Steam System Shutdown At UW

Friday, July 25 marks the beginning of the University of Wyoming Physical Plant’s annual steam system shutdown.

There will be no building heat and domestic hot water to most of the facilities for the core campus starting at 4 p.m. in July 25 and lasting until August 25 at 9 a.m. The core campus includes west of 22^nd Street to 9^th Street and from Ivinson north to Lewis for west campus (west of 15^th Street) and north from Grand to Harney for east campus.

The residence halls and cafeterias will have back up steam during this time.

According to Forrest Selmer,Deputy Director of the Utilities Management and Engineering, this is done every year primarily for maintenance purposes. He notes that all the steam for campus comes from one power plant, so they want to make sure it is a reliable system for the winter months.

In addition, he says that the summer season has a light steam load and the University would waste a lot of energy trying to warm the approximately five miles of piping.

He says the most common complaint during the steam system shutdown comes from those utilizing the Half Acre Gym. Selmer says that while they are working on a backup system for warm water at the gym, it is not yet installed. He says the backup is needed because water can be about 50 to 55 degrees for showers at that facility, so he understands the complaints.

For questions or concerns contact Forrest Selmer at fselmer@uwyo.edu or via telephone at 307-766-2077.