HPAC Magazine

CIPH announces winners of Most Water Wise School Competition, commits to sponsoring annual competition

March 11, 2014 | By HPAC Magazine


Conestoga engineering students take first place in first ever challenge

It is fitting that on March 11, World Plumbing Day, the Canadian Institute of Plumbing & Heating (CIPH) announced the winners of Canada’s Most Water Wise School Competition. CIPH’s first-ever competition challenged students to identify an action plan to decrease their school’s water footprint. First place went to the Conestoga College team with the University of Ottawa taking second place from a field of seven teams of students from five colleges and universities. Schools represented include: Carleton University in Ottawa, ON; Conestoga College in Kitchener, ON; Holland College in Charlottetown, PE; Mount Royal University in Calgary, AB; and the University of Ottawa, ON. 

“CIPH was extremely impressed with all of the submissions, in particular the attention to detail given to analyzing the technical and financial aspects of water conservation and the creative ideas presented to help their school reduce water consumption,” said Ralph Suppa, CIPH president and general manager. “Given the positive response to this competition by students from across the country, CIPH is proud to commit to sponsoring an interdisciplinary case study competition on an annual basis.” 

The winning submission focused on reducing annual water consumption at the Conestoga College Doon campus and stood out compared to the other submissions received in terms of technical considerations, social impact and cost recovery of the proposed initiatives, reported CIPH. The proposal by the environmental engineering post grad team also analyzed areas such as historical relevance like references to leaks, data analysis, recognizing gaps and assumptions; considerations of added value components such as public perception; as well as the breakdown of costs including demolition and reinstallation. 

Civil engineering students won over the judges with a proposal that “was the most technologically aggressive in addressing the realistic application of greywater reuse concepts for one of the university’s sports complexes.” 

“Part of the focus for World Plumbing Day is to recognize the evolution and contribution our industry has had on modern society by making clean water accessible,” said CIPH chairman Robert Whitty and president & CEO, Bartle & Gibson Co. Ltd. “The calibre of the submissions received demonstrates that tomorrow’s leaders understand the need for water conservation and innovative ways to reduce their school’s hydro footprint.”

Read the full release.


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