Construction on the Tate parking deck provides the Physical Plant with 150 gallons of water a day for irrigation during the drought.

Because of diminishing water sources, virtually all grounds watering stopped and University departments have adopted water-saving initiatives.

The campus steam pit, which stores steam for the University’s steam distribution system, was relocated underneath the deck as part of construction, said project architect Joe Powell.

“This pit is located below the ground water table,” Powell said, so water must be pumped from the pit during construction of the deck.

“Rather than sending this water to the storm sewer or the creek, we are pumping the water into a holding tank throughout the night and using it for construction of the deck during the day,” he said.

Crews pump an average of 615 gallons out of the pit each day, and “they use all of it except about 150 gallons,” Powell said.

Those 150 gallons are “turned over to the Physical Plant for use in irrigation,” he said.

Construction manager Jon Miller said pumping from the steam pit began last month, around the time Athens-Clarke County increased watering restrictions to Level 4.

“We started looking at it when we got the indication from the county,” he said.

The Level 4 ban, which went into effect Sept. 17 and forbids outdoor watering, left the Physical Plant without means to care for most of the University’s grounds.

“When we noticed [the pumping], we asked, ‘Can we have some of that?,’” said Dexter Adams, Physical Plant director.

Two weeks ago, the Physical Plant received more than 400 gallons from this process.

The water is being used to irrigate “vulnerable, relatively new trees,” Adams said.

Specifically, the grounds crews are using tree gators – “conical fabric bags, [which are] put around the base of trees,” Adams said. The bags are filled with 15 to 20 gallons of water that “very slowly trickle water into the ground,” he said.

Adams said the donation of the water from above the steam pit was “very helpful,” because it enables the Physical Plant to stop drawing water for particularly vulnerable greenery from Lake Herrick, which was “an insufficient way to do business.”

The water from the steam pit won’t last, though. The pit will be sealed off once construction of the deck is finished, Powell said. Construction is scheduled for completion by next August.

Meanwhile, other University departments, including housing, are working on conservation initiatives to help combat the drought. As of Oct. 17, the rainfall deficit in the county was approximately 16.5 inches, according to the ACC Web site.

“Many efforts are focused on behavioral change,” said housing director Gerard Kowalski.

Housing is working on a conservation campaign to educate students with flyers, posters and information on the TV channel Housing 12, Kowalski said.

The campaign focuses on the shortage and “how we might help,” he said.

Housing also is “auditing any potential leaks [and] taking a look at lacking low-flow devices,” Kowalski said.

Kowalski echoed the advice of other department directors and suggested students take shorter showers and turn off water when they are not using it.

“If you multiply that by 6,800 students [living on campus], students can make a difference,” he said.