School kids lead the way in water savings

Minister for Water Lisa Neville has congratulated Queenscliff Primary School for its registration in becoming the 1,100th school registered for the Schools Water Efficiency Program (SWEP), a program which has helped teachers and students lead the way in water savings.

More than 1,000 Victorian schools have helped to save 5.7 billion litres of water across the state – enough to sustain Geelong’s water needs for about three months – and $17.3 million since 2012.

The program is a key component of the Labor Government’s Water for Victoria plan for improving water efficiency and the management of our water resources.

The program provides Victorian schools with an internationally recognised program to help them monitor water and electricity consumption and teaches students how to identify and repair leaks and faulty appliances and reduce water waste.

Schools in the program have a data logger installed on their water meter that shows them exactly how much water is being used.

This data is uploaded to an interactive website every morning allowing students, teachers and facility managers to track water use and identify leaks that need fixing.

The dedicated website is complemented with curriculum materials and an alert service which contacts schools when there is a leak or unusual water consumption.

More than 550,000 staff and students across the state have access to their schools’ water usage data thanks to the program.

Solar monitoring has also recently been added to the platform, allowing some schools the opportunity to monitor electricity usage.

The Labor Government has also reinstated the Target 155 program, which encourages Victorian households to use 155 litres of water per person per day.

The Government has provided $7 million to the SWEP program since 2012. SWEP is available to all Victorian schools, visit myswep.com.au.