View count:
525
SDG 6 : Clean Water and Sanitation
Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6)6.2 Water consumption per person
6.2.1 - Does your university measure the total volume of water extracted and used from water pipes, desalination, rivers, lakes, or aquifers?
National Formosa University (NFU) measures the total volume of water extracted and used from the water pipes. NFU's water source is primarily tap water, not directly drawn from seawater, rivers, lakes, or aquifers. NFU explicitly records the annual tap water consumption. In the 2024 academic year, the total tap water consumption was 250,639 cubic meters. This translates to a per capita daily water consumption (lpcd) of 56.07 liters/person-day. In previous years, the total tap water consumption was 233,566 cubic meters in the 2023 academic year, resulting in a per capita daily water consumption of 53.69 liters/person-day, a 7.76% decrease compared to the year before. The consumption in the 2022 academic year was 244,173 cubic meters, with a per capita daily water consumption of 58.21 liters/person-day. This data shows continuous monitoring and quantification of water resource utilization.
To further enhance water resource efficiency, NFU plans to install a rainwater storage and reuse system in the new High-Speed Rail (HSR) campus. This system is expected to yield an average rainwater collection volume of about 1.05 cmd (1,050.00 liters per day) in Phase I and II, with long-term plans reaching about 10.0 cmd (10,000.00 liters per day), intended for plant irrigation, road cleaning, or toilet flushing. The new HSR campus also plans to implement a sewage treatment and reuse system, using the treated water for campus landscape irrigation, road cleaning, and toilet flushing. In the existing campus, NFU continuously replaces faucets and toilets with water-saving equipment to reduce overall water consumption. For example, the percentage of water-saving toilets installed in restrooms has reached 55.71%. NFU commits not to extract groundwater during the construction and operation of the HSR campus. The campus development also includes partial infiltration design through detention ponds and permeable pavement on legally mandated open spaces, parking lots, and sidewalks, resulting in a total permeable area of 33.5% of the base, which helps recharge groundwater.
6.2.2.1 - Total Water Consumption (Input/Extraction/Desalination): 250,639 m³
6.2.2.2 - Campus Population: 12473
6.3 Water usage and care 6.3.1 - Does your university have a process for treating wastewater to process it to safe water quality? NFU has stringent wastewater treatment processes to ensure that domestic sewage and construction site discharge water are treated to meet legally required safe water quality standards before release. The effectiveness of this process is proven through quantified discharge monitoring results.
For domestic sewage, on-campus wastewater treatment facilities monitor water quality parameters which are significantly superior to discharge standards. For example, monitoring on September 11, 2024, showed Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) at 4.2 mg/L (standard: 100 mg/L), Suspended Solids (SS) below 0.5 mg/L (standard: 50 mg/L), and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) at 6.4 mg/L (standard: 50 mg/L). Key safety metrics were also excellent: Total Nitrogen (TN) was 2.16 mg/L (standard: 50 mg/L), Total Phosphorus (TP) was 0.096 mg/L (standard: 5 mg/L), and Fecal Coliform count was 677 MPN/100mL (standard: 200,000 MPN/100mL). Monitoring on February 24, 2025, also showed superior results, with all indicators being largely compliant with or significantly better than discharge standards.
Furthermore, construction site discharge water is regularly monitored to ensure water safety. For instance, Oil/Fat content, with a discharge standard of 10 mg/L, was consistently very low across multiple monitoring points (e.g., below 0.5 mg/L in 114Q1 and 113Q3), confirming that treated construction runoff meets safety requirements.
6.3.2 - Does your university have procedures to prevent or mitigate pollution from accidents and incidents on campus? NFU confirms the execution of robust, three-tiered procedures to prevent or mitigate pollution from accidents and incidents from entering the water system, adhering strictly to national regulations such as Taiwan's Water Pollution Control Act. The Environmental Safety and Health Center (ESHC) manages this process. Preventive Infrastructure: All laboratories generating wastewater are integrated into a professional collection and treatment system, including acid-base neutralization tanks and pre-treatment facilities. Workshop and practice areas utilize oil-water separators and sedimentation tanks to capture machining fluids, grease, and metal shavings. All chemical storage areas are equipped with secondary containment (bunding) designed to hold 110% of the largest container volume. The General Affairs Office regularly inspects and cleans the campus rainwater drainage system. On-campus restaurants are required to install grease traps, with regular cleaning records maintained. Sustainable Practices: NFU uses environmentally friendly or physical methods for weed and pest control (e.g., grass cutting executed in the HSR campus in 2025) to avoid chemical contamination of water sources. Accident Response: NFU maintains a comprehensive campus emergency response plan for chemical and oil spills. High-risk areas are strategically equipped with spill kits. The Campus Security Center operates a 24-hour hotline for environmental incident reporting, dispatching trained response teams immediately. The water pollution prevention policies and practices are publicly disclosed via the official university website.
6.3.3 - Does your university provide free drinking water (e.g., water fountains) for students, staff, and visitors? NFU is committed to providing free and high-quality drinking water to all students, faculty, staff, and visitors, with extremely wide coverage of on-campus drinking facilities. In the 2024 academic year, NFU conducted at least four quarterly water quality inspections on drinking facilities, covering diverse areas including dormitories, teaching buildings, administrative areas, and public facilities. The total number of inspection points demonstrated wide coverage (e.g., 42 locations in the first quarter, 40 in the second, 42 in the third, and 41 in the fourth). Crucially, all tested drinking water samples consistently showed microbial contamination indicators, such as E. coli, were less than 1 CFU/100mL, significantly below the legal standard. This demonstrates that NFU not only provides free drinking water but also ensures its high quality and reliability through frequent and rigorous testing.
