A group of schools across Manchester have gone to the top of the class when it comes to water efficiency.
United Utilities has worked in partnership with the Department for Education and Groundwork Greater Manchester to deliver water audits at 30 schools across the city region as part of a pilot scheme. As well as identifying leaks and areas where water was being lost, water-saving devices have also been installed to help them reduce their consumption.
The audits, delivered by Groundwork, revealed that leaking toilets were the biggest culprits for wasting water with 12% of all toilets found to be leaking.
In total, 219 leaks were repaired across all 30 schools and it is estimated that more than 259,800 litres of water a day have been saved – over a year, each school saves enough water to fill an Olympic sized pool.
Alice Denholm, Water Efficiency Delivery Manager at United Utilities explained: “The education sector is one of the biggest water consumers in the North West and we know there is potential to help them eliminate water wastage and introduce water efficiency measures.
“We encourage all our customers to use water wisely, by saving water every day these schools are also saving money – it is good news for them and the environment.”
As well as repairing leaks, Groundwork also introduced measures such as save-a-flush devices, tap inserts and shower heads to help reduce ongoing water consumption. In total 228 water efficiency devices were fitted generating estimated water savings of 136 litres per day for each school.
Phil Treaton, Head of Neighbourhoods at Groundwork Greater Manchester said: “This project has provided us with the opportunity to engage 30 schools to improve their water efficiency and the response has been great.
“We found that the schools had a number of taps, toilets and showers where water leaks were not immediately obvious. Our team identified and repaired an average of seven leaks per school, and also installed water efficiency measures. We’re pleased to be able to make such an impact on their future water use.”
