Wastewater Treatment
Queen鈥檚 wastewater is treated by Utilities Kingston at the Ravensview treatment facility. This state of the art wastewater treatment plant uses biogas collection, allowing the plant to partially power itself from the effluent it receives.
The Ravensview facility consistently overachieves on environmental metrics, full details are available through Utilities Kingston鈥檚 .
Through the COVID-19 Pandemic Queen鈥檚 researchers collaborated with universities and utility companies across Ontario to launch the Wastewater Surveillance Initiative, a project to identify the early presence of the disease in the community.
Preventing Water System Pollution
Queen鈥檚 is situated within the area served by the , and is part of the , and is governed by their plans and regulations.
Internal policies at Queen鈥檚 are designed to protect the local watershed by providing training and support to eliminate the possibility of contaminants being disposed of in the municipal sewer. Queen鈥檚 Environmental Health & Safety coordinates hazardous material pickup across the university.
Water Re-Use
One of the leading uses of water at Queen鈥檚 is makeup water for the campus district steam system. In 2021 the steam system returned well over 70% of total steam production as condensate for re-use in the boilers.
In 52 buildings a total of 59 water conservation projects were completed. The largest single project was an upgrade to re-use the bearing cooling water at the central heating plant as boiler makeup water, saving 25,000 m3 /year.
Sustainable Water Extraction Off-Campus
Queen鈥檚 receives water from Utilities Kingston which sustainably draws from Lake Ontario, primarily through the King Street Water Treatment Plant at a distance of 1 km from shore. Annual reports on treatment, testing, and certification of operators are .
Report Library
Waste Reduction Work Plans
Waste Audits
Download our new Waste Wizard app! Find out what goes where and recycle well at Queen's.