Green School Water

Our Green Flags Our first green flag was awarded for reducing litter and waste We earned our second green flag for conserving energy. We are working hard to earn our third green flag for conserving water, along with keeping up the good work from the first two green flags.

Our Action Plan So how are we going to earn our third green flag? Mr. Grogan has decided to hire a company to check the pipes in our school, and to ensure there are no major leaks. Mr. Ryan and Ms. McCormick will regularly read the water metre in our school. This will tell us how much water we use in Holy Trinity School. The Green School Committee will do an audit to count all the toilets, sinks, dishwashers, washing machines, outside taps and hoses in Holy Trinity School. This will show us where we use water and how possibly to cut down. The GSC will check for drips and leaks in taps, toilets and radiators.

Our Action Plan We are going to check all taps to ensure they all have push buttons instead of taps you turn (as these are a lot easier to leave running!). We are going to look into collecting rainwater for use around the school. We are going to check all cleaning products in the school, and find out if hazardous products could be changed to more environmentally friendly products. We will do this by ing the companies that manufacture the products. The GSC are going to organise a clean-up on Dollymount beach. The GSC are planning a trip to visit the Ballymount Eustace water treatment plant.

Our Action Plan The GSC are going to make signs to remind people to turn taps off. Put plastic bottles in toilet cisterns to reduce the amount of water used during each flush. Update the Green School’s Noticeboard to show tips for conserving water. Make sure each class has a plug/basin instead of leaving the tap running when using the sink.

Our Action Plan Members of the GSC, with the help of Mr. Ryan and Ms. McCormick, are going to educate the school about the third green flag by showing them this slideshow presentation! We are going to give you VERY USEFUL tips on how to conserve water in school and at home. Please share these, your parents/guardians will be very interested! The GSC will be organising a poster competition to raise awareness- watch this space! We are going to hold an Action Day in March. Details to follow later! So…. Let’s get started with the all important question- Where does water come from?!?!?

Where does water come from? Water comes from a process called the water cycle. The earth only has a limited supply of water- the water keeps going around and around and around and……. You get the idea! Watch the following video to learn all about it!

Did you know? Even though two thirds of the earth is covered in water, only 1% of the world’s water can be used by humans. This is because most of the water is saltwater in the seas and oceans, or it is frozen in ice-caps and glaciers. Most of the remaining water is present in rocks as groundwater and less than 0.01% is present in rivers and lakes.

Why should we conserve water? Over one billion people do not have enough safe clean water to drink. Contaminated water causes 80% of the health problems throughout the world. A person can survive a month without food, but only 5 or 6 days without water. Our own bodies are two thirds water and our brains are at least 85% water! As you all know, there have been water charges introduced. So now we are paying for all the water we use!

Where does our water come from? The water in Donaghmede comes from a water treatment plant in Ballymore Eustace, in Wicklow. We are organising a trip to this plant in February for the Green School Committee to find out more.

Some examples of how much water we use today…. Most of us are guilty to some extent of taking water for granted. Water comes out of our taps and it goes down the drain; in between we use it to brush our teeth or to do the dishes. However, water is a crucial aspect of our lives, not only for drinking and washing, but also for use in industry, agriculture and making almost any kind of product, from hamburgers and tin cans to newspapers and cars. Our demand for water has grown to the point that the natural water cycle can no longer keep up.

How much water we use A tap dripping once a second wastes 45,000 litres of water a year. That’s the same as nearly 600 baths full of water! This is as much as a family of 4 would normally use in 2 days! A hosepipe or sprinkler can use 1,000 litres (or 1 tonne) of water per hour

How much water we use Up to 40 cups of water go down the drain for no reason if the tap is left running while you brush your teeth. A shower uses about 7 litres per minute. The average person spends 7 minutes in the shower using 49 litres of water. A bath uses about 80 litres of water.

Tips to conserve water in school: Carry out a leak test and get dripping taps fixed. It may not look like much water is being lost, but a dripping tap could waste as much as 90 litres of water a week! Invest in a water butt to harvest rainwater which can be used for watering plants, cleaning windows, cleaning painting equipment, rinsing out recyclables etc. Use stoppers or basins when cleaning painting equipment. Some schools change taps from pillar taps to push taps and some install a spray device which aerates the water. Put up signs and posters over taps asking people to turn them off after use. Make a school policy on cleaning products/chemicals.

So, before we finish… what have the GSC done so far? The company Mr. Grogan hired found a MASSIVE leak in a pipe in the strong room. This was leaking hundreds of litres of water every week and costing the school a FORTUNE! The leak has since been fixed…. Phew! Mr. Ryan and Ms. McCormick have been reading the water metre and checking the water bills every month.

The Green School Committee have done an audit around the school- they have found out there are 35 toilets, 34 sinks, 3 dishwashers, 1 washing machine, 2 outside taps and one hose. The GSC made signs to remind people to turn taps off. The GSC put plastic bottles in toilet cisterns to reduce the amount of water used during each flush.

The GSC has checked for leaks around the school. There was one found in Room 28 and this was brought to the caretaker’s attention. Ms. McCormick got in touch with the makers of the cleaning products and found out most cleaning products used in Holy Trinity School are non-hazardous, with the exception of bleach (which the cleaners insist is essential!) We found out all taps in classrooms are push instead of twist taps.

Unfortunately we found out that we cannot collect rainwater from the roof as there are no outdoor gutters. We still have a lot to do!

What can YOU do? We need you to come up with a catchy slogan for saving water and display it on your poster e.g. Don’t Let The Drip Drop! The closing date for the poster competition is Friday 6 th of February. Good luck! Use the following link to re cap over all you have learned about the importance of water and ways to conserve it! It also contains tips for conserving water AT HOME