Campus Water Filters

MIU has several dozen water filters around campus.  See the lists below for locations of these systems.

Types of water filter systems

The University maintains the following types of water filter system on campus:

1-stage:  A system with a single filter, an OmniPure K2586, which reduces chlorine taste and odor, particles larger than 0.5 micron, and lime scale.

•  Argiro —  Outside student lounge
•  Art Center —  Upper floor, near north bathrooms
•  Art Center —  Upper floor, near south bathrooms
•  Library —  Basement, outside southwest bathrooms
•  Library —  Upstairs, near east entrance
•  Verrill —  Outside northwest bathrooms
•  Verrill —  Outside southeast bathrooms
• Verrill — Near southwest corner (bottle filling only)
• Verrill — Center of west corridor
•  Rec Center —  Outside women’s room
•  Rec Center —  Outside men’s room
•  Science Wing —  North corridor
•  Swimming Pool —  Bathhouse lobby

Fast 2-stage:  A system with two filters, a Pentek CW-F and a Pentek CBR2-10, which eliminate sediment, MTBE (a gasoline additive often found in groundwater), VOCs (volatile organic compounds), lead, cysts, and most chlorine.

•  Argiro —  South dining, northwest corner
•  Argiro —  South dining, northeast corner
•  Argiro —  North dining
•  Dreier —  Basement, near bathrooms
•  Dreier —  First floor, near bathrooms
•  Dreier —  Second floor, near bathrooms
•  Ladies’ Dome —  Inside lobby
•  Men’s Dome —  Bathroom corridor
• Science Wing — North corridor

Slow 2-stage:  A 2-stage system with two filters, a Pentek CW-F and a Pentek CBR2-10R, which filter out the same contaminants as the fast 2-stage system.  The water flows more slowly, giving better filtration but slower service.

•  Headley —  Kitchen
•  Henn —  Kitchen
•  Hildenbrand —  South wing, basement kitchen
• Hildenbrand — North wing, across from room 124
• Hildenbrand — North wing, room 135 (tea room)
• Hildenbrand — North wing, across from room 224
• Hildenbrand — North wing, across from room 236
•  McLaughlin —  First floor, north corridor
•  Veda Bhavan —  Main lobby
•  106 —  Sink near laundry
•  107 —  Sink near laundry
•  109 —  Sink near laundry
•  110 —  Sink near laundry
•  111 —  Sink near laundry
•  112 —  Sink near laundry
•  113 —  Kitchen
•  140 —  Laundry
•  141 —  Laundry
•  142 —  Laundry
•  143 —  Laundry
•  144 —  Laundry
•  145 —  Kitchen
•  146 —  Kitchen
•  147 —  Kitchen
•  148 —  Kitchen
•  149 —  Kitchen
•  150 —  Kitchen and sink near laundry
•  152 —  Kitchen
•  153 —  Kitchen

RO: A reverse osmosis filtration system.

•  Argiro —  Cafe (for use by MIU students only)
•  Dome Market —  North produce area ($0.60/gal)

Rain:  A special rain water catchment and RO filtration system in the Sustainable Living Center.

• Sust. Living Bldg. —  Main corridor

Maintenance

All water filter systems on this list, except the systems in the Sustainable Living Building, the Dome Market, and the Argiro Cafe, are maintained by MIU Facilities Management.  The rain water catchment and filtration system in the Sustainable Living Building is maintained by the MIU Sustainable Living department. The reverse osmosis system in the Dome Market is maintained by Coster Engineering.  The reverse osmosis system in the Argiro Cafe is maintained by Student Government.

Blue tag

At most of water filter system locations, there is a blue tag that tells you when the filters were last changed.  This tag is as near as practical to the faucet that gives the filtered water.  If there is a cabinet under the faucet, the tag is usually in the cabinet.

Alternatives

The Golden Dome Market carries several brands of spring water in 1 liter and 1 gallon bottles.

Everybody’s has several 6-stage reverse osmosis (RO) machines and charges 25 cents per gallon for water from these machines. For those who wish to add minerals to RO water, Everybody’s carries ConcenTrace Trace Mineral Drops, which can remineralize water for about 10 cents a gallon.

Everybody’s also carries several brands of spring water in 1 liter, 1 gallon, 2.5 gallon, and 5 gallon bottles.

Crystal Clear Water Company (641-472-4004, ccbw.com) delivers bottled water anywhere in Fairfield.

Sudden bad taste in filtered water

Occasionally, filtered water on campus may suddenly acquire a bad taste. This is usually due to the Fairfield Water Department adding extra chlorine to the water. This is called a “chlorine shock”. A chlorine shock usually lasts no more than a day, after which water taste returns to normal. The purpose of a chlorine shock is to prevent growth of bacteria, and it is usually done when the weather suddenly warms. Since MIU filtered water starts with Fairfield tap water, the extra chlorine is passed on to MIU’s filters, which remove most but not all of the chlorine.
Sudden changes in filtered water quality are generally not due to deterioration of filters. Filter deterioration usually results in slow degradation of water quality, which is normally avoided with regular water filter changes by MIU Facilities Management.

• Reduces chlorine by 90–95%
• Reduces bad taste and odor
• Flow rate: 0.5 GPM (gallons per minute)
• Temp Range: 35–100° F

• 10 micron rating
• Reduces sand, rust, sediment, silt, dirt and scale particles
• Flow rate: 10 GPM
• Temp Range: 40–165° F

• 0.5 micron rating
• Temperature range: 40–165° F
• Flow rate: 0.5–1.0 GPM
• NSF Standard 42 test and certified
• Removes chlorine taste and odor, cysts, lead, VOC, MTBE, extra fine sediment, lead, and mercury
• Removes 99.95% of cryptosporidium, giardia, entamoeba, and toxoplasmacysts