School saves water, as it steps up action, through large-scale 2024 project

Schools are seeing water-savings as part of a large-scale project that saw visits delivered to identify opportunities to use less water – and water efficiency kit installed.
St Wulstan’s Catholic Primary School was one of the schools who joined the project and now has 22 water-saving tap fittings and 11 flush saving devices installed, which save around 1 litre of water each use, in the project.
It means the flow rate for the taps involved has reduced to an average of 3.8 litres per minute, compared to an average 6.7 litres per minute, which is a 43% water-saving.
Overall a 37% water saving is expected from the devices, on average daily use at the Staffordshire school – which could save an estimated 67,000 litres of water, during the year.
That’s equal to 837 bath tubs, each filled with 80 litres of water – or 268,000 cuppas, with each holding 250ml.
Where less hot water is used at a school, less energy needs to be used, with the tap efficiency fittings helping to do just that.
Water is in Scope 3, for carbon emissions, so increasing water efficiency also helps with decarbonisation targets and progress in the public sector.
Ruth Heynes, Primary Academy Manager at St Wulstan’s Catholic Primary School, in Newcastle-under-Lyme, said: “We look at water use throughout the year, checking for signs of any areas where more water’s being used than needed, tracking water meter readings every month and we have sensor taps for our primary school, so we’re using water efficiently.
“The water-saving visit, where someone can check everything that’s using water at our large site and highlight where opportunities are for the school – along with the extra water-saving devices, installed through Water Plus, is helpful for our school. This – and the fact it was all free – is why we were really keen to be part of the project.
“The water saving tap fittings were installed in our Early Years and Nursery areas, so will help there.”
Three other schools are also seeing water-savings following the water audits and water-saving kit installed through Water Plus, for free, in the project which was funded through the Green Recovery programme by Severn Trent and aimed to help communities and reduce impacts on the environment.
There are carbon emissions linked to all water used, so the project delivered by business water retailer Water Plus, which involved more than 50 sites across three counties, will help reduce carbon emissions, helping towards decarbonisation aims in the UK.
There is a cost for every cubic metre of water (m3), supplied through a water meter, so if water reduces by 418m3 in a year then there would be a reduction in running costs for the school.
Across four schools, visits found 1.5 million litres of water could be saved over a year, from adding small low-cost water-saving devices – equal to 19,837 bath tubs, each filled with 80 litres of water, or 6.3 million cuppas, holding 250ml each.
The water saved would mean more than £4,000 off water costs, helping school budgets and freeing more money up for pupils.
Scott MacIndeor, Head of Advanced Services at Water Plus, said: “It’s been great to work with a wide range of sites, including schools, with this approach delivering water-savings and showing sites the opportunities in how they use water at their buildings, to help for the future.”
The saving water action taken by the school also shows how carbon emissions can be reduced, helping with progress towards Climate Action Plans, which are a requirement for all education settings, including schools, multi academy trusts, colleges and universities, needed to be in place by 2025.
More information about the small water-saving steps that can deliver for the public sector can be found on the Public Sector Sustainability Association website – and also on the Water Plus website www.water-plus.co.uk/better-ways-with-water/ .
*There are 1,000 litres in each cubic metre of water.