Waste Water
FY 2010 Usage: 97,286,520 gallons
% of Emissions (eCO2): 6%
Source: Maintenance
Wastewater is taken into account in the Calculator because of the greenhouse gas emissions of wastewater treatment plants. This data is taken from water bills and describes incoming water to the campus, which would overstimate the greenhouse gas impact of water use somewhat as not all of the incoming water is treated as wastewater (for example, those used to water lawns and trees).
Wastewater from the VIMS Gloucester Point campus is treated at the York River Treatment Plant, operated by the Hampton Roads Sanitation District. The plant uses a combination of aerobic and anaerobic processes for liquid treatment and anaerobic digesters for solid treatment (determined by calling the Hampton Roads Sanitation District at 757-460-2261 and directing to the engineering department). The calculator includes input fields for these three treatment types, but the documentation does not indicate how to handle a mixture of treatment methods. The data was entered into the anaerobic field, as the calculator uses this field to calculate methane emissions from treatment. This is accurate to the York River Treatment Plant, which does not have methane capture technology.
