Everyone has probably noticed the "Drought in Durham!" warnings posted in Duke's dormitories. According to the fliers, we only have 72 days worth of water left, so "please conserve" and "report leaks."
The water crisis is not unique to Durham. In fact, Durham has it easy compared to some other parts of North Carolina.In nearby Raleigh, the local government has imposed water restrictions on its citizens to fight the drought. If Durham's situation does not improve, the same could happen here.
This water shortage provides an occasion to look at Duke's recent water conservation initiatives. Do they work? And if we have not done enough, then what can we do differently or better?
Only two initiatives come to my mind. Last year, when I was a freshman in Randolph Dormitory, Residence Life and Housing Services installed water-efficient showerheads to cut down on water waste. The showerheads killed the water pressure and let out only a light drizzle. This is no way to shower. In theory, it may conserve some water, but I doubt it really saves much. The weak spray simply convinced me and my neighbors to take longer showers.
As for this year, the most notorious change has been the placement of water-free urinals in Bostock Library. I call this change notorious for two reasons. First, the water-free technology is a neat innovation. Second, it causes the restroom to smell like... well, you can guess.
When someone complained about the odor in a Chronicle letter to the editor, the building manager of Bostock responded by saying that in due time "the problem should be resolved." Apparently posting instructions in the restrooms on how to clean the urinals is adequate enough for them to consider the problem "resolved."
I disagree mainly for one reason: The smell is still there. New filters were supposedly installed in addition to the cleaning staff instructions, but they haven't helped. Besides, filtration isn't the problem.
The technology itself works, but it only takes up a small portion of the entire device, leaving the job "incomplete" and the restroom unpleasant. With this negative aspect of the water-free innovation, it is tough to applaud the good intentions behind it.
Reducing water waste is important. We should make efforts to prevent water crises at home, as well as those that will occur globally in the future. Furthermore, shortages should not be the only times to coerce Duke students into action.
Constantly reminding students to save water should be a priority for RLHS, just as much as conserving electricity is. My RA last year, a graduate student at the Nicholas School for the Environment, did this all the time, and I'm sure his efforts made far more progress than the showerheads did. He told us to take quicker showers and not let the water run while brushing our teeth. Advice like that, when given frequently, can make a big difference.
Changes such as new showerheads and water-free urinals can help, but they should also be unobtrusive. Water conservation efforts should function so well that they go almost unnoticed. The two initiatives mentioned above do not meet this standard.
Jamie Deal is a Trinity sophomore. His column runs every other Thursday.
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