Best Practice: 1.5 Water Efficiency: School has very little wasted water indoors and in the school yard.

About

The world’s supply of fresh water is limited. As the demand for water continues to grow, water conservation will be vital to maintaining fresh water supplies. Schools use a tremendous amount of water every day, and require water for their heating and cooling systems, restrooms, drinking and water faucets, locker rooms, cafeteria, laboratories, and watering outdoor playing fields and lawns. Water sourced from municipal water treatment plants takes energy to treat and costs the school money. Water sourced from aquifers, can deplete those water sources if the rate of removing it exceeds the landscape’s ability to infiltrate rain back into the ground and recharge the aquifers. There are many actions schools can take to use water more efficiently, while saving money, enhancing education, preserving health, and building connections to the community.

Vision and Benefits

The vision for water efficiency best practices is to take water conserving actions that someday lead toward an ideal of zero-net water use from municipal or ground water withdrawals. Imagine if a school could meet its water needs just from the rain falling on the school building and grounds. Rain collection and treatment on site could provide potable water for high end uses like drinking and hand washing, then lightly soiled gray water could be used to flush toilets, while the landscaping is designed to be watered from rain and stormwater storage. 

Schools can make progress toward this ideal while also: Integrating the effort with education and participation that enhance student engagement and problem solving skills; Achieving and documenting benefits to the wider community, to develop school pride, stewardship/citizen identity, and foster good will between school and community; Building and utilizing civic/community partnerships that strengthen cooperation and investment in success of the school as well as appreciation for the role of the school in the success of the community; Preserving or enhancing health; Saving money on water bills; and Improving resilience to future variations in water availability and pricing.

Who's Doing It?

Current Leaders in Water Efficiency

Explore this dashboard of water efficiency best practices in prior MN Green Ribbon Schools awardees, shown here organized by the associated MN GreenStep School Best Practice Actions they would meet. 

Implement Best Practice Actions in a Project

Select Best Practice Actions (BPAs) to work on and complete

Review the list of actions that can be taken to conserve water and use it more efficiently. Start with documenting practices that are already being done at the school. Choose those practices that best suit the opportunities and other considerations at the school. (You may wish to use the datasheet for this best practice to support your planning.)

A. Management Process BPAs

A1. Water Use Monitoring: 

• Use water bills, and simple analysis in a spread sheet to monitor overall water use over time, watching patterns for potential leaks or areas for improvement. See later BPA for more comprehensive water performance monitoring.

• Document the following:

A2. Water Audit: 

• Conduct a water use audit considering efficiency of fixtures, leaks, and opportunities for savings

A3. Water Sub-meters: 

• Install sub-meters to major building water uses to help monitor efficiency and identify leaks.

A4. Leak Reporting: 

• Encourage students and teachers to report water leaks to the maintenance staff and provide a clear and easy means for doing so.

B. Indoor Water Conservation BPAs

B1. Water Conservation Behaviors Campaign: 

• Educate about behaviors for  water conservation. For example, not letting the water run when washing hands; water is only needed to wet hands, and then rinse them off. Make signs or posters to put near faucets to remind people to turn them off. Change them periodically, so people will keep reading them—and remembering the message.

B2. Efficient Water Fixture Purchases: 

• Purchase efficient faucets and toilets when it is time to replace old models; newer models that use less water will cost less over the life of the fixture. Consider installing timed or motion sensor faucets that will turn off automatically when not in use. Use low-flow shower heads and timer shut-off devices to reduce water use during showers in locker rooms. Incorporate water efficient purchasing into policy.

B3. Water efficient fixture modifications: 

• Consider modifying existing fixtures or installing low cost alterations such as:Use toilet dams. In schools with toilet tanks, put toilet dams inside the tank to take up space that would otherwise be filled with water. Or Install aerators. These devices go inside faucets to reduce water flow and keep water pressure feeling strong.

B4. Water System Maintenance and Repair: Fix leaks in toilets, faucets, and pipes right away.

B5. Keep hot water pipes insulated (to reduce time to run water, waiting for it to warm up)

B6. Water using process improvement – Food Service: 

• Create and implement a foodservice water conservation plan including considering dish-washing practices and equipment efficiencies

C. Outdoor Water Conservation BPAs

C1. Water Efficient Landscape: Plan and implement improvements to  landscape to minimize watering needs such as:

C2. Maximize natural cover, and limit the amount of lawn area in landscaping designs.

• Consider planting more trees, shrubs, and ground covers—and less grass. These plants usually demand less water. Native species are particularly suited for this, as they have adapted to rainfall conditions.

• Apply mulch around trees, beds, and shrubs to control weeds, reduce evaporation, and promote plant growth.

• Add compost or other organic matter to the soil if necessary. This will help soil retain water so that schools will not have to water as frequently.

