Water

Impacts of Road Salt on Water Quality

Patricia Huynh — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 16:29:34 +0000

Impacts of Road Salt on Water Quality Patricia Huynh Mon, 12/18/2023 - 11:29

Project Background

Road salts are harmful to the environment when they end up in water bodies such as lakes and rivers – this can happen when roads or walkways are next to slopes and snowmelt runs off into the water, or indirectly through stormwater management systems. The rock salts alter water chemistry, making it potentially toxic to aquatic plant life, fish, invertebrates, birds and mammals that live in or consume the water directly, or consume species that directly interact with the chloride ions in road salts. In addition, communities that drink groundwater – including Region of ��ݮ��Ƶ – can be impacted by salt.

University of ��ݮ��Ƶ has obligations within the Regional Source Water Protection Plan to make efforts to minimize salt runoff within the local watershed. Measuring how much salt is applied across the campus is an important input indicator as to the success of its salt management initiatives over time.

When snow falls on walking paths and roads that have already been salted, the salt mixes with the snow as it gets plowed. Understanding how salt mixes in the snow would help with identifying strategies of where to place plowed snow, and how to minimize the mixing.

This project relates to the UN Sustainable Development Goals 6 and 14, clean water and sanitation, and life below water.

Project Examples

Collecting samples of snow from different areas (snow banks, fresh snow, etc.) and measure chloride levels.
Researching any best practices from other large institutions with salt management strategies.
Making new recommendations on how the University of ��ݮ��Ƶ can manage snow.

Shorter Shower Study

Kiera Reid — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 20:03:23 +0000

Shorter Shower Study Kiera Reid Fri, 09/16/2022 - 16:03

Project Background

Canadians have some of the highest personal water footprints in world, using an average 223 L of residential water per person in 2013.¹ When that water must be heated for hot showers, it can use a tremendous amount of energy. In Canadian households, water heating accounted for 17% of total residential energy useand that energy typically comes from burning fossil fuels.² Here at the University of ��ݮ��Ƶ, water is heated using natural gas and therefore contributes to our total operational emissions. Most showers on campus are located in residences and in athletic facilities, with students being the majority users.

The University of ��ݮ��Ƶ has two sustainability goals that are related to shower use on campus:

Environmental Sustainability Strategy Objective O4: by 2025, reduce water intensity by 5% per square metre from a 2015 baseline;

Shift:Neutral climate action plan target of reducing operational emissions by 35% below 2015 levels by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

The University of ��ݮ��Ƶ is therefore looking for a novel and creative communication strategy to promote shorter showers. This work relates to Sustainable Development Goals 6 and 13.

Project Examples

Conducting a literature review to understand the environmental impacts of excess hot water use and common attitudinal barriers to reduced shower duration.
Conducting a student survey on attitudes and barriers to reduced shower duration at the University of ��ݮ��Ƶ.
Estimating the water use intensity and greenhouse gas emissions impacts of widespread adoption of reduced shower (e.g., if everyone reduced their total weekly shower time by x%, then …).
Researching best practices from other major institutions for communication strategies that encourage shorter showers, including strategies that use humour.
Developing a creative communications strategy for shorter showers. The strategy should include messages, images, recommended medium for dissemination and recommended locations for printed messages (e.g., stickers placed above shower knobs).
Making recommendations for how to assess the impact of that communications strategy without the use of water and energy meters.

¹ https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/12-581-x/2017001/sec-1-eng.htm

² https://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/corporate/statistics/neud/dpa/showTable.cfm?type=CP§or=res&juris=ca&rn=2&page =0

Central Plant Water Softening Study

Sneha Praveen — Fri, 19 Aug 2022 18:01:59 +0000

Central Plant Water Softening Study Sneha Praveen Fri, 08/19/2022 - 14:01

Project Background

Plant Operations is responsible for the operation and maintenance of our main infrastructure – grounds, parking, custodial, maintenance, utilities, energy, design & construction. Most people do not realize how big UW really is. With over forty thousand students and nearly nine million square feet of space, we are a sizable city.

One of our largest assets is Class A Central Plant feeding a sophisticated district energy system connecting all academic buildings within Ring Road. The plant supplies domestic hot water, domestic cold water, chilled water, steam, etc. Every year we use over 125 tons of salt to soften the water that is provided by the city. This is a significant amount of salt which translates to a large amount of biproduct at the end of the softening process.

Plant Operations wants to explore options of how to re-purpose the biproduct from the water softeners. What can be done with the effluent? Is if practical to use it for road winter de-icing? What would be the main challenge?

Project Examples

Literature review of existing methods to re-purpose effluent
Working with Plant Operations to create a pre-feasibility study
Testing the methods on a micro-scale