Montem Primary School
We are a large school with a lot of older style toilets. We
wanted to do something to reduce the amount of water being wasted
after watching the video on how much water costs, both in money and
to the environment. Our aim was to reduce the amount of water used
with each flush and save money for the school.
Action
During an eco-fair the pupils found out about water usage and
the damage this is doing to the environment.
We counted the toilets around the school. There were 70 in
total, 68 of which were older style and used more water than
necessary. We contacted the local water authority, who sent us
water saving devices for all the toilets that needed them. The eco
monitors then put the correct device into the cisterns of all the
toilets that they could. Those they couldn't do themselves were
done by the site staff. The water meter is not accessible by the
children, so the water use is monitored by the bursar and site
controller who report back to the eco monitors and school council
every six months.
Eco teams have presented work to the key stage 2 children in
assemblies and explained why they need to save water. Many children
now tell us when taps are dripping and a system is being set up so
they can report directly to site staff. To further encourage water
saving, three water butts have been set up around the school to
water the various garden areas looked after by both pupils and
ground staff.
Challenges
There were some issues with access to the toilets, but these
were covered by site staff for us. As stated, we can't access water
meters ourselves and the cost of moving them is not feasible, but
we do have lots of support from site staff.
Pupil leadership
The pupils contacted the water authority, put the devices into
the toilets and calculated how much water we should save on a
yearly basis. They also tried to work out how much this would be in
terms of money saved for the school. As they get this reported to
them every six months it is quite hard to keep ownership.
Resources
We used information from various sources, as well as the ones
from the Pod.
Local community
We had a few spare water saving devices which were taken home by
the children for their toilets. They have explained to their
families how to use them and why it is important to do so. Many
parents have come into school to tell us about this.
Result
According to the bursar the water bills have dropped a lot this
year, which suggests the project has been a success. The fact that
children have taken the message home to their parents means that
they are spreading the message successfully.
Lessons learned
See if local water board can support with resources, or even
visitors, as the children love outsiders to come in and explain
things to them.
Next steps
Energy saving is an ongoing project at the moment. We hope to
get solar panels soon to further improve our energy saving,
reducing our carbon footprint. We are also continuing to work on
waste reduction and recycling.