Juniors in the University of Massachusetts integrated concentration in science program, known as iCons, are exhibiting student engagement in sustainability with a water conservation project that has received a grant from the Sustainability, Innovation and Engagement Fund.

In their freshman iCons class, Meg Davis, a junior biology major with a minor in natural resources conservation, and Radha Dave, a junior psychology major on the neuroscience track, created a device to track water consumption in showers.

iCons is a program at UMass that, “prepares our best undergraduates to be problem solvers, leaders and innovators in science and technology,” according to the UMass iCons website.

“This started as an independent case study in iCons 1, as a silly idea we threw out there,” said Davis. “It was a joke at the time but then it turned into something.”

During their sophomore year, Davis and Dave applied for a grant from the Sustainability, Innovation and Engagement Fund. After receiving it, they used the money to make their water tracking devices more compact. They have created 30 devices in total and hope to install the trackers in the Commonwealth Honors College over spring break after completing the approval process.

“That’s our biggest roadblock at the moment. But as soon as that goes through, we have the devices made, we have the data collection methods, everything’s ready to go we just need the green light to put them in,” Davis said.

The Sustainability, Innovation and Engagement Fund granted the partners with $1,800 for their project. This fund was created in 2013 to encourage student engagement in working towards sustainability solutions on the campus community and using the campus as a “learning living laboratory,” according to campus sustainability manager Ezra Small.

“Projects like this water meter project engages residents in residence hall but also has this research component,” said Small. “Students are learning not only how to make this prototype, but also navigate the approval process on campus. It’s all a learning opportunity and I think that’s the biggest value.”

The study will consist of tracking water use on three floors. One floor will serve as the control with no change, one floor with passive intervention posters and the third floor with active intervention. The active intervention floors is a device with a button residents will press when they start and stop their shower and will tell them the time and amount of water they are using.

“We think that active intervention, which is basically a stopwatch where you get to see how many gallons of water you’re using in a shower, will have the most effect because you’re actively interacting with your water consumption,” Dave said. “We think that this device would produce the behavioral change that will, in turn, have a positive impact on water conservation. And we hope to implement that in a broader sense and help with water conservation throughout UMass.”

According to their preliminary research, they predict they could reduce water consumption through showers by up to 40 percent.  They also found that the average student takes a 12.5-minute shower which uses about 30 gallons of water. Although this research is based on a smaller pool of data, Davis and Dave are excited to see the results they get and utilized the iCons program as a hands-on learning experience.

“We are trying to make UMass a model sustainability community. If students learn sustainable practices and about sustainability while they’re here there’s a ripple effect and they can take what they’ve learned into the real world,” Small said. “I think that’s the big impact we can have not just what we do on campus but what students learn about while they’re here.”

Leigh Appelstein can be reached at [email protected]and on Twitter @Lappelstein.