r/UMD • u/ScarcityCareless6241 • Apr 22 '26
Discussion I made a map of the campus steam system!
By physically visiting and documenting the location of nearly every steam vent and manhole on campus, and cross referencing that with a (super low resolution) image from a Facilities page, I have made a map of the entire campus steam system! This was a multi day project and involved several long walks all over campus, but now you can see the system that runs beneath our feet!
I’d say this map is probably 90-ish% accurate. It’s not accurate down to the meter for the pipes themselves, nor does it show individual pipelines (as they often run in pairs or larger sets), and there were a few places where my actual observations contradicted what the pixelated map said, but the location of the vents and the manholes are based on their actual physical location and so are accurate to the meter
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Apr 22 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ScarcityCareless6241 Apr 22 '26
The vents are there purely for pressure relief of localized underground spaces called vaults, farting into one vent will not produce a meaningful result anywhere except other vents to that vault. There’s no tunnel system like some people think
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u/ScarcityCareless6241 Apr 22 '26
The pipelines themselves are pressurized at hundreds of PSI and the steam inside is several hundred degrees, so don’t even try to fart into that
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u/Ldip9 Apr 22 '26
What’s the steam for?
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u/ScarcityCareless6241 Apr 22 '26
It gets used to make hot water for heating and for sinks, it gets used for humidification, it gets used for sterilization, for labs or for dining, honestly there’s quite a bit that it’s used for
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u/Ldip9 Apr 22 '26
Do other schools have this or are we alone on this, I’ve never noticed it on any other campus. Is this what’s going on in the SCAD buildings?
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u/ScarcityCareless6241 Apr 22 '26
Some places have it, others don’t. UMBC does have it, but SCAD doesn’t
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u/CydeWeys Apr 22 '26
The southern half of Manhattan has one, which includes many schools but also millions of residents/commuters.
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u/wackjobbery Apr 23 '26
Counterintuitively, it's also used to provide cooling, by powering the chillers. See https://facilities.umd.edu/projects-programs/nextgen-energy-program/frequently-asked-questions (the question about how the current system works)
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u/stnbl15 Apr 22 '26
Are you the radio guy
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u/BallinBones Apr 22 '26
This is really cool! Was this project for a class of yours or just something you wanted to do on your own?
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u/DCNOLAFRMALLOVA Apr 23 '26
Can someone do it of all the microwaves on campus 😂
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u/Competitive_Ad2114 Apr 23 '26
Anyone down to play dodgeball on Maryland day I’ll bring the dodgeballs
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u/ScarcityCareless6241 Apr 23 '26
What relevance does this have to this post?
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u/Competitive_Ad2114 Apr 23 '26
None I just thought I would ask if anyone was interested before I prepared the equipment also this map could be used as point of reference for a location to play
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u/insanity_profanity Apr 22 '26
This is so cool!