Central Coast Public Schools Integrated Water Program
Background and project outcomes
Under the Hunter Central Coast Regional Environmental Management Strategy (HCCREMS), 10 schools in the Gosford-Wyong area, hard hit by the current dought, participated in an exciting 10 month program to save water and learn about integrated water management at the same time. This program has concluded and was made possible with the financial support of the NSW Government’s Water Savings Fund.
The project sought to significantly reduce water use through a three tiered approach:
(1) smart water metering to provide direct feedback on water use, and identify and control leaks
(2) installation of various water saving devices and rainwater harvesting, and
(3) raising student awareness of their schools water use patterns through a program of curricular activities.
At the outset of the project, it was hoped to save 67,600 kilolitres (KL) of water over the 10 year period 2007 to 2016. The project partners exceeded all expectations by achieving an estimated saving of 150,000 KL over a 10 year period, or 15,000 KL per year. Even excluding one school that identified and resolved a major leak and thus accounted for the largest single reduction, the other nine schools will save 63,790 KL between them over the next decade.
Of the total saved water for all 10 schools, some 34% was due to leak detection and rectification using the smart water meter data, combined with the smart meter’s ability to regulate flow using the linked solenoid cut-off valves. The other 15% was saved by the other water saving devices, such as dual flush cisterns, rainwater tanks, spring loaded bubblers and taps and waterless urinals. Across all schools, the average daily water use per student reduced from 9.4 litres/ day to just 5.3 L/day.
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 Mb PDF). A complete final report is also available. Contact us at: phone 02 4978 4024 or 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.
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