The Fighting Illini football team take care of business on homecoming, defeating Minnesota 26-14 to move to 6-1 on the season and into sole possession of first place in the Big Ten West. The Illini lead the country in total defense, touchdowns allowed, interceptions, and opponent passer rating.
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For the Fans!

A couple pipefitters and plumbing projects improved facilities that host the highest level of intercollegiate athletic competition.

Memorial Stadium and Huff Hall are among the most well-known sporting homes in the state. Both promote a positive fan experience for the coming seasons and well into the future.

At the home of the Fighting Illini football program, nearing its 100th birthday, on the east side: the upper stands received new plumbing lines, new restroom sinks and stalls, and improved hot water systems. A couple of bright orange water stations dot the east, too, perfect for refillable containers.

Plumbers foreperson Matt Faulkner details the changes:

“A lot of the fixtures were mismatched from installations made through the years – we used what we could over the years. This time though, we were able to replace all of the toilets, flushometers, lavatories and faucets throughout the lower east side. 

“There will be water usage savings,” Faulkner said. “Some of the older toilets were 3.5 gallons per flush, but we reduced all of the toilets to 1.28 gallons per flush. We installed water heaters for each of the restrooms on the lower east side. The new Chicago faucets are metered, which means they shut off after a certain amount of time, usually less than a minute. This will help with maintenance also, less inventory to carry, more efficient repairs.”

When you’re at a game and you think you should leave, you’ll find:

74 New Toilets
74 New Toilet Flush Valves
74 New Toilet Seats
56 New Urinals
56 New Urinal Flush Valves
20 New Lavatories
20 New Chicago Metered Faucets
20 Point of Use Mixing Valves
8 New 30-Gallon Water Heaters
2 New Drinking Fountain Water Stations

Heater at Huff

Gym Jam Illini Gymnastics at Huff Hall.
The Illini Spike Squad cheer on Illinois volleyball at Huff Hall, which has seen great volleyball over the years, with the Illini earning four Big Ten titles, three NCAA Final Four berths, and several top-10 finishes.
Fighting Illinois volleyball finishes strong to defeat Maryland during their home opener at Huff Hall, their first match in over 300 days with a late 5-0 run to secure a 3-1 victory over Maryland to open Big Ten Conference play.

Since it was introduced as the “New Gymnasium” in 1925, Illini athletics of all sorts have played in this multi-purpose building. Plumbers say an old twin boiler system had been in the Huff Hall basement since 1954, ancient in today’s terms and technologies. It was time for new hot water heaters.

“We were able to install two new instantaneous water heaters and an electronic mixing valve. The instantaneous water heaters are an on-demand system, so we don’t keep 2000 gallons of water hot at all times. The heaters sense the need for hot water when someone turns on a shower or sink, the water heaters send hot water to the mixing valve, then to the location,” said Faulkner.

Just look at this masterpiece.

This new water heater in the basement of Huff Hall gets plenty of action, in no small part due to all the athletics laundry washing for all Fighting Illini sports except football and basketball.

The Thrush 1032 Hot Pak Duplex Heat Exchangers are “the largest ones we have installed on Campus,” according to Faulkner.

Water is heated efficiently, then accurately adjusted to the right temperature by a “brain,” computer piece.

“The water heaters send hot water to the mixing valve, we call ‘The Brain,'” said Faulkner. “Hot and cold water mix together at a set temperature that can be programmed by a laptop, and tempered water is sent to the building, which is required by State of Illinois Plumbing Code. Steam warms the water in the heat exchangers, and if a steam valve fails to open for some reason the heat exchanger will continue heating the water until a relief valve reacts at 210 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s a safety feature, because 210 degree water and cold water go to ‘The Brain,’ where it adds more cold water and less hot water to maintain the set temperature, usually 110 to 120 degrees.”