Survey your school
Find areas where you can save water
The aim of conducting a Water Use survey is to see where your school uses water efficiently, or wisely, and where it is wasted.
You will be able to use the results from the Water Survey to develop a Create a Water Action Plan. The result – opportunities to save water are found, less water and energy is used, and less money spent!
Watch our Water Use survey film to learn more.
We have created a Water Use survey questionnaire to help and suggested a way you could use it in the classroom or during an Action Group meeting.
- Split up into groups with each group covering a different water using area. Print off and divide the Water Use survey kit into sections representing different areas of the school.
- Why not ask the main user of the area (e.g. caretaker for the bathrooms, chef – kitchen, teacher – classroom) to walk around with you and note down where they use water?
- Once the Water Use surveys have been completed, come back as a group and use the Interactive Form to enter the results online. As the data is being entered discuss what you have found: are the results as they expected / predicted?
- When the data has been entered, the online questionnaire will produce suggestions of actions you could take to reduce your school water wastage.
You could ask your group to predict and estimate which areas of the school are likely to use a lot of water. Before starting your Water Use survey, ask pupils to say where they think most water is used in the school and why. Did they predict correctly? Make sure pupils know how to measure flow from a tap.
You can use the schools water meter to see if there is an underground leak on your schools premises. To find out how link to the Underground Leak information sheet.
We have lots of resources available that will support your Water Use survey:
- Water Use survey film
- Steps to Sustainable Water Use – A step by step guide to undertaking a water survey
- Teaching resources