Dual Greywater Rainwater System

Our world is currently in the midst of a global climate crisis. While individuals have a responsibility to make changes in daily lifestyle choices that will combat climate change, a large burden of responsibility falls on corporations and industries. In 2015, Eastern Mennonite University produced a climate action plan that recognized EMUs contribution to the current environmental crisis and set forth specific steps that could be taken for EMU to reach climate neutrality by 2035. A number of projects have been completed since the creation of this Climate Action Plan by students, faculty, and administration yet further action and advocacy is necessary for EMU to continue to be a role model in climate action.

As engineering students, we want to move this project forward and increase the advocacy for climate action at EMU by completing the following projects:

• Digitizing the climate action plan and creating an interactive display of energy usage by building on campus
• Creating a greywater system in Suter House, an on-campus group house, to model sustainable housing.

You can help us complete these two goals and continue the good work on sustainability that the Climate Action Plan lays out.

More about the projects

Energy Usage Display board

The interactive display board and website will compile gathered data on energy usage and display information on carbon emissions, and building energy usage and analyze the impact of various sustainability initiatives on campus. By digitizing the 2015 Climate Action Plan, we hope to provide better access and searchability to the plan to increase conservation efforts and encourage future projects that work toward the goals set out in the plan. 

Greywater system

We plan to design and implement a graywater/rainwater system in the Suter House, a themed group house, located behind the library. This system will collect rainfall as well as water from bathroom sinks, showers, and washing machines and will use this water for toilet flushing and to irrigate a forest garden. Additionally, this installation aims to provide the EMU community with an alternative source of food production as students and faculty will be encouraged to harvest produce from the forest garden free of charge. The greywater installation has the potential to reduce potable water demand from the city in the Suter House by approximately 25% and generated sewage water by over 60%. The goal of this installation is to provide EMU with a proof of concept for future sustainable development.

This project provides an opportunity to invest in and support EMU’s role of being a sustainability leader in our community.