Students try to save every drop

By Shaun Inguanzo
MEET the Environmentalists – a crack team of Springvale South Primary School students determined to save water.
The group of students from grade three through to six is supervised by teacher Hanna Gould and is the face of the school’s water saving endeavours.
Environmentalists members are on the beat in the schoolyard each day placing empty ice cream containers beneath taps to catch run-off water that is later used to water flowerbeds that miss out on rain because they are under eaves.
In addition to the Environmentalists is a 60,000 litre water tank the school installed during its mid-year break thanks to a grant from the Federal Government. And with some heavy rainfall, school principal Ruby Toombs said the tank was already half full.
The water is used to flush junior student toilets and achieves savings of up to 500,000 litres of drinking water each year, she said.
Springvale South Primary School’s school council has recently installed dual-flush toilets to further save water and has committed to the Schools Water Efficiency Program which includes a water audit by the Department of Sustainability and Environment.
Ms Toombs said the water-saving culture had spread to students’ homes where shorter showers and buckets to collect excess shower water were being used.