6.3.4 - Does your university apply building standards in its construction standards to minimize water use? NFU systematically applies national and internal architectural standards to minimize water consumption in new construction and major renovation projects. Four key standards ensure water efficiency: 1) EEWH Green Building Label, which mandates the acquisition of the label for flagship new buildings, including the "Water Resources" index. This index requires the use of faucets and toilets certified with Taiwan's official "Water Conservation Label" and mandates the construction of systems for collecting, storing, and reusing rainwater or greywater (for non-potable uses), exemplified by the Management College building. 2) Water Conservation Label, NFU strictly adheres to this mandatory national regulation, ensuring all newly purchased or replaced plumbing fixtures are 100% certified against the strict water efficiency standards set by the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Water Resources Agency. 3) Campus Development and Construction Guidelines, internal directives require all construction projects to follow the latest regulations and water conservation guidelines, specifying certified equipment and integrating sustainable water management systems. 4) ISO 50001 Energy Management System, whose implementation indirectly encourages overall water reduction. Supporting evidence is publicly available, including official documents, Green Building certificates for new projects, and reports showing the progress of the "Campus Water-Saving Equipment Replacement Plan".
6.3.5 - Does your university plant landscaping to minimize water use, e.g., drought-resistant plants? NFU actively plants drought-resistant landscaping and implements strategic management to minimize water usage. Strategy 1: Low-Impact Development (LID): NFU employs permeable paving, rain gardens, green roofs, and ecological detention ponds to intercept and store rainwater for underground recycling, which is then used for campus vegetation irrigation during dry seasons. For instance, on March 5, 2024, the Campus Landscape Committee approved the implementation of a smart climate-friendly campus demonstration site involving rainwater harvesting (collecting rainwater from the Aircraft Museum for an artificial wetland). Strategy 2: Native and Adaptive Species: Landscaping prioritizes cold- and drought-resistant shrubs, groundcovers, and trees, which require minimal supplemental watering once established. The inventory includes species such as Terminalia catappa, coconut palm, Araucaria, Cycas revoluta, and Ixora chinensis. Strategy 3: Smart Irrigation: For essential green spaces, NFU deploys a smart irrigation system integrated with IoT soil moisture sensors and microclimate station data. This data-driven approach calculates precise water needs and irrigates only when necessary, typically during early morning hours to minimize evaporative loss. NFU also has a formal policy or guideline that mandates prioritizing native or drought-resistant plants.
6.4 Water reuse
6.4.1 - Does your university have a policy to minimize and reuse water on campus?Policy Creation Year: 2022. Policy Review Year: 2024. NFU has a policy to maximize water reduction and reuse on campus, referred to as the "Water Resource Sustainable Management Strategy". This strategy, initiated and coordinated by the Office of Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility (established in 2022), aims to reduce water consumption, enhance water efficiency, and maximize the use of alternative resources like rainwater. Specific quantified actions in 2024 include the establishment of a rainwater recycling system and a Porphyridium (microalgae) carbon fixation system demonstration site. As of December 2024, the total amount of rainwater recovered and reused in the Porphyridium carbon fixation system reached 817 liters (L).
6.4.2 - Does your university measure the volume of water that is reused? NFU systematically measures the amount of water reused across the campus. Quantified data for reused water is tracked through the HSR New Campus Rainwater Recycling and Reuse System and the Porphyridium carbon fixation system. Since December 2024, 817 liters (L) of recovered rainwater have been reused in the Porphyridium carbon fixation system. The HSR New Campus rainwater recycling system is designed to achieve a total recovery volume of 15.3 CMD (cubic meters per day) upon completion of both phases, with Phase I and II collection estimated at 7.67 CMD. NFU systematically tracks and calculates the Annual Total Water Consumption (250,639 m³ in 2024) and the Annual Total Water Reused. Measurement evidence, including the "Campus Porphyridium Carbon Fixation System Water Utilization Analysis Report" and the "2023 Annual Total School Water Bills Summary Table," is publicly disclosed.
6.5 Water in the community 6.5.1 - Does your university provide educational opportunities for the local community to understand good water resource management? NFU provides free educational opportunities to the local community to understand good water resource management. NFU acknowledges the severe local water challenges (e.g., agricultural irrigation demand, pollution, and severe land subsidence due to over-extraction) and commits to technology-oriented education. This commitment is formalized through the establishment of the NFU Committee for the Promotion of Social Responsibility Practice Education. Free Educational Programs provided to the community focus on water conservation, water quality protection, and sustainable water use. Specific projects include: 1) The "Water Environment Education Course at the Central Taiwan Science Park Huwei Sewage Treatment Plant". 2) Professional guidance for farmers on "Monitoring Pollution and Rice Cultivation Water Use". 3) The "Waterjing Village Smart Carbon Reduction and Water Conservation Program (Three Lives in One)" USR project, which aims to achieve sustainable goals in ecology, production efficiency, and improved living quality. All educational activities are free. The evidence, including activity photos, participant lists, frequency of events, and quantified results, is publicly available in the 2024 Sustainability Report and on the USR website.
6.5.3 - Is your university's water extracted from relevant areas inside or outside campus (e.g., groundwater extraction techniques)? NFU measures the total volume of water extracted and used from the water pipes. NFU's water source is primarily tap water, and it does not directly extract water from seawater, rivers, lakes, or aquifers.
