Eco-Friendly Flushing
Tenaya Towers Using Recycled Water in Toilets
Residential Operations and Goleta Water District (GWD) recently reviewed the system and process of using recycled water in the toilets at San Joaquin Villages' Tenaya Towers. This was the last step of a long process to permit the use of recycled water to flush toilets. With the permit, Tenaya Towers will save >100,000 gallons of fresh water per year.
on the ground floor.
The Tenaya Towers were built with the goal of eliminating precious fresh water for use in toilets, which is an ideal use of recycled water. Goleta Sanitary District makes recycled water and UCSB already uses it to water the lawns and landscape on 90% of campus, which saves approximately 19.5 million gallons of potable water every year. San Joaquin Villages is the largest permitted use of recycled water inside buildings (toilets only) in the UC system. It is a great example for our fellow UC campuses and other Goleta Water District users to follow.
Even though Santa Barbara is getting record rainfall this winter, the next drought is not far off. Reducing fresh water usage is still a beneficial goal and UCSB continues to be a leader in saving water. This is needed as water experts and climatologists warn that climate change will bring more droughts to California and more severe droughts to the western United States. Every drop counts!
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