Water Conservation at the ANU

The environmental importance of water is widely recognised in Australia — water is a finite resource, essential for life, and needs to be managed wisely. The University is conscious of its responsibilities as a member of the Canberra community and, for that reason, takes reasonable measures to reduce water consumption on campus.

Individual staff and students can make a significant contribution to reducing the University's water consumption — read on to find out how.

How you can help

Water conservation is a job for all of us. The University is looking to establish systematic water conservation solutions (such as adopting water-saving technologies), but individuals must also do their part. Things you can do to help include:

• Take shorter showers
  Reducing your shower times by 1 minute could save up to 3500 litres per year for those who shower on campus every day. If everyone who lives on campus did this we could save over 7 million litres of water per year.
• Conserve water in the laboratory — turn the water off when not required
• If you see something leaking or wasting water report it to your building manager or call university maintenance on x54000
• Do not leave taps running unnecessarily
• More ways to save water in the office
• Promote water saving: email your colleagues a link to this page, or put up a poster [pdf, 4MB] in your area

Water conservation initiatives at ANU

Any water saving initiatives in buildings are undertaken in consultation with staff and students to ensure they are both feasible and effective. If you have any suggestions for other water saving actions that could be undertaken in buildings on campus email anugreen@anu.edu.au with your ideas.

Some of the initiatives already undertaken include:

• Installation of water saving showerheads in some of the Halls and Colleges
• Vacuum pumps to replace water aspirators in Research Schools
• Replacement of stills with reverse osmosis machines
• Installation of dedicated process cooling for scientific equipment in the Research School of Earth Sciences
• Trial of waterless urinals in Ursulla Hall

Water-saving showers in Toad Hall

In 2002 flow-reducing tap valves were installed at Toad Hall, which are estimated to save several million litres of water and thousands of dollars each year.

Water conservation in gardens and grounds

During water restrictions, the ANU gardeners reduce overall water use in gardens and grounds to match the overall ACT water conservation target. In addition, some gardens at the ANU are being gradually replaced with drought-tolerent landscaping, meaning there is less need to water even when water restrictions are not in place.

Vacuum pumps in research schools

In May 2005 the University and four of its research schools bought 46 vacuum pumps to replace existing water aspirators in laboratories. The vacuum pumps should save 50,000 kilolitres of water and $62,000 each year. This is probably the largest single water conservation initiative ever undertaken at the ANU.

Recycled Water on North and Willows Oval

The University uses recycled water on North and Willows ovals, in a partnership with ACTEW. This saves an estimated 30 megalitres of drinking water per year.

Waste Water Recycling at Mount Stromlo Observatory

This system was established prior to the January 2001 bushfires. The system is a four-stage treatment process, including a reed bed filtration stage, that treats wastewater and makes it suitable for irrigation.

Water use on campus

In 2002 the ANU campus used approximately 750 million litres of water. Major water users on campus include laboratories, Halls and Colleges, and irrigation.

Breakdown of water use on ANU campus

Water management links

• The Murray-Darling Basin Commission
  News, resource management projects, and contacts.
• Inland Waters
  Links to relevant Federal Government resources.
• Water Issues in the ACT
  Information on water issues in the ACT, from the ACT government's environment page.
• Keeping Stormwater Clean to Protect our Lakes and Rivers
  Information to help provide an understanding of the activities we do that pollute our waterways, from the ACT government's environment page.
• ACTEWAGL Water Conservation Ideas
  The ACT's water provider offers some ideas on how to save water.