Campus chronicle.durhamcollege.ca February 26 - March 18, 2019 The Chronicle 17 Photograph by Rachelle Baird The piping to service the cam pus stretches for kilom etres. The red pipe is for the sprinkler system . Ensuring there's a good flow on campus Rachelle Baird The Chronicle While students are busy learning and professors teaching, the main tenance department is hard at work taking care of the university and college campuses. The maintenance department is made up of 21 workers. There are three plumbers, three HVAC technicians, three electri cians, two BAS technicians, two locksmiths, two carpenters, two trade helpers and four general maintenance workers. Rey Theophille is a plumber who has been employed at DC and UOIT for 14 years. He says not only does the staff take care of the Oshawa campus es, they also maintain Whitby, the Pickering Learning Centre and other areas. "We also do the satellite campus, Uxbridge and Bowmanville. So we give them some support as well," Theophille says. According to Theophille, main tenance of the university takes up most of their time. "It's funny, the university is a newer building. So you think it would require less maintenance," he says. There have been a few issues with flooding, such as two eroded fire hydrants which exploded and caused flooding in the roadway, a frozen sprinkler in the UA build ing, and a few floods during reno vations, according to Theophille. As for how much piping, there are kilometres serving the campuses. Theophille says plumbing prob- HOURS DC I UOIT lems have been caused by items left in toilets that shouldn't be found there. "We have removed pop cans, cellphones and jewellery from the toilets," he says. They even found half a chicken in the toilet once, says Theophille. And one semester some time ago, someone frequently defecated on the floor of the now-demolished Simcoe building, he says. The plumbing department main tains the backflow system which en sures no contaminated water gets into the drinking water. The plumbing department also helps flush out the HVAC system, which maintains temperatures of the buildings. Theophille says there have not been many problems with heat, but at one time there were issues in keeping the buildings cool but they have since replaced the air condi tioning system. Photograph by Rachelle Baird Theophille says the staff are busy all year long. Work shifts start as early as 8 a.m. and finish at 10 p.m. Backflow system s prevent bad water from entering good water. as that is when most classes end.H Durham College and UOIT's lead plum ber Rey Theophille working in his office below the UOIT Science Building.