UConn has opened a new $25 million reclaimed water facility at its Storrs campus that school officials say will save hundreds of thousands of gallons of drinking water.
The facility, which UConn says is the first of its kind in the region, will treat wastewater using microfiltration and ultraviolet disinfection and then use that reclaimed water to cool the turbines at the university’s cogeneration power plant. Before the facility was built, the power plant used upwards of 450,000 gallons of potable water each day.
Construction on the facility started in 2011 and the plant opened in April. It will be fully operational in time for the fall semester.
The plant processes an average of 230,000 gallons of wastewater each day and upwards of 500,000 gallons during peak times. The plant has a capacity of 1 million gallons, according to UConn.
The school said the plant may also be used to divert reclaimed water for irrigation of athletic and recreation fields.
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