With more than 100,000 students, faculty, staff and visitors each day, Ohio State is comparable to a medium-sized city, using more than one billion gallons of water per year. Implementing successful water management can reduce university costs, protect local water resources, and help other entities discover pathways to their own water conservation actions.
By conducting building water audits, fixing leaks and installing low-flow fixtures, the university has reduced potable water use by 229 million gallons since 2015 (27.6% reduction). This saves the university over one million dollars in annual water purchase and related sanitary sewer use costs.
Achievements and initiatives
16.2% more water efficient since 2015.
2024 water use per capita: 16,187 gallons
229 million gallon decrease in annual water usage since 2015
The university’s Sustainable Design and Construction policy includes water use intensity targets by building type for enhanced conservation in large university facilities.
Groundwater reuse project installed at the Covelli Center, with the potential to reduce annual potable water usage by 5.2 million gallons.
Facilities Operations and Development continues to address aging infrastructure with replacement projects and scheduled leak detection surveys.
Resources
Report leaks from faucets and pipes to Service2Facilities within Facilities Operations and Development
Ohio State buildings participate in City of Columbus large building water and energy benchmarking