An effective water management programme in your school can help reduce water usage, associated costs and your environmental impact.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has estimated that schools spend around £70m a year on water and wastewater services - an average of over £2,500 per school.

On average, primary schools use 7m³ of water per pupil per year, with secondary schools using 11m³ per pupil per year (Water Watch 2005).

The DCSF suggested that with careful water management, most schools can reduce this figure to around 4m³ per pupil per year, benefiting the school's budget and environmental performance.

We have developed the 'Wise up to Water' website and a range of teaching resources to help schools to reduce their water use.

'Wise up to Water' seeks to unite schools, from first-year pupils to governors, under the common goal of saving water. It supports schools in their work towards the Sustainable Schools, Eco-schools and/or Sustainable Learning schemes and provides behavioural, technological and financial advice.

The website sets out the reasons to save water, and includes:

• A self-audit questionnaire that automatically generates water-saving tips based on the answers entered
• Guidance on how to produce a water action plan
• Ideas on how to get the whole school and wider community involved