Greywater Recycling at West Village Redevelopment

University of Utah’s annual water usage has been estimated at over 950 million gallons, of which 62.5% is used in domestic usages, 27.9% is used in landscaping, and the rest 9.5% is estimated in cooling usage. Although the university has experienced a reduction in its water usage thanks to several technological interventions and behavioral changes adopted on campus, there is still more that can be done. Specifically, the University of Utah can begin by implementing catchment and recycling systems into new or renovated building projects. These systems would capture water that is used in toilets, sinks, and cleaning. By reusing graywater, the University of Utah could reduce the wastewater it produces, along with its demand for water from external sources.

Given the university’s seemingly unquenchable thirst for water, which totals 921,915,236 gallons per year, of which 524,045,808 gallons is the water used for domestic purposes. The potential impact of graywater recycling to save water and limit the effects of drought is substantial, especially considering that studies have shown 40-90% of institutional wastewater is produced as graywater. Since roughly 50-70% of wastewater produced in domestic purposes can be considered gray water, the University of Utah could save 262,022,904 – 366,832,065 gallons per year. These figures on how much water could be saved through water recycling are important to consider like the water used for irrigation in the fiscal year 2021 amounted to 341,688,644 gallons. In terms of dollars saved, however, this translates into an annual savings of $6,498,168.02 – $9,097,435.21.

Considering the severity of drought impacts across Utah and the university’s disproportionally high volume of water usage and extensive irrigation practices, making the investment in graywater catchment and recycling infrastructure across campus would be a prudent choice that is in line with the university’s environmental goals. Be it through a retooling of current infrastructure or the inclusion of new systems in upcoming construction, such an investment would offer substantial benefits through the long-term mitigation of environmental impacts and offer the university an alternative source of irrigation water, lessening the annual impact on the water budget. There are appropriately positioned stakeholders and funds that could contribute to the feasibility of such a project, demonstrating that this is a realistic objective to pursue. As a strategy that could truly aid the university in reducing its water footprint in a cost effective way, this project should be strongly considered as a viable option in future policy decisions and project prioritization.