College flush with saved water
Published 9:00 pm Sunday, April 17, 2005
BOTHELL – Some students were beginning to wonder if the toilets at Cascadia Community College were possessed.
Sanitary seat covers would be whisked away before one could use them. Slight movements would spark premature flushes. And the blame couldn’t be pinned solely on a full moon. A black sweater would be enough to set the toilet whooshing.
Melissa Slager/ The Herald Signs urge bathroom goers to “Push to Flush,” part of a campaign by Cascadia Community College leaders to save water by turning off the toilets’ automatic sensors. The change has saved 177,276 gallons of water since May.
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“Even if there’s no one in the stall, they’ll go off – just walking past,” said student Kristen Bell, 17. “It’s just unnecessary.”
Cascadia administrators agreed and turned off the automatic sensors, urging students and staff to instead push a button to flush toilets.
A year later, the “Push to Flush” campaign has saved more than the frazzled nerves of many posteriors.
Over an eight-month period starting in May 2004, the college saved 177,276 gallons of water compared with the same period in 2003, according to water bills.
At 1.6 gallons per flush, that’s 110,797 fewer bowls of water down the drain, enough to run the Cascadia campus for two-and-a-half months, or seven households for a year.
| The Push to Flush campaign is just one step the community college is taking to save money and the environment. Cascadias plans also include:
* Swapping 500 of the parking garages 175-watt light bulbs for 65-watt bulbs, expected to save $36,000 in annual electricity bills. * Re-programming buildings so lights, heating and venting systems no longer come on together with a flip of a switch but instead operate separately. * Making its own compost to use in landscaping and possibly sell, as well as adding a composting unit for yard waste and paper that will help cut down on trash-hauling bills. * Installing waterless urinals in mens bathrooms. *Switching from two-stroke to more-efficient four-stroke gas-powered engines for lawn-care machines, and from gas-powered to electric-powered groundskeeper carts. Toiletology at home * Install water-efficient toilets that use only 1.6 gallons per flush. Older toilets use 3.5 to 7 gallons per flush. * For an older toilet, place a jug of water in the tank. Make sure the jug does not interfere with the flush mechanism. This reduces the amount of water used with each flush. * Check toilets for leaks. An average of 20 percent of toilets leak. Place a few drops of food coloring in the toilet tank. If after 15 minutes the dye shows up in the bowl (without flushing), the toilet has a leak. * Flush less often. Follow the adage If its yellow let it mellow; if its brown flush it down. NOTE: Everett offers free water conservation equipment to city residents. Others should check with their water provider, who may have similar kits available. Source: City of Everett |
Talk about liquid gold.
Toilet humor aside, those savings are flush with extra value at a time of drought worries.
“We are very proud to be part of conserving precious water supplies in our region,” interim president Brinton Sprague said in a news release.
In an e-mail survey of students, just two of 100 responses were opposed to the switch.
Student Darren Larpenteur, 18, said he is privy to the advantages of the automatic sensors. “You don’t get germs on your hand.”
But he and his friends, Dan Gordon and Max Hubbard, both 19, say they don’t mind taking a plunge by the manual method.
“It’s really nice to push the button instead of a nasty bar. There’s less germs,” Gordon said.
“Yeah,” Hubbard agreed. “You can just use your knuckle.”
Signs in bathrooms announce the good news about water savings, something students have picked up on as well.
“I think it’s a real wise thing to do in terms of stewardship,” said student Loraine Spargo, 52. “The automatic way is obviously easier and much more sanitary. But on the other hand, we’ve saved so much water …
“You wash your hands after you’re done anyway,” she added. “Hopefully.”
Cascadia shares a campus with the University of Washington’s Bothell campus. About 2,000 people are on campus any given weekday.
The switch affected the majority of the campus’ 155 toilets. Handicapped-accessible stalls and a few other toilets are the only ones that kept the sensors.
Also, custodians have been saved some hassle. “As soon as we’d adjust (a toilet sensor) for one person, another person would go in, and it wouldn’t be adjusted for them,” facilities director Tony Guerrero said.
Even so, the clean-up crew initially worried about the switch.
One of the advantages of automatically flushing toilets is a reduction in shoe abuse – as people sometimes will kick a flusher instead of using their hand.
Facilities staff even bought extra buttons in preparation.
“But the damage did not happen. The response was very, very positive,” Guerrero said.
Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@heraldnet.com.
