Telling the difference between a prank and a plan at UBC can sometimes be difficult. There is a long tradition of pranking the engineers by painting their cairn. For many years white Volkswagen bugs with a big red ‘E’ found themselves atop the clock tower or suspended from a bridge. Martha Piper Plaza has attracted a range of sometimes artful, other times expensive, pranks.
The fountain at the plaza has been dyed red, green, and filled with soap suds multiple times over the years.
When I noticed the plaza fountain died bright blue sometime near the start of the summer I assumed another artful prank. I anticipated a UBC Plant Ops team would soon come by to drain, clean, and refill the plaza as they often do after such a prank. But the fountain stayed blue all summer.
Not sure whether it was a dye or some kind of toxin the family dog was, for most of the summer, restrained from his usual delight in running into and through the water feature. Even the geese seemed to stay away once the plaza was dyed.
As term began, the plaza (and several other water features on campus) remained bright blue. I asked Campus and Community Planning whether it was a prank or a plan. My question ended up on the desk of John Metras, Associate VP Facilities who wrote back:
“It’s not a prank and it’s not dye. The blue tint is caused by a new water treatment used to prevent algae and biofilm in the fountains and associated piping and pump systems. It’s non-toxic. The colour is quite noticeable though.”
I also asked the UNA if they were treating their water features. I received the following reply:
“Our team do use regular chlorine tabs to maintain our water features. Some water features will see higher frequency of maintenance (location like Jim Taylor Park once every two weeks). The schedule also seasonally adjusted as there is less needed to use during winter.”
Very often the smell of chlorine in the UNA water features is quite strong.
Previously UBC has drawn attention to the water feature that runs down University Blvd, just to the east of the Martha Piper Plaza.
“The University Boulevard water feature has undergone a transformation to support local biodiversity as competitive plants are replaced with friendlier species.”
“With five billion litres of rain falling on the Vancouver campus each year, UBC strives to divert as much rain water as possible from entering our conventional gray infrastructure system. Through a variety of landscape interventions, runoff is reduced and cleaned through green infrastructure that collects, conveys, and manages rainwater to reduce the possibility of flooding and further erosion of the cliffs adjacent to campus.”
The university has a longstanding worry over algae blooms. In 2019 they collaborated with students in the SEEDS Program to see what was up. One key thing they noted then was the high biodiversity:
“In Spring 2019, the students switched their focus from ways to limit the algae to ways of working with it. “It’s very difficult to reduce the algae because it’s a really resilient species,” said Melissa Lin.”
“The team began investigating the water feature’s aquatic biodiversity. They discovered it was teeming with aquatic insects including Mayfly (Baetidae Baetis sp.), Midges (Chironomidae), Backswimmer (Notonecta kirbyi), Damselfly (Odonata Zygoptera) and Dragonfly larvae (Odonata Anisoptera). They also discovered freshwater zooplankton which consumes algae and bacteria, and microscopic organisms such as nematode and rotifer which both feed on organic particles and algae.”
Since that time summer management of the University Blvd and Martha Piper Plaza water features have changed in ways that reduces water consumption. The water feature once teaming with aquatic life now sits devoid of water after most of the summer. Water features like the Martha Piper Plaza are being treated with non-toxic dyes designed to suppress algae growth.
When our dog finally decided enough was enough and he jumped into the fountain he did not come out dyed blue.