Fewer trickles, smaller bills

When a faucet drips, Kristen Spexarth notices. As the head gardener at the Walker-Ames Mansion, Spexarth is aware of how much a leak can cost. Caring for the 1.37-acre property in Madison Park, she witnesses first hand how much water the UW presidential mansion uses on any given day.

She arrives every morning at 7. The garden has a manicured perfection, thanks to her expertise, and the water bills are low, thanks to her efforts to design the most efficient water irrigation system at the house and on the grounds.

It hasn't always been this way. In 2001, the Mansion consumed nearly three times more water than most residences use each year, according to Seattle Public Utilities (SPU). In April 2001, The Seattle Times published a story on Seattle's top-10 residential users of water. Near the top was the UW's president's mansion, reportedly using 212,000 gallons a year.

The article surprised Spexarth; it surprised the UW gardening staff.

"I was very alarmed," said David Fields, UW maintenance zone manager. "When the story broke, the first thing we did was have an employee from Seattle Public Utilities audit the house. We found that there were some leaks around the house that led to the amount of water being used over time."

A defective irrigation sprinkler valve was found to be leaking water, in addition to a faulty toilet and leaking ice machine. This all added up.

The grounds, however, were not the problem. In 1999, a few years before The Times' story broke, a sparkly new irrigation system was put in. It had taken five years to raise the money to build. Once installed, Spexarth recalls the SPU commenting that it was "the best system [we have] ever seen."

There was a sense of urgency surrounding the need to fix the water problem at the president's mansion.

"We fixed everything immediately," said Fields. "Today the mansion uses 60 percent less water than it did in 2001."

Fields said the two presidents have even taken an active role in their own practices when it comes to water consumption.

"The new irrigation system has saved us a lot of money," said Spexarth. Her top concern is no longer the water system, giving her more time to work with a small grounds-maintenance team to keep the grounds presentable for guests.

The story in the Times encouraged the University to put time and effort into campus as well.

Fields, the chair of the Conservation Project Development Team, worked with different departments at the UW, Seattle Pacific University, and Seattle City Light to design water conservation projects for campus.

The goal: to decrease consumption.

During the hot summer months, the University community cools off by using more water. The team was working to install more efficient systems around the campus to help conserve water for the hot days. Old buildings were retrofitted to meet Field's new water standards and new buildings were equipped with newer systems.

This past year, the University has used 66.7 million cubic feet of water and spent $1,350 to do so.

This number is an improvement from past years. According to Fields, from July 2000 to July 2002, the University has saved $1.5 million due to the water cutbacks. With help from Seattle Pacific University and the Conservation Project Development Team, the University hopes to continue to lower its water use.

Since toilets and urinals are large water-consuming devices, the University has installed a number of ultra-low-flush toilets around campus and 100 water-free urinals. This by no means changes all of the toilets on campus, which number in the thousands, but it is a beginning. The committee has also been working with the Health Sciences Building in installing 60 complex water-saving sterilization devices.

"The average sterilization device uses about one to five gallons of water per minute," said Fields. The hope is to cut back on the amount of water used by sterilizing while at the same time ensuring the same quality of sterilization.

"The University is investing $96,000 into installing these devices," Fields continued. "They anticipate that they will save $215,000 a year with these new devices, plus they will receive an incentive rebate from the Seattle Public Utilities of more than $30,000."

By increasing the use of water-conservation devices, the University will have fewer trickles and smaller bills.