UCLA Engineering Building VI

Project

University of California, Los Angeles Greywater Harvesting

When the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) was designing a new state-of-the-art, 90,000 square-foot research and academic building to complete the six-building engineering school complex, they wanted the facility to be a showcase for the university and the region. Within the new facility, UCLA expects researchers to make advances across the engineering spectrum, tackling challenges in nanotechnology, health care, renewable energy, information science, electronics, infrastructure, wireless technology, aerospace, and new materials. Engineering Building VI will serve as an incubator for developing and commercializing new technologies discovered at UCLA as well as new discoveries that will benefit the Southern California economy and improve technologies around the world.Hoping to achieve LEED Gold or Platinum certification, Wahaso was contacted during the early planning stages for the project by Buro Happold Engineering to support efforts for water conservation in the building

Challenge

The university needed a water harvesting system that could treat collected grey water from lavatory sinks and from reverse-osmosis discharge from the laboratories to a quality level suitable for flushing toilets throughout the building. New water reuse codes were being developed in California at the time, but no official water quality standards had been officially set for the state. However, Los Angeles County required the system output to be clean, clear, and free of harmful coliforms and other bacteria. Approximately 300 occupants were expected to flush the building’s toilets more than 600 times per day, which would require about 500 gallons of processed of water each day classes were in session.