Water

Rainwater Harvesting

cofccommunicationrainbarrel.jpgThe College of Charleston main campus has multiple rainwater harvesting projects. The first is a 1,000 gallon cistern installed at the Political Science building. The rainwater collected at this cistern is used to maintain an urban garden that is used by the Student Garden Club and to wash equipment as needed. The Grounds department also has two rain barrels attached to their building. This rainwater is used to help propagate seedlings and other new plants. Additional rainwater harvesting projects are located at the Communications and Historic Preservation buildings. Each of these buildings has a small rain barrel used to maintain landscaping.

The College of Charleston’s Grice Marine Laboratory also features green infrastructure projects.  The lab has a 1,550 gallon cistern that stores water from the roof of the building. The lab also features four rain barrels that capture additional rainwater from smaller structures. The water collected helps to irrigate around 800 square feet of raised garden beds. Grice Marine Laboratory also has an ocean-friendly rain garden as part of their footprint. 

In 2018, the College opened the doors to a newly renovated Rita Liddy Hollings Science Center. This building has a rainwater/condensate harvesting system, which stores and uses non-potable water for flushing toilets and urinals.

Water Bottle Refill Stations

In an effort to reduce the amount of materials sent to the landfill through the use of disposable water bottles, the Center and Facilities Management installed water bottle refill stations around campus. To date, there are 13 of these water bottle refill stations across campus. You can find them all on our Sustainability Map.