“This is exactly the sort of innovative, cost-saving project we hope to encourage with the University Sustainability Fund,” says Scott Lupin, the university’s director of sustainability. The council awarded the grant on the condition that savings from the project would be applied to future greening initiatives at Eppley, and CRS followed through only a few months later. The two pools in the Outdoor Aquatic Center were retrofitted with moss filters in April 2012.
Human Health Benefits In addition to financial savings, CRS is providing the campus with safer swimming pools, where DBPs have dropped by two-thirds. The water is clearer and less irritating to the skin and smells less of chlorine. The practice of super-chlorinating the pools has almost completely stopped, as has the use of some pool chemicals, including sodium bicarbonate, algaecides and clarifiers. Even the gas-fired pool heaters had to be turned down because they are now more efficient without the biofilm buildup. “The water is strikingly clear, and there is no more accumulation of biofilm in the bulkheads, filters and equipment,” says Matt Quigley, CRS student pool operator. The lack of biofilm has reduced the amount of time CRS staff spends scrubbing the pools, allowing employees to focus on other tasks. Eckert encourages other universities and pools to give moss a try. “We hope others learn from our experience.”
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