Water

In the Driftless region as everywhere, water is a precious natural resource that we at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville want to safeguard and conserve for current and future generations.

Where our water comes from

UW-Platteville uses about 55 million gallons of water per year. You can find our annual consumption numbers here.

All of this water is pumped from two groundwater wells in Platteville, and treated by the city's Water and Sewer Department, before it arrives on campus. 

UW-Platteville does not irrigate our landscaping as a standard practice, but you may see athletic fields or new plantings being irrigated on occasion.

Where our water goes

UW-Platteville has a responsibility to make sure that we allow our water to re-enter our local water basin as clean as possible. We are located in the Grant-Platt water basin, which means that when water leaves campus, it typically runs into the Rountree Branch of the Little Platte River and from there into the Mississippi River.

Water leaves campus in several ways: through storm drains (the drains you often see on the side of the road), through surface runoff, and though our cleaned effluent (waste water) that has been treated at the Platteville Water and Sewer plant. This plant is located at the west end of Greenwood Avenue, and from there the treated effluent it is released into the Rountree Branch of the Little Platte River. 

UW-Platteville also has a series of retention ponds, wet ponds, wetlands, and bioswales that help slow the water down, and filter out pollutants, before it is released downstream.