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Washington Hall sits at the edge of East Green on Feb. 4, 2015. Residence halls on East Green, such as Washington, have not had warm water for most of the first week of classes

Ohio University students brave cold weather, cold showers

Ohio students living in Jefferson, Washington, Bryan and Voigt Halls returned to a dorms without hot water.

When Ohio University student Dana Furlong returned to her dorm room in Voigt Hall after enjoying her winter break, she was just looking forward to a warm shower.

“I got in on Sunday and I took a shower and it was lukewarm,” Furlong, a freshman studying biology pre-med, said. “I like my shower warmer."

While a lukewarm shower was less than ideal, what she encountered the next day shocked her.

“It felt like I was taking a shower out in the snow,” Furlong said.

Furlong and her roommate sought out other places to enjoy a hot shower after a long day walking through the snow and got a few offers from friends.

“It’s just so cold. I don’t want to walk across campus to someone else’s dorm,” she said. “I said, ‘It’s only five minutes if I’m quick. I’ll risk the personal comfort.’ ”

When some Ohio University students returned to campus, they encountered a lot of cold, both outside and inside their dorms.

Four East Green dorms — Jefferson, Washington, Bryan and Voigt Halls — operated without hot water on and off during the first week of classes, leaving students to take arctic showers to match the below-freezing temperatures outside.

“On the East Green, we had a flow problem of domestic hot water,” Executive Director of Facilities Management Steve Wood said in an email.

Wood said the freezing water was originally thought to be caused by a failed booster pump that was supposed to send warm water to the dorms. Facilities workers also discovered a needed adjustment to the university’s flow system to the area including McCracken Hall and Seigfred Hall, he added.

While the first two issues were identified by OU Facilities on Jan. 11, Wood said, other issues surfaced later.

The following day, facilities workers found an issue with water going to Voigt and Bryan Halls and quickly repaired a temperature controller that afternoon, he said.

“However, this was not the only problem,” Wood said.

Later, workers found a failed heat exchanger in “the old heating plant.” Hot water was restored to Bryan and Voigt on Jan. 13 after three days of cold showers.

Facilities received reports of water issues from residents of Jefferson and Washington Halls on Jan. 12. During the troubleshooting process, facilities workers discovered a failed shower valve — the valve that controls hot and cold water to buildings — in Washington Hall, Wood said.

“We’re always concerned when there is a shortfall in the service we’re providing to the students,” Wood said in an email. “It doesn’t matter whether the temperature is 8 degrees or 80 degrees, we want to avoid service interruptions of any kind and, when we do have them, restore that service in a timely manner.”

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Executive Director of Housing and Residence Life Pete Trentacoste advised students that if they find themselves in a freezing cold shower, they should contact someone about the issue.

“If a student finds that they do not have hot water in their building, they should enter a work order through the university work order system,” Trenacoste said. “They can also notify their RA to ensure that facilities management is aware of the issue so they can rectify the situation as fast as possible.”

Showers are also available for student use at Ping Center.

@emilybohatch

eb346023@ohio.edu

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