration program, WE Goals & Benchmarks for new buildings in 2008, ongoing outreach for single-family on-campus homes included checking for irrigation runoff and providing door hangers notifying homeowners what they can do to avoid it, and promoting local utility district high-efficiency toilets and clothes washing machines. Outreach has also included providing monthly flyers that discuss water saving ideas and tips.

 

 

About Decorative Fountains

There are 23 fountains currently on Stanford University’s campus, please visit the links below for more information.

Additional Resources

 

 

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