EVENT:  Officials from UCI and the Irvine Ranch Water District are hosting a celebration of UCI’s renovated Central Plant, which has been retrofitted to use recycled water for cooling campus buildings.

WHEN/WHERE:  10-11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 15, at the Central Plant loading dock (outside bldg. 902, grid E6 on campus map: https://communications.uci.edu/documents/pdf/UCI_16_map_campus_core.pdf)

INFORMATION:  Parking is available in the Mesa Parking Structure; directional signs will lead people to the event. Media planning to attend should contact Tom Vasich at 949-824-6455. Parking is complimentary for media who RSVP in advance.

HIGHLIGHTS:     

  • A unique hot weather feature: UCI now using 80 million gallons of treated recycled water annually to cool 65 buildings across campus.
  • A ceremonial bucket dumping: UCI and IRWD officials celebrate project’s completion.
  • A tour of the plant conversion, which helped UCI achieve all its water conservation goals seven years early. 

BACKGROUND:  The most significant conservation accomplishment in UCI’s 50-year collaboration with the IRWD, the conversion of the campus’s Central Plant to use treated recycled water in cooling 65 buildings will save more than 80 million gallons of drinking water annually. This will help UCI achieve its goal to reduce per capita drinkable water use by 50 percent by 2025 – and it puts the campus well ahead of the University of California’s goal to cut water usage by 36 percent by 2025.