With more than 530 buildings on campus, there is a lot involved in ensuring that water flows smoothly through pipes and faucets.
The Power and Water department of MSU Infrastructure Planning and Facilities provides water and electricity to campus through the university’s power plant, wells and reservoirs. IPF Power and Water also provides water and electricity to Spartan Village and University Village.
Michael Tracy, an engineer in IPF’s Power and Water department, said water is pumped from campus wells to the reservoir through underground water mains.
“It then goes from the reservoir to the buildings on campus in similar fashion,” Tracy said.
In recent years, campus water facilities have improved in several areas, including water quality and reducing the amount of water waste. According to the 2013 IPF water quality report, MSU water meets or surpasses all federal and state drinking water standards.
Tracy said MSU water is regulated and monitored by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and is required to comply with all Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act standards and requirements.
The university is required to adjust operations after each amendment to the law, Tracy said.
“Examples of these adjustments include increased water monitoring and sampling, increased training and certification, etc.,” Tracy said.
Computer science senior Angela Sun doesn’t agree with statements about high water quality on campus.
“I live in Holden Hall, and I mean, the shower’s like iron-y and I wouldn’t drink the water,” Sun said. “When you get out of the shower it tastes salty.”
Tracy said such concerns about the water on campus, including changes in water color, can have an aesthetic impact but is not a health or safety issue.
“Iron naturally present in the water will transform from a soluble state to an insoluble state,” Tracy said. “When it does, it settles in the water mains in the form of a rusty-colored sediment.”
Tracy said water within the mains also changes periodically in terms of direction flow rate. That stirs up sediment in the water main and can lead to discoloration in the water.
Narin Kruy, a Humphrey fellow at MSU, l ives in Spartan Village and said the water provided by the university has its pros and cons.
“All the water from the faucet can be drinkable, but I would not say it’s not safe,” Kruy said. “Sometimes it has some smell that is hard to take. Usually I would filter it or boil it first. I would say it is pretty good water for the most part.”
MSU water is continually monitored by the MDEQ, and additional information about the water supply can be found in IPF’s water quality report.
