Pacific to save 125 million gallons of water over next 25 years with low-flow toilets

At least 850 toilets at University of the Pacific's Stockton Campus are being replaced this summer at no cost to the university.

The low-flow toilets are being provided by California Water Service (Cal Water) as part of its initiative to reduce water waste. Switching to toilets that use less than 1.28 gallons per flush will save about 125 million gallons of water over the expected 25-year life of the toilets.

Cal Water is the third largest water utility in the country and services the campus. The utility offers the bathroom fixture replacement program throughout the state and has worked with large customers in the past, but this is the largest number of toilets the utility has replaced for a single customer.

Cal Water's contractor, Southwest Environmental, started the work last week and is expected to finish before students arrive for the fall semester. Crews will rotate work throughout each building where toilets are being replaced so that no building is completely without toilets at any time. If possible, the bathroom fixture replacement program may be extended to the Sacramento Campus.

This project is part of Pacific's efforts to be more environmentally responsible. Here are other active Sustainability at Pacific projects:

• Physical Plant is installing 10 more hydration stations for refilling reusable water bottles, cutting the number of discarded plastic bottles going into the waste stream. That's in addition to the 15 or so refilling stations already on campus. The new locations will be: Edward and Alice Long Memorial Hall, 1st floor; Edward and Alice Long Memorial Hall, basement; Chan Family Hall, 2nd floor; Olson Hall, 1st floor; Price House; Farley House; Wymss House; Ritter House; Southwest Hall-North; and Southwest Hall-South. This project is funded through Pacific's Sustainability Project Investment Fund.
• Physical Plant is also working to switch nearly the entire irrigation system to non-potable water. Once the final 20 percent of the system is switched over, nearly all irrigation water for the Stockton Campus will come from the Calaveras River. Some small areas, such as the Ted and Chris Robb Garden, will continue to use potable water.
• Two solar charging dining tables will be installed on the DeRosa University Center patio. Solar panels are built into the overhead shade to charge small electronics such as phones and computers. This project is funded through Pacific's Sustainability Project Investment Fund.

Visit the Sustainability at Pacific webpage to learn more about Pacific's efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story used an incorrect water savings estimate provided by California Water Service. The toilets are expected to save 125 million gallons over the fixtures' lifetime.