TEENS AUDIT SCHOOL’S WATER USAGE, GRAB BEST PROJECT AWARD
A project by AG High School and G & D Parikh Higher Secondary School students to check consumption and wastage of water in their school won them Earthian award by Wipro and Azim Premji Foundation
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Sunday, February 02, 2014 http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/2014020220140202024306796280a79f1/TEENS-AUDIT-SCHOOL%E2%80%99S-WATER-USAGE-GRAB-BEST-PROJECT-AWARD.html
Water crisis ranks as the third highest concern in the world according to the Global Risks 2014 report released by World Economic Forum. While majority of us acknowledge water crisis as a serious problem, initiatives to save water on an individual level leaves a lot to be desired. But five students of AG High School and G & D Parikh Higher Secondary School have shown us the way forward by executing a water audit — they collected data regarding their school’s water usage, leakage and quality.
The project by class 9 students Aksha Thakkar, Jainesh Shah, Shrey Patel, Disha Shah and Muskan Swaminarayan was chosen as one of the 10 best school projects in the country in the Earthian 2013 contest conducted by Wipro and the Azim Premji Foundation. They were handed over the prize money of Rs 1 lakh at a function organised in Bangalore on January 18. As many as 300 schools from across India had participated in the contest.
‘BITTER TRUTH’
The biggest finding of the project, admits Aksha, turned out to be “a shocker” for them — the amount of water wasted annually by their school was almost equal to the average annual consumption by an average person according to the United Nations Human Development Report, 2006.
CALCULATING WATER USAGE
In order to find out the school’s daily water consumption, the students first found out how many times the overhead tank was refilled. They learnt that the 22,000-litre tank was refilled once in two days – which means 11,000 litre of water, approximately, it was used daily in the school. Their next task was to find out where was the water used and in what quantity. “We distributed a questionnaire among students and staff that required them to fill in details like the number of hand-wash, face-wash done by them and the number of times they filled the water bottles,” said Shrey. In this manner, the group found out the school’s daily water consumption – approximately 9,470 litres. They also found out the average amount of water used up for drinking, cooking, gardening and other activities on a daily basis.
CHECKING TAPS FOR LEAKAGE
The students also noted down the capacity of their overhead tank and the amount of water supplied by the borewell in a day. The idea was to make themselves aware of how they receive the water they consume every day. Acheck on the leakages found that 25-30 ml of water is wasted per minute in the school, mostly in science labs. “At first the amount of water wasted due to leakage seemed smaller but when we calculated further, we were shocked. According to UN Human Development Report, 2006, an average person consumes 50 litres of water per day. And we were wasting as much daily due to the leak in taps and pipelines. Imagine how much water must be wasted due to leakages on a global level every day,” said Muskan.
‘SCHOOL WATER QUALITY IS GOOD’
Next, they carried out water quality tests to ascertain the colour, odour, and Ph levels. The team also carried out an opinion survey among students to find out how significant a concern they thought water crisis was, their ideas on water conservation, treatment, pollution and their take on the quality of water their school supplied. “They were very happy with the school’s water quality. A vast majority of the students endorsed installation of water metres to check water wastage. Some students were also honest enough to admit that they left the water taps open after drinking. The idea of the survey was to make them more aware of their responsibilities in saving water. I think the purpose has been served,” said Jainesh.
‘WE FEEL MORE RESPONSIBLE’
“It has been a great learning experience. We feel more responsible towards the society and the cause of water conservation. We know that every individual’s contribution matters when it comes to tackling water crisis. We are now conducting a water audit on AES campus,” said Disha. Nirav Thakkar, the school’s principal, said, “We tried to connect the project method of learning by giving the students problems faced by people in their daily lives and help students learn, be sensitive towards environment. The result was fun and learning, much more than the award. I have requested our management to felicitate the students and extend this project for all AES institutes.”
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Sunday, February 02, 2014 http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/2014020220140202024306796280a79f1/TEENS-AUDIT-SCHOOL%E2%80%99S-WATER-USAGE-GRAB-BEST-PROJECT-AWARD.html
Water crisis ranks as the third highest concern in the world according to the Global Risks 2014 report released by World Economic Forum. While majority of us acknowledge water crisis as a serious problem, initiatives to save water on an individual level leaves a lot to be desired. But five students of AG High School and G & D Parikh Higher Secondary School have shown us the way forward by executing a water audit — they collected data regarding their school’s water usage, leakage and quality.
The project by class 9 students Aksha Thakkar, Jainesh Shah, Shrey Patel, Disha Shah and Muskan Swaminarayan was chosen as one of the 10 best school projects in the country in the Earthian 2013 contest conducted by Wipro and the Azim Premji Foundation. They were handed over the prize money of Rs 1 lakh at a function organised in Bangalore on January 18. As many as 300 schools from across India had participated in the contest.
‘BITTER TRUTH’
The biggest finding of the project, admits Aksha, turned out to be “a shocker” for them — the amount of water wasted annually by their school was almost equal to the average annual consumption by an average person according to the United Nations Human Development Report, 2006.
CALCULATING WATER USAGE
In order to find out the school’s daily water consumption, the students first found out how many times the overhead tank was refilled. They learnt that the 22,000-litre tank was refilled once in two days – which means 11,000 litre of water, approximately, it was used daily in the school. Their next task was to find out where was the water used and in what quantity. “We distributed a questionnaire among students and staff that required them to fill in details like the number of hand-wash, face-wash done by them and the number of times they filled the water bottles,” said Shrey. In this manner, the group found out the school’s daily water consumption – approximately 9,470 litres. They also found out the average amount of water used up for drinking, cooking, gardening and other activities on a daily basis.
CHECKING TAPS FOR LEAKAGE
The students also noted down the capacity of their overhead tank and the amount of water supplied by the borewell in a day. The idea was to make themselves aware of how they receive the water they consume every day. Acheck on the leakages found that 25-30 ml of water is wasted per minute in the school, mostly in science labs. “At first the amount of water wasted due to leakage seemed smaller but when we calculated further, we were shocked. According to UN Human Development Report, 2006, an average person consumes 50 litres of water per day. And we were wasting as much daily due to the leak in taps and pipelines. Imagine how much water must be wasted due to leakages on a global level every day,” said Muskan.
‘SCHOOL WATER QUALITY IS GOOD’
Next, they carried out water quality tests to ascertain the colour, odour, and Ph levels. The team also carried out an opinion survey among students to find out how significant a concern they thought water crisis was, their ideas on water conservation, treatment, pollution and their take on the quality of water their school supplied. “They were very happy with the school’s water quality. A vast majority of the students endorsed installation of water metres to check water wastage. Some students were also honest enough to admit that they left the water taps open after drinking. The idea of the survey was to make them more aware of their responsibilities in saving water. I think the purpose has been served,” said Jainesh.
‘WE FEEL MORE RESPONSIBLE’
“It has been a great learning experience. We feel more responsible towards the society and the cause of water conservation. We know that every individual’s contribution matters when it comes to tackling water crisis. We are now conducting a water audit on AES campus,” said Disha. Nirav Thakkar, the school’s principal, said, “We tried to connect the project method of learning by giving the students problems faced by people in their daily lives and help students learn, be sensitive towards environment. The result was fun and learning, much more than the award. I have requested our management to felicitate the students and extend this project for all AES institutes.”
