…gallons of water, that is!

MAINTENANCE and OPERATIONS (M&O) is on a mission! Upgrading of restroom equipment is underway, with the installation of new low-flush toilets and urinals.

State-of-the-art
water saving equipment

This is a huge undertaking, with scheduling challenges and retro-fitting needed in some areas. When complete, it is estimated the college will save $77,000 in water costs and save a staggering 38.5 Million gallons of water annually. The job is expected to complete by the end of 2013. Bakersfield College strives to effectively contribute to the water conservation effort, so critical to the Bakersfield community.

Bakersfield College Pool

And speaking of taking a “plunge”, timing is everything when it comes to efficiency in operating the pool pumps for the Olympic-sized competition swimming facility at BC.  Department plumber, Don Birdwell has been instrumental in working with electrical engineers to design a control device to provide variable speeds on the college pool pumps.  This allows programmed speeds based on pool usage. The design was submitted to PG & E, where it was approved for a rebate, making the new controller a cost-saver at installation, but BC also expects to save approximately $3,500 per month on the electric bill. The job is expected to complete by the end of September, 2013.  Contributor:  Don Birdwell, Plumbing

Keeping our cool…HVAC updates

Completed this year, was the cooling system in the Library computer server room. It was replaced with a new 2-stage air condition system. Not only did the new system cost $30,000 less than the old one, its 2-stage design offers additional redundancy to systems already in place. The new unit is connected to an non-interruptable power system, which will provide continued power to computer systems in the event of a power outage.

Sonya Christian, Jim Coggins
and Sean James Chillin’

Also, on the schedule this year: The CHILLERS, located below the Industrial Technology building keep about 66% of the buildings on campus cool. Looking for better efficiency and safety standards, the old system was in need of an upgrade.  The old natural gas engine-driven chillers will be replaced with new electric motor-driven chillers. These will offer 2 times the capacity and additional redundancy factors, a great benefit in making the change. The job is expected to complete spring, 2014.
Contributor:  Plant Engineer, Bill Garrett

Tagged: Bakersfield College, computer, library, pool, Sonya Christian, Swim