As the drought continues to diminish North Carolina's water supply, UNC and N.C. State University are replenishing their rivalry with a water conservation challenge.
The campus that can decrease its percentage of water use the most will win the battle. Officials will base the numbers on water meter readings in residence halls.
"First of all, we all need to save water," said Ray DuBose, UNC's director of Energy Services. "Secondly, this gives students the opportunity to really participate in water conservation efforts. And third, we can have a friendly competition."
The competition will begin Saturday with the UNC-N.C. State football game and will end Feb. 20, when the Wolfpack and Tar Heels face off on the basketball court.
N.C. State Chancellor James Oblinger formally proposed the challenge with a letter this week to Chancellor James Moeser.
"When you have the two largest schools in the Triangle … in a challenge to conserve water, it's going to benefit this whole area," said Brian Sugg, president of UNC's Residence Hall Association.
DuBose and other officials will meet with N.C. State representatives Wednesday to determine criteria for the competition.
"The student body at both campuses are very much in tune with the whole issue," said Kevin MacNaughton, N.C. State's associate vice chancellor for facilities.
UNC Student Body President Eve Carson also stressed the need to inform the public.
"It's important that we recognize our own roles and are responsible for our own water usage," she said, adding that T-shirts, cups and tags for showerheads are being printed as a reminder of the water shortage.
N.C. State Student Body President Bobby Mills said he's getting the word out mostly through the Inter-Residence Council, N.C. State's equivalent of RHA.
Students at both schools are asked to take shorter showers, turn off faucets while brushing their teeth and run only full loads of laundry.
UNC has installed dual-flush toilets, low-flow faucets and toilets and water-free urinals. The dining halls also have stopped providing plastic trays, saving 279,300 gallons a year.
But N.C. State has also made an effort to cut down on water use.
"Over the course of the last four years, we have been pretty ambitious in cutting water use on campus," MacNaughton said.
Orange County and Wake County, where N.C. State is located, are both experiencing extreme drought conditions. Gov. Mike Easley asked residents two weeks ago to reduce their water use by as much as 50 percent by Halloween.
"We're going to win. I hope you guys are ready for that," Mills said of the competition. "We're going to win Saturday, at this competition and at the basketball game. It's going to be a strikeout for UNC."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
UNC's water use by the numbers
