Water Saving and Drought Resources

What steps is Duke taking during the current declared drought conditions?

As drought conditions continue in the City of Durham, Duke University and Duke University Health System are leaning on lessons learned from a severe drought in 2007-2008 to reduce water use.

• Duke Facilities Management has reduced irrigation across campus, watering only new plantings and athletic fields where it is required to maintain safe playing surfaces. Watering occurs largely overnight when cooler temperatures limit evaporation.
• Duke Athletics has reduced water canon use at Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium by limiting irrigation to essential varsity field hockey activities and restricting field watering for non-NCAA and external users.
• Water features across campus have been temporarily turned off as part of Duke’s efforts to conserve water.

In addition to year-round water efficiency measures adopted and expanded since 2008 (see below), Duke implements the following during declared City of Durham water-shortage stages:

Stage 1 

• Restrict spray irrigation to City-approved schedules or less.
• Eliminate non-essential landscape irrigation.
• Temporary adjustments to chiller plant and cooling tower operations to further reduce potable water use during drought conditions.
• Increase internal communications.

Stage 2 

• Suspend non-essential spray irrigation.
• Eliminate non-essential washing of hard surfaces.
• Eliminate washing of vehicles.
• Defer non-critical water-intensive maintenance.
• Turn off decorative and aesthetic water features.
• Continuing heightened monitoring of chilled water system demand relative to capacity, and maintain active internal coordination to ensure essential health, safety, and mission critical facilities remain fully supported.

Stage 3

• Implement further operational reductions.
• Enact additional emergency reclaim water usage from Duke Pond for chilled water production.

Stage 4

• Emergency measures follow City directives and focus exclusively on health, safety, and critical operations.

What can individuals and units do to help save water? 

Everyday choices can help save water and reduce demand on the City of Durham’s drinking water supply. During drought conditions, Duke students, faculty, staff, visitors and campus units can help by reducing unnecessary water use and reporting leaks or other water waste. 

4 Things Duke Individuals Can Do to Save Water Every Day:

• Report leaking faucets, toilets, pipes, irrigation systems or other signs of water waste promptly. See specific links in the box below. 
• Turn off faucets while washing hands, brushing teeth or completing other tasks that do not require running water.
• Do not use water for recreational or decorative purposes during drought restrictions. 
• Use only the water you need when filling reusable bottles, washing dishes or preparing food. 

How has Duke been working on efforts to save water over time?

In 2007 and 2008, the city of Durham declared Stage 4 water restrictions. Duke responded with the following measures over time, which continue to contribute to water conservation today:

Completed Conservation Measures – Buildings​

• Installed over 3,000 low flow aerators on lavatories​.
• Installed over 3,000 low flow flush valves on urinals and toilets​.
• Installed over 500 low flow shower heads​.
• Corrected single pass cooling on lab equipment.​
• Installed hand sanitizers in residential hall bathrooms, kitchens, laundry room and common areas. ​
• Installed 200 new high efficiency front load washing machines​.
• Modified sterilizers at all Duke University Medical Center facilities.​
• Performed a water audit on campus buildings​.
• Certified 48 LEED Buildings -- ​and buildings later developed a more rigorous set of criteria via the Duke High Performance Building Framework.
• Audited the top 50 water-using buildings on campus and adding water-conserving plumbing hardware.
• Required new construction and renovation projects to install the best-available water efficient plumbing hardware.
• Used state-of-the-art technology such as a cyclical process water cooling, cooling tower water recovery, condensing economizer and water meters.

Completed Conservation Measures – Central Plants​

• Piped the reclaimed reverse osmosis water (RO) and air handler unit (AHU) condensate from campus buildings to use for make-up water in the Chilled Water Plant cooling towers​.
• Installed a RO system on the cooling tower blowdown to clean this water and reuse in the cooling towers​.
• Drilled two wells to provide tower make up water. ​
• Pumped water out of the creek for cooling tower make up​.
• Alternate sources of water accounted for over 40 (33%) million gallons of water in FY10 at Chilled Water Plant 2​.
• Installed a condensate transfer system to move condensate between East and West Steam Plants​.
• Built Duke Chilled Water Utility Plant # 3.

Completed Conservation Measures – Campus​

• Installed drought-tolerant landscaping on campus.​
• Designed temporary system to irrigate essential athletic fields that involved the use of reclaimed water. Tanks installed under the bleachers at Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium​.
• Installed cisterns for water collection to irrigate Williams Field​.
• Increased the size of irrigation ponds on golf course to allow for more natural water storage.​
• Constructed the Duke Water Reclamation Pond and surrounding landscape, which collects storm water runoff for reuse in the chilled-water cooling system, saving approximately 100 million gallons of potable water each year.
• Constructed a piping system to collect condensate and return it for reuse at Chilled Water Plant #2.
• Installed tanks that can hold up to 10,000 gallons of storm, cistern, and reclaimed water.

Creation and Completion of Duke Reclamation Pond

• To address future water shortages and lessen the impact on potable water in the City of Durham, Duke undertook a long-term project to address campus water use.
• In 2015, Duke opened its 5.5-acre reclamation pond to the campus community. The pond, located near Erwin Road adjacent to Circuit Drive and Towerview Road, saves up to 100 million gallons of water annually, replacing the need for the same amount of potable water from the City of Durham. 
• The pond collects rainwater and runoff from 22 percent of the main campus area, and water from the pond is used in cooling towers at the nearby Chilled Water Plant #2, which pumps water across campus to cool buildings. 
• In 2025, 13% of Duke’s total water consumption came from alternative water sources such as Duke Pond. Water from the reclamation pond helps supply Duke’s chilled water system, which accounts for the largest use of water on campus.
• All athletics facilities and the golf course utilize reclaimed water for irrigation whenever possible.