ITTA BENA, Miss.— Just about every parent with a college-age child will tell you that their home water bill dropped significantly after their teen moved to campus. So, what can a college or university do to save hot water with a campus full of young people? One Mississippi university thinks it has the answer.
The Atmos Energy SmartChoice Program recently installed energy-efficient, low-flow devices across the campus of Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU). The goal is to help reduce the natural gas and water consumption of the University.
“We installed over 200 showerheads that are 1.5 gallon per minute (GPM) to replace old showerheads that were running at 2.5-3.0 GPM,” said John Thompson, associate program manager for CLEAResult. We also installed over 750 faucet aerators that are 0.5 GPM to replace aerators that are 2.2 GPM.”
According to Thompson, these energy-saving devices save thousands of gallons of water per year without sacrificing water pressure or performance. The equipment has a pressure compensating mechanism that provides a constant output of water pressure and helps to filter debris and build-up inside the showerhead or faucet.
What makes the program even better is that these devices were provided and installed at no-cost by Atmos Energy.
“We expect that the energy saving measures that were installed at MVSU will save the university over 28,000 therms of natural gas per year, which is an estimated $17,000 annually,” said Terrance Hurssey, MVSU’s director of facilities. “Also, we expect to save over 3,000,000 gallons of water per year by having this equipment installed. We are appreciative to Atmos for their help in making our campus more efficient.”
MVSU and Atmos Energy are committed to working together to find other ways to reduce energy consumption throughout the campus.
The Atmos Energy SmartChoice Program is dedicated to helping commercial and residential customers throughout the state to be more energy efficient and stop energy waste.