C3. Water efficient land care practices: Plan and implement water efficient land care practices such as:

• When mowing lawn and field areas, set the mower blades higher by two to three inches. Longer grass shades the soil, improves moisture retention, and grows thicker.

• Only water when necessary. Usually once a week will be enough, if rainfall is not sufficient. 

• Water in the morning or evening to reduce evaporation.

• Do not over water. Put down no more than one inch to encourage deep grass roots. If an automatic irrigation system is used, make sure that it is properly installed and programmed to deliver the appropriate amount of water as well as to have rain shut-off capabilities.

• Keep sprinklers and hoses directed at grassy areas and not the pavement when watering.

• Water during cooler parts of the day (before 10 a.m. and after 5 p.m.) to minimize evaporation loss.

• Do not water on windy days.

• Use drip and other high-efficiency irrigation devices in lieu of sprinklers.

• When mowing lawn areas and playing fields, set the mower blades to 2 to 3 inches high to help shade the soil and improve moisture retention.

C4. Alternative Irrigation: Collect rainwater for irrigating or reuse stormwater

C5. Water efficient Outdoor Cleaning: Plan and implement water efficient outdoor cleaning practices such as:

• Use dry methods (scraping, sweeping, and shoveling) to clean equipment and areas whenever possible.

• When washing, use high-pressure, low-volume washing equipment with minimal or no detergents.

D. Comprehensive Water Efficiency Management BPAs

Actively monitoring water use is recommended for all, but required to achieve higher recognition levels at Step 4 and above. The following BPAs set the foundation for advanced performance. 

D1. Establish a Performance Monitoring Practice

• Allocate time and responsibility to a person or team to regularly (at least quarterly) enter water use data into the B3 Benchmarking System. 

D2. Identify a Performance Baseline

• Using the guidance document, determine the baseline water use for your building using standard use rates per person and code minimum fixture efficiencies. 

D3. Performance Improvement

• Using the B3 Benchmarking system, track performance improvements over time compared to baseline use. Where possible identify the relationship between water efficiency actions and overall water use reductions.

D4. Performance Planning

• Conduct an analysis of current water uses, opportunities for improvements, and make a long term plan for achieving 50-100% savings of water compared to baseline use.

Submit Annual Review

The annual review for this best practice includes

• Confirming that Best Practice Actions are still active. (Eg. is equipment still installed and working? Are event or time based actions repeated each year?) 

• Amending the documentation with any changes

• Adding any lessons learned from the prior year to share with others.

To submit the annual review, send in the BP 1.5 Datasheet with updated calendar year in the update column to reflect which BPAs are still active.

GreenStep Advisor

• Contact mngreenstepsch@umn.edu for assistance

Online Resources:

• Minnesota B3 Benchmarking is a free, online tool for tracking energy and water usage to manage and reduce costs. Use of B3 Benchmarking is recommended by MN GreenStep Schools for both energy and water, and is a prerequisite to achieve GreenStep Schools Step Level 4. 

Education Planning and Actions

Water Efficiency

• U.S. EPA’s website on water efficiency with resources, tips, and tools, including free WAVE Water Management software. www.epa.gov/owm/water-efficiency/

Water Conservation Checklist

• The North Carolina Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance created this useful, three-page checklist to help schools identify both immediate and long-term ways to reduce water consumption.  www.ppays.org/search/pdfframe.asp?pdfurl=/ref//00.pdf 

• Slowing the Flow. American School and University, vol. 76, nr.10, p. 38, 40-42, May 2004, Mike Kennedy. Describes water-saving fixtures for restrooms, including waterless urinals, dual-flush toilets, no-touch hand washers/dryers, and “graywater” toilets.  www.asumag.com/mag/university_slowing_flow/

Water Conservation in Schools Resource List

• National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities’ complete list of water conservation resources. www.edfacilities.org/rl/water.cfm#64

 Funding

Water Conservation Funding Opportunities

• Greening Schools. www.greeningschools.org/resources/funding_opportunities.cfm

 Curriculum Connections

Water Pollution Prevention and Conservation

• U.S. EPA. This lesson plan provides guidance and activities to help teachers meet the following goals: describe water uses and sources, explain why water conservation is important, and explain how pollution prevention can be used to conserve water and prevent water pollution. www.epa.gov/regrcra/wptdiv/ppages/water.pdf

• Project WET - Water Education for Teachers. Project WET activities engage students with hands-on, interdisciplinary lessons that teach important concepts about water. www.projectwet.org

Resources for Water Conservation and Purification

• EcoSchool Design. Scroll down to find a variety of educational tools. - www.ecoschools.com

• Water—Use It Wisely - This site offers many engaging tools to teach students about water conservation, including online games.  - www.wateruseitwisely.com/toolsLinks

References

• Best Practice 1.5 Water Efficiency draws substantially from "Healthy Sustainable Schools: Guide and Assessment Tool for Change." Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. 2007-2008.