Water Sustainability in Education
The water crisis:
Although only 28% of people are aware of the current water crisis, it still plays an important factor in the coming decades unless we make a big change. The Chief Executive of England’s Environmental Agency himself has stated that we may be facing a tipping point where demand surpasses supply of water in just 25 years’ time. Both increasing population and climate change play hand in hand, contributing to this environmental catastrophe with February and May 2020 being both the wettest and driest on record. In this blog we will be discussing how to help improve this situation in educational settings such as schools.
Issues in education:
Did you know a single dripping tap in schools can waste up to 84 litres of water a week? This as well as the constant refilling of water bottles and excessive water usage in cleaning art supplies and other facilities, leads to serious water wastage that contributes to the global crisis outlined above.
How we can improve this:
There are many ways in which we can improve the current water crisis, some as simple as bringing in a re-usable water bottle rather than buying a plastic one every single day. Other ways we can improve this are by:
-Having signs reminding students to turn taps of tightly,
-Trying to minimise dirty dishes produced during break or lunch times,
-Using a bucket of water when washing dishes instead of the constant stream of a tap,
-Or by investing in a rainwater harvesting system
Benefits of a rainwater harvesting system
There are many benefits of installing a rainwater harvesting system at your school. It means that you don’t need to be using your mains water for things such as flushing toilets or gardening and it can be re-used multiple times. It also means you can save money on the schools’ water bill that can be re invested into new resources for students and teachers alike, such as new books and chairs and a better all-round experience.
As well as all of this it secures you for the future against the coming water crisis and helps slow its rapid approach.
Written by work experience students, Nick and Adam from The Minster School (pictured on this blog).
