Water

Written by: Julie Wokaty; Catherine Lewis, Lisa Hanssen, Chris DeGarmo

Water presents itself as a big concern in New Orleans since the water supply comes from the Mississippi River which is notorious for being polluted. Because of this we did a survey of 100 students (60 women and 40 men) about water issues. When asked to rank how safe they feel New Orleans drinking water was on a scale of 1 (=vary dangerous) to 5(=very safe), the average response was 2.7 with on 6% responding that they felt it was very safe. Only 26% of people drink New Orleans tap water. The other 74% answered they drink bottled water. When asked to rank themselves on a scale (1=not at all, 5=extremely) of how environmentally conscious they are with water usage, the average ranking was 2.68. The next question was the length and frequency of their showers. The average responses were 15.7 minutes and 7.55 times a week. This breaks down into 12.03 minutes for men and 18.35 minutes for women. The last question asked people to list behaviors they consciously exhibit to conserve water. Forty-four percent stated that they did not have any regular habits, and only four percent were able to list more than one habit. The most common responses were to turn of the water while brushing teeth, washing hair, and doing the dishes.

While we were unable to get specific in-depth information form Tulane's Physical Plant about water usage we were able to get some facts. For the fiscal year 95-96 the university used 220,382,000 gallons of water. That amount was 222,874,600 in 93-94 and 199,079,800 in 93-94. Theses figures include total water usage in all buildings and departments on campus inside and outside. The sharp increase in use from 93-94 to 94-95 is due to the fact that Physical Plant used to have a well that it used for its own water consumption. It dried up, and now Physical Plant's water usage is on the total bill. Since separate meters do not exist for separate building we were unable to get a comparison of building's use or to calculate an average use per student for the dormitories. The people interviewed were unsure if low-flow devices existed on campus or were in the planning stages, although they did say they hoped they exist.

The only testing of the water that is done on campus is to test for erosion in the boilers used by Physical Plant. All other testing is done by the New Orleans Sewage and Water Board which complies with EPA standards. The water for New Orleans and Tulane comes from river intake at the Orleans/Jefferson Parish line and is treated at a site in New Orleans. The process involves four primary treatment units and purifies for diseases in compliance with EPA standards.

Overall we would give the students of Tulane a C+ for water consciousness. However, due to the lack of specific data about different building's water usage and the uncertainty if low-flow devices exist or not, we give Tulane a D. The city's Sewage and Water Board is in full compliance with regulations for treating water and even boasts awards for clean and good tasting drinking water.

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