Pupils tap into water winnings

PUPILS from two Cape Town schools have become the teachers when it comes to saving water, after their efforts in this regard earned them the winning spots in the #MySmartWaterMeterChallenge.

Nooitgedacht Primary School in Bishop Lavis and Cravenby Secondary in Elsies River received awards during an event at Nooitgedacht Primary attended by Premier Alan Winde and Education MEC Debbie Schäfer yesterday.

At the height of the water crisis last year, the Western Cape government’s Policy and Strategy Unit embarked on a behavioural change initiative in collaboration with Shoprite, the Western Cape Education Department, Stellenbosch University, UCT, and CapeTalk.

Winde said the awards showed the impact possible when every person did their bit and played a role in developing resilience as a province.

“Our dam levels may have improved since we started this project, but we need to continue to be aware of how we use water as a precious resource,” said Winde.

Nooitgedacht Primary reduced its water consumption by 55.23% or 158 kilolitres over a four-month period. This represents a monetary saving of R15365, which the school is able to use for other priorities.

The project encouraged schools to save water by conducting maintenance on their water infrastructure and installing water meters, which encouraged behavioural changes among staff and pupils.

The 42 schools participating in the project had contributed to combined savings of over R40 million and almost 550 million litres of water over the seven-month duration of the project.

Nooitgedacht Primary Principal Sean Carolissen said they were challenged as their school was one of the schools that had high water usage.

“I was so surprised to see the amount of water we saved since the beginning of the challenge,” he said.