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Energy efficiency and
environmental issues...
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Water Use OverviewSchools in the UK spend £70 Million annually on the provision of fresh water and the treatment of waste water. The average annual water bill for primary schools in the UK is £1600 and for secondary schools between £3,200 and £8,600, although a large secondary school might spend up to £20K. The average pupil will use 5.25m3 per year. Each cu. m needs 0.4 kWh electricity to treat and pump it to the user and a similar amount to pump and treat the sewage or foul-water created. Thus a reduction in water use offers considerable cost savings to schools and reduces environmental impacts by saving energy. A carefully managed water saving programme in schools can cut consumption by as much as half and may save schools up to £5K per annum. Schools need to review their use of water on a regular basis and monitor their daily consumption figures. Such an approach not only saves money but it also benefits rivers and aquifers together with the associated flora and fauna. School grounds also act as valuable "Porous" areas where rain and storm water can permeate into the ground rather than building up as flood water. Harvesting rainwater from school roofs which can be used to flush toilets and water school grounds is something that schools need to consider, especially if undergoing a rebuilding programme. Typically some 3,600,000 litres of rain falls annually on a primary school roof which should be harvested and utilised. Some schools have their own swimming pool, which has considerable impact upon the amount of water needed, together with Energy use and Air Quality issues. It is recommended that such schools have an audit to establish best practise for the swimming pool area. Schools should be exemplars of sustainable water management, through the use of grey water recycling opportunities, conservation of freshwater and managing rainwater effectively. They should work with their communities to promote the sustainable use of water. To do so school personnel need to be trained to appreciate the potential savings in consumption and cost which are available and schools will need to invest in water saving measures. Water and Student PerformanceProper hydration is crucial to maintaining performance amongst students. Research evidence has shown that mental performance can deteriorate by as much as 10% when students are thirsty and behaviour suffers as a result. Water Use Facts and FiguresThere appears to be a lot of water on Earth, indeed 4/5th of the Earths surface is covered in water. The Volume of water is 1,400 million cubic kilometres - however 97% of that is salt water in the oceans. Due to the natural evaporation process of the water cycle 0.5 million cubic kilometres becomes fresh water each year - but 70% becomes locked in as ice and snow and 98% of the remainder sinks below ground into aquifers. Thus only 90,000 km3 is potentially available for human use, in fact, taking away flood water run-off and other losses there is only 14,000km3 routinely available for the 6 billion people on earth. Although this means 2000m3 per person it is not evenly distributed either during the year or geographically. Even in the "Temperate" UK we have suffered droughts and floods in the last ten years. To prevent disease we treat water before use (usually with a small amount of chlorine and other chemicals). The foul water from domestic and industrial consumers is treated to remove pollutants and return the water to rivers or the sea. In the UK there are several private Water Companies one of which is Severn Trent Water. It serves 8 million people, supplying 2 billion litres of high quality drinking water every day through 42,000 km of water mains. It owns and operates over 1,000 sewage works to return the water safely back to rivers and streams. Assistance with managing water more effectively can be found at:
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