Central Coast Public Schools Integrated Water Program

Background

Under the Hunter Central Coast Regional Environmental Management Strategy (HCCREMS), 10 schools in the Gosford-Wyong area, hard hit by the current dought, are participating in an exciting 10 month program to save water and learn about integrated water management at the same time. Made possible with the financial support of the NSW Government’s Water Savings Fund, the project is estimated to save some 6,000 kilolitres per year.

Smart water meters have been installed on the school's normal meters to monitor water use every 15 minutes. Teachers and students can login to a special website set up by Watersave Australia, the company supplying the Waterguard smart meters, to view the data at scales ranging from 15 minutes to months. A set of supporting currcular material for teachers helps the students learn how to use the smart water data, together with a water audit of their water fixutres, to be water detectives. Through these activities they will help their school select a range of other water savings measures that can be installed as part of the project.

More information

For more information about this project view this presentation (2.7Mb PDF) , or contact:

Hugh Cross
Regional Water Program Coordinator
ph 02 4978 4024 email water@huntercouncils.com.au

School curricular support material

Does your school have a smart water meter? If so, you will find the Supporting Curricular Materials (831Kb PDF) developed by HCCREMS a useful resource for engaging your students in sustainable water management. It outlines eight "lessons" explaining integrated water cycle management (IWCM) and how information from a smart water meter and a school water audit can be used to save water, reduce downstream stormwater impacts and provide the opportunity for students to be involved in identifying and choosing other water saving measures.

Don't have a smart water meter? Go to the WaterSave Australia website for their contact details. Please note that there are other smart water meters available, but as of October 2007 they do not provide ready internet access to the data. Nor do they have the capacity to control a solenoid cut-off valve that can be programed to automatically shut off the water if a leak develops out of school hours.