SAIT water program adds to career skills and campus conservation efforts

Why study water? For Juan Zuleta, a second-year Integrated Water Management student #HereAtSAIT, the overarching answer is simple.

“Water is life. It’s maybe a cliché phrase, but this is water we’re talking about. It’s real, it’s powerful.”

It certainly had the power to bring Zuleta from Colombia to Calgary and to SAIT’s MacPhail School of Energy two years ago.

An electromechanical engineer and project manager, he paused a 10-year career working all over South America, from Ecuador to Chile to Peru, and is now gaining specialized knowledge in the growing field of water management.

His work in sensitive geographic areas in particular, including oil and gas projects in the Amazon jungle, inspired him to look to environmental science and eventually to water management, as a path to making more informed decisions in his role as a project manager.

Lifelong learning leads to ideal career skills mix

“Sometimes in your career, you feel like you need a boost where you lack education. I have to make so many decisions in my work. If I make decisions without information, without knowledge, without education, l make mistakes.”

The idea of a program specifically dedicated to water management promised the perfect mix of conservation and management to add to his already complementary skill sets.

Zuleta researched a number of environmental programs before choosing Integrated Water Management at SAIT for its water focus, hands-on training and, of course, its Calgary location, he says.

“I’d never seen a specific program about water before. It adds the environmental part to my knowledge, which I really like, and it’s the mix I enjoy most.”

Water use project caps off Integrated Water Management program

When Zuleta set out to choose a capstone project to complete his program, he first landed on a review of water systems and usage at SAIT’s main campus. But his investigation soon led him to shift his topic to identifying the water use behaviours of the SAIT population.

“Basically, what I'm trying to understand now is how people make decisions for their water use. By creating some indicators, I'd love to set a first stone to help the institution enhance its water conservation practice.”

Once the indicators are in place, he notes, there’s an opportunity to effect change.

Zuleta’s project includes a survey of the SAIT community, plenty of discussion with faculty from his program and school, meetings with the Office of Sustainability — his capstone sponsor — as well as data and support from Facilities Management, plus a whole lot of analysis.

“SAIT is a living lab,” says Jaclyn Damboise, Associate Director, Office of Sustainability. “We approach work-integrated learning opportunities as a supportive community focused on growth.

“By shifting his capstone project from a reactive post-water usage data analysis to the root cause of water conservation, Juan not only showed a proactive mindset, he’s giving us valuable insight to help improve water usage habits on campus.”

Efficiency, behaviour key to water conservation

Efficiency has been a key component in Zuleta’s decision making throughout his career as a project manager. It’s also a key factor in how he thinks we need to approach water usage now and in the future.

“We need to learn and understand how to keep improving our water use numbers. Calgary is growing, SAIT is growing — but we can’t keep consuming more water, we need to be using the same amount or actually less.”

Regardless of how efficient we make equipment and appliances, in the end usage decisions are made by humans, says Zuleta. Influencing behaviour is what he hopes his project will contribute to down the road.

“In a lot of ways, it’s like safety in any industry. You can create barriers, processes, qualifications, education but, in the end, people make the decision to behave in one way or another. So, you need to identify why or how they process information to make decisions first and then work on behaviour.”

Changing perspectives and leaving a legacy

Zuleta is looking forward to sharing his capstone findings at MacPhail’s Sustainability Symposium in April.

“I’m very proud of the work I’ve done. It’s been really fulfilling. I’ve met so many people. I’ve had access to so much cool stuff — places and things not everyone has seen. I got to be involved at a deeper level at SAIT and in how it works.”

He’s hoping his recommendations will be built on and used to inform water conservation strategies and awareness campaigns on campus.

“Improving water efficiency is necessary across industries and institutions here in Calgary and everywhere. The Bow River water level is decreasing year over year. We need to be improving our water efficiency year over year.

“I want this capstone to be my legacy. I hope people in the future will see it and think, okay, this work was done by an Integrated Water Management student, and it was an excellent basis to move forward from.”

After SAIT, Zuleta wants to apply his new skills to influence people regarding water conservation practices and decisions, whether in Canada or elsewhere in the world.

“After all, water and the environment are borderless.”

World Water Day 2025

Zuleta presented a second water project he’s been working on at SAIT’s World Water Day Expo, organized by the MacPhail School of Energy, on Thursday, March 20. 

“We created a 3D model of the Bow River watershed. It uses a projector to display different geographical information, including rivers, lakes, topography, anything processed in a geographic information systems software, on top of a map or model.”

The projection is designed to be an engaging way for people to understand water, he says. Zuleta plans to include his work on the model in his capstone presentation.