Water

Water is a precious and scarce resource in Colorado. That is why efforts are continuously underway to maximize water efficiency on the Auraria Campus.

Indoor Efforts

Thanks to a partnership between the Sustainable Campus Program, Denver Water, and AHEC, the vast majority of plumbing fixtures were replaced across campus—saving an estimated 3 million gallons of potable water per year. Over 300 toilets, 150 urinals, and 250 faucets were upgraded to meet the US EPA’s Water Sense standard. In most cases, the following upgrades were made: 

• Toilets with a 3.5+ gallons per flush (gpf) model were replaced with a 1.28 gpf model
• Urinals with a 1 gpf model were replaced with a 0.5gpf model
• Faucets with 2.2 gallons per minute (gpm) model were replaced with a 0.5gpm model

Outdoor Efforts

The latest water-saving endeavor was a comprehensive outdoor irrigation audit performed by Denver Water. The concluding report helped set the stage for a grant application to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Pollution Prevention Advisory Board.

In early October 2012, AHEC was notified that they had received approximately $15,000 in grant money to match an additional $15,000 from the Sustainable Campus Program. The money will be used to:

• Update obsolete irrigation controls
• Install a weather station
• Program efficient scheduling software