Water and Waste Water

The University of Birmingham Estate is large and complex, including over 200 buildings on 110 hectares of land. The use, drainage, and removal of water are therefore essential parts of ensuring a functioning campus.

Drainage for flood prevention

We have multiple wastewater systems throughout campus, that remove effluent water to Severn Trent water for treatment, and storm water into the Bourn Brook.

Water also drains from built up areas naturally into the surrounding environment rather than being pumped away. Any new buildings approved and built since 2012 have sustainable urban drainage systems in place including Computer Sciences, the Collaborative Teaching Laboratory, The Library, and our buildings at Tyseley Energy Park. These underground systems and permeable ground materials mean when it rains, water seeps through underground to prevent surface water and the risk of flooding.

We also have large underground water tanks connected to the storm water drain system to help delay the release of rainwater, helping to reduce the risk of flooding in the natural water course.

Alternative water sourcing

We use a significant amount of water in some of our research facilities. To cope with this demand, much of this water is provided by local boreholes, such as one outside the basement of the Aston Webb Building that is used purely for research purposes.

Research

Visit our climate research page for more information on the World Leading Research the University of Birmingham does, including our research into water.

The University of Birmingham is proud to have David Hannah, Professor of Hydrology and UNESCO Chair in Water Research, as a key member of our faculty and the Director of the Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action.

  

Detailed data

We want to be completely transparent about our water usage and so have our overall data below. We recognise there is much work to be done to reduce our water usage and the related environmental impacts, and the Estates team are always working hard to improve our efficiency and working with staff and students to minimise our use where possible.

Water Use on Campus

Graph showing water use on campus at University of Birmingham between 2018 and 2022. Values are also in Table 1.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 1 (above) and Table 1 (below) show amount of water used per person on campus at University of Birmingham between 2018 and 2022. Water use has been calculated per person including all staff and students as full-time equivalents, and includes on campus use, not residential (so excludes accommodation). Our water use per person on Campus has gone down every year in the last four years, from just over six metres cubed in 2018 to four metres cubed in 2021/22.

Table 1: Water used per person on campus at University of Birmingham from 2018 to 2022.
 Year  Water use per person (m^3)
 2018/19  6.61
 2019/20  5.53
 2020/21  4.77
 2021/22  4.11

Residential Water Use (in accommodation)

Graph showing residential water usage at University of Birmingham between 2018 and 2022. Values are also in Table 2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 2 (above) and Table 2 (below) show amount of water used per room in accommodation at University of Birmingham between 2018 and 2022. Water use has been calculated per room including all staff and student residential housing.  Our water use per room remained nearly constant from 2018 to 2021, but we have seen a small increase in 2021/22.

Table 2: Water used per person in accommodation at University of Birmingham from 2018 to 2022.
 Year Water use per room (m^3)
 2018/19  36.22
 2019/20  35.18
 2020/21  35.89
 2021/22  43.80