Water is one of the most important elements in our environment. In this post, we will describe the most important uses of water in school.
The main uses of water in school are for drinking, cleaning, gardening, food preparation, recreational purposes, in laboratories, and for bathroom disposal.
Let’s have a look at each of these uses in detail.
Water Uses in a School – The Complete Answer
Water is essential for our everyday tasks at home. It plays a similar part in our school. Water makes life in school and all the operations in it much easier.
Here are some of the main uses water serves:
Keeping the students hydrated
Various research suggests that a well-hydrated student is happier, more focused, and healthy. Every student should have easy access to water to keep developing energetic and healthy children during the long hours of school. Due to the refreshing properties of water, it is a known fact that water helps boost a student’s learning capabilities.
Water in schools for consumption are usually provided with drinking fountains, which will be normally located in the common areas such as corridors, halls or dinning areas.
Keeping the school healthy and clean
Since the flu may spread quickly, it is important to maintain clean premises in school. Cleaning helps protect students from contracting illnesses and harmful bacteria. Having a clean environment has also been proven to help students study and learn better.
As we all know, water is a key ingredient within our cleaning routines, both at home and in school. It is used to clean the floors and it can also be used to clean furniture and other elements.
Gardening
Water is essential to maintaining a healthy garden and a green school ground. Gardening is a great way for children to learn about nutrition and life cycles. It’s also important to maintain the school’s grounds to ensure the students have a great play area.
With gardening, water is used to feed the plants or grass so that they grow healthy. Alternatives to fresh water are available here in order to reduce the water consumption.
Preparing food
Water plays an important role in the kitchen and is used to prepare most types of food. Water is also used to keep certain foods clean such as fruit.
For example, water will be used to boil legumes, grain or vegetables. Water will also be used to clean fruits or fresh vegetables before serving them.
Swimming Pool
Of course, a functioning swimming pool needs water. Swimming pools teach kids to be safe around water. It also serves as a great form of exercise. Swimming gives a full-body workout and helps improve cardiovascular function.
Restrooms
The restroom is perhaps one of the key areas you’ll find that uses lots of water. The toilets, sinks, and showers need water to operate properly.
In this case, there are a lot of different strategies that can be put in place in order to minimize water waste.
Chemistry & Biology
Water is one of the most unique molecules that are important to biological systems. The polarity of water is responsible for dissolving other polar molecules or ionic compounds. Water is important for these studies.
Water serves many more purposes and is useful in a lot of areas during a normal school day. Water is needed for a school to function optimally.
Why Students Need Water in School
Students staying very well hydrated are much more sharp, creative, and can process things quicker. Drinking water could also help relieve anxiety and stress for students. So, proper hydration is needed for each student’s success in school.
Below is a list of the many health benefits that staying hydrated gives:
- Improves blood oxygen circulation.
- Helps maximize cognitive function.
- Helps enhance students’ physical performance.
- Helps the body flush out toxins and waste.