The churning grinders, spiraling concrete channels and ultraviolet lights at UC Davis’ new wastewater treatment plant seem far removed from the hub of campus academic life.

And they are, in more ways than one. Here on rural property south of Interstate 80 and east of Old Davis Road is where some of the work of the other UC Davis gets done.

While owned by "UC Davis-the-place-of-learning"–and certainly scientific research is planned here–the plant is first and foremost a venue for the nitty-gritty chores of "UC Davis-the-unincorporated-city."

The state-of-the-art facility treats about 2 million gallons of wastewater each day–transforming water that flows down campus toilets and sinks from brown to crystal clear. Operators say the treated water exceeds state water-quality requirements for releasing it into Putah Creek. In fact, they say the treated water is clean enough to drink, though would require further treatment to make it less salty.

The $15.3 million plant, which went into full operation in March and replaces a 52-year-old wastewater treatment plant on the main campus, is the newest example of the many municipal services UC Davis provides itself.

Unlike other UC campuses and most of the nation’s other universities and colleges that get services from their home cities and counties, UC Davis trucks its own garbage to its own landfill, pumps drinking and irrigation water from its own wells, operates its own airport, and has its own fire department complete with hazardous-materials response team and other specialists.

In addition, Unitrans, owned by the Associated Students of UC Davis, is the public-transportation provider for the city.

"We are very much like a municipality," says Jill Blackwelder, associate vice chancellor for facilities. "The breadth of services we provide, the breadth of expertise, is quite diverse."

Many of the services save the campus money, while offering convenience and an ability to tailor services to better meet departments’ needs, campus officials say.

Moreover, they say, the wide array of services reduces red tape and provides UC Davis much flexibility to meet the campus’s future needs.

Campus planner Bob Segar says UC Davis enjoys another amenity that many other campuses do not–two freeway interchanges that directly serve the campus.

Visitors and vendors can drive to the campus without adding congestion to city streets, he says. "That’s huge," says Segar, who previously worked at Stanford University. "This gives the campus many more transportation-management options that we would otherwise not have."

At the same time, UC Davis must use a larger share of its state construction funds for such infrastructure, money that might otherwise go toward constructing or remodeling academic buildings, says Rick Keller, facilities planning director. Other campuses pay for municipal services with operating funds, he says.

Providing its own services also has long-lasting implications for the campus. "At UCLA, when the garbage trucks rumble up, the garbage is never to be seen again. On our campus, it remains with us forever," Keller says, noting that the university bears the cost of monitoring for groundwater pollution and closing an at-capacity landfill.

Planning flexibility, however, could prove invaluable as the university prepares for the "Tidal Wave II" enrollment boom, which could bring its 25,000 student popuation to 30,000 to 31,000 by 2,010.

Next fall, UC Davis will begin a comprehensive update of its Long Range Development Plan to address land and facilities needs for the campus’s growing population.

"We’ll be looking at ensuring there’s enough space for academic expansion, for recreation, housing and the full-range of support facilities–everything," Segar says.

Among options the university will consider, he says, is building more housing on campus–for students, and possibly also for faculty and staff. In addition, Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef said in a March 17 interview with Dateline that building a public school on campus may be another possibility.

Many of the campus-operated services could handle the added demands.

The wastewater treatment plant, for instance, has the capacity to treat greater volumes of water. It also has room to grow on its 5-acre site, says manager Michael Fan.

Similarly, the campus’s 23-acre landfill will be expanding this summer, with the construction of the first phase of a 16-acre lined addition.

Reasons for UC Davis’ do-it-yourself approach to municipal services are historical. UC Davis grew up about the same time as the city of Davis, and when needed services weren’t available, it provided its own.

Bob Weir, public works director for the city of Davis, says consolidating services would make good sense if the city and university were starting from scratch. "I think in a perfect world we would have one system," he says. However, "it would be very difficult, I think, to change now."

Weir says the city and the university do recognize their common interests, such as ensuring adequate supplies of water.

The city in recent years has begun drawing from the same deep-water aquifer that is the source of campus drinking water.

Both the city and UC Davis are working together to pursue rights to Sacramento River water to meet future needs, he says.

"There always needs to be–and there is–a fair amount of dialogue between the city and university," Weir says.

Here is a run-down of some of UC Davis’ services:

The landfill

UC Davis is the only UC campus and one of but a few universities in the nation to operate its own landfill, says campus solid waste manager Joe Stagner. The campus has operated a landfill since at least the 1940s, he says.

Studies in recent years have concluded that running the landfill is currently cheaper than other options. "We’re saving several hundred thousand of dollars a year," Stagner says.

Another advantange, he says, is customer service. The campus landfill can stay open to accept garbage at times other facilities might not–such as during Picnic Day or the Whole Earth Festival–and provides a close location for departments that regularly haul their own debris from greenhouses and orchards.

The airport

Planes land and take off about 35,000 times a year at University Airport, the only airport within the UC system, says Clifford Contreras, associate director of Transportation and Parking Services and the airport’s manager.

The general-aviation airport was built during World War II and donated by rancher Harold Hopkins to UC Davis in 1950.

A 1987 economic-impact study found the airport created more than 60 jobs and generates about $2.1 million a year in income, according to Contreras. "It’s a valuable asset," he says.

The airport offers a number of specialized services.

During spring and summer, researchers can use a private shuttle service to fly from the airport to field stations in the San Joaquin and Salinas valleys.

The airport also serves as a research lab itself for the mechanical and aeronautical engineering department, which has a hangar there. Contreras said an all-weather observation system will soon be installed to enable researchers in the land, air and water resources department to study cloud ceiling heights and wind speed and direction.

Flying lessons, aircraft rental and charter service are available through the Cal Aggie Flying Farmers, a flying club established in 1947.

Fire protection

The campus Fire Department, in addition to firefighting and emergency medical services, boasts Yolo County’s most advanced hazardous-materials response team and the county’s only specialists trained in rescuing people trapped in confined spaces, such as wells, tanks, sewage pipes and grain silos, according to Fire Chief Mike Chandler.

The department started as a volunteer force in 1939 after a pair of disastrous fires destroyed a lab building and a feedhouse, Chandler says. Today, the department has 32 career employees, including five at the medical center.

One other UC campus–UC Santa Cruz–has a fire department, but it is much smaller than the one here and does not have a hazardous-material response team, Chandler says. However, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (managed by the UC system) have their own fire departments with hazardous-material response teams, Chandler says.

Other advantages offered to the campus include an extensive fire-prevention program, Chandler says. Firefighters test and service thousands of smoke detectors, sprinklers and other pieces of fire-suppression equipment each year. Additionally, the fire prevention staff is authorized by the state fire marshal to review plans for and inspect all new construction projects.

The department also offers a student training program that is unique in California and one of only a few in the United States, says Chandler, who is one of the program’s graduates.

Public transportation

Unitrans, founded in 1968, is believed to be the largest student-run bus service in the country. Student drivers–135 this quarter–operate 31 buses on 14 daily routes, serving more than 2.3 million riders a year.

"We’re set up to handle just about any change in growth that might occur," says Unitrans manager Jim McElroy. "The beauty of the buses is we can alter the routes and change the service relatively quickly."

McElroy says Unitrans is widely recognized for providing cost-effective bus service with low operating costs and high levels of service.

The campus periodically reviews the costs and benefits of providing such services. "We do view our services as a business," says Associate Vice Chancellor Blackwelder. "So we’re always looking for ways to provide those services in the most cost-efficient and timely manner that meets the needs of our customers."