NorthStar Level 4 Video Script

Unit 7: Water
Students Create Water Conserving Dormitories

Background

The following information gives you some background about the topic of this video segment. You may
want to share this information with your students.
There is growing worldwide consensus that water scarcity is a significant and growing problem. There are
many people working to address this issue, at national, local, corporate, and individual levels. This video
takes a look at one such effort in south Florida, where researchers at the University of Miami are working
with students to create water conserving dormitories for a more sustainable future.

Vocabulary for Comprehension

Preview the vocabulary with your students.

aerating courtyard design principles drinking water standards
environmental engineer high confidence municipal water plants wastewater treatment
water supply

Video Script

Viewing Time: 3:04 minutes

Narrator: It looks like a typical college apartment where these students and their water supply are
definitely ahead of their time.
James Englehardt: Our objective is to develop design principles for buildings of the future that are off the
grid in terms of water and wastewater.
Narrator: With support from the National Science Foundation, University of Miami environmental
engineer James Engelhardt and his team created this net zero water residence hall. That means all
their water is treated on site and reused again and again in a sustainable loop.
James Englehardt: We’re in the courtyard, this is the wastewater treatment end of the system. So, the
water comes first here from the apartment back there. You can see right now actually we’re aerating
the water. So this treated water is what goes into the garage to be treated.
Narrator: In fact, unlike municipal water plants, this system even removes common household chemicals
such as cleaners, even pharmaceuticals, and it uses a lot less energy.
James Englehardt: We spent about 80 percent of the energy involved in water and wastewater
management moving water back and forth from central treatment plants, and only 20 percent on
treatments.
Narrator: Four residents in one apartment here use the recycled water for laundry, showering, and
washing dishes. Water quality gets tested three times a day.

NorthStar Level 4 Unit 7 Video Script | © 2020 by Pearson Education, Inc. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.
NorthStar Level 4 Unit 7 Video Script

James Englehardt: We got the result that we had met 115 of 115 drinking water standards as analyzed by
an external certified lab. I was ecstatic.
Narrator: For now the students aren’t actually drinking the treated water or using it for cooking. They use
city water for that. But Englehardt is happy to drink it and has high confidence it is safe. Englehardt
and architecture professor Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk see many additional uses for net zero water
buildings—desert communities, military bases, and progressive urban developments.
Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk: Even though this is a big challenge, it could happen in fairly short order. But the
kind of smaller individual or corporate efforts that could be made could be very meaningful next
steps.
Narrator: The students who live in the net zero water apartment are excited to be part of something
important.
Katelynne Storey: If I wasn’t living in this apartment, I might not be as conscious about how much water
I use, but I am more conscious which I think is definitely a benefit. And it’s made me want to tell
other people to watch their water usage and be more environmentally friendly.
Narrator: Taking water off the water grid. I could tap into that idea. For Science Nation, I’m Miles O’Brien.

NorthStar Level 4 Unit 7 Video Script | © 2020 by Pearson Education, Inc. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.