Calvin College Physical PlantPhil Beezhold, Director

•Potable Water Usage•Irrigation Systems•Storm Water Runoff

Potable Water Usage• Potable Water- Water that is of sufficiently high quality that it

can be consumed or used without risk of immediate or long term harm

• Potable Water on campus comes from the:

Potable Water Usage (cont)• Calvin Provides water on campus to:

– 1135 Toilets– 133 Urinals– 1293 Sinks– 811 Showers– 45 Drinking fountains– Dishwashers, hot water tanks, boilers, pool– Miles of piping, water mains and fire hydrants

Potable Water Usage (cont)• Calvin continues to install more efficient toilets, aerators, less

GPF (gallons per flush) toilets + urinals, low flow faucets, low flow showerheads.

• DE (Diatomaceous Earth) filters on the pool reduces water usage significantly over standard filtration (ie: sand) because it needs less back wash water.

• Calvin’s 2009 annual water usage: 50,617,160 Gallons– Almost exactly the same as in 1997-1998

Potable Water Usage (cont)• Residential Water Usage:

-Showers account for 22% of he individual water use in North Americaeartheasy.com

-Take shorter showers-Turn off water while brushing teeth or shaving can save up to 8 gallons of water

Irrigation Systems

Irrigation Systems• Currently irrigate approx. 120 acres of turf, athletic fields,

flower beds and landscape plantings• Seven irrigation wells, with a combined 551 zones• Irrigation controlled by a central irrigation control computer.

This ‘Smart System’ allows us to deliver the right amount of water, per day, to meet individual plants requirements w/o over watering. (less water in cool & wet summers)

• Each day the PC downloads the ET (Evapotranspiration Rate)- the amount of water that’s left the surface of the ground that day. This determines a run time for each zone in order to replace that amount of water to the plant material.

• The PC also synchronizes all the variable speed pumps to run at the most efficient speed to deliver water for the least amount of electricity.

Irrigation Systems (cont)• The PC also synchronizes for each zone to run within a certain

window of time, usually late night/early morning, when there is limited traffic on campus.

• RESULTS:– Healthy, vigorous, disease, and insect resistant plants that

require less chemical and manual maintenance and much less replacement requirements.

Storm Water RunoffThe majority of storm water runoff is directed to 1 of 4

holding/settlement ponds:

• DeVos/Prince

• N. Campus

• S. Campus

• KE Apts.

Storm Water RunoffThe majority of storm water runoff is directed to 1 of 4

holding/settlement ponds:

1. DeVos/PrinceAll runoff from the parking lots and roofs enter a

series of three settlement ponds before it is released into the vernal pond system in the Biology Preserve

2. North CampusAll runoff from the North campus, including the

athletic fields, enter a settlement pond behind the baseball fields. It then spills into the larger holding ponds, and then progresses onto Reeds Lake.

Storm Water Runoff (cont)The majority of storm water runoff is directed to 1 of 4

holding/settlement ponds:

3. South CampusThe storm water runoff from the South campus

enters the Seminary Pond, which also acts as a settling pond before the water enters the Plaster Creek watershed.

4. Knollcrest EastStorm water enters a retention pond north of Zeta-

Lambda before entering the Grand Rapids Storm Water System.

Storm Water Runoff (cont)• Calvin used “Porous” pavement at the Woodlawn Ministry

Center, allowing for less runoff.

Storm Water Runoff (cont)• All runoff ponds on campus are retention ponds only, there

are no naturally spring feed ponds on campus used for retention.

• Use of Rain Gardens: “A planted depression that allows rainwater runoff from impervious urban areas like roofs, driveways and walkways the opportunity to be absorbed. This reduces rain runoff by allowing storm water to soak into the ground, as opposed to flowing into storm drains and surface waters which cause erosion, water pollution, flooding and diminished groundwater. Rain Gardens can cut down on the amount of pollution reaching creeks and streams by up to 30%.

Campus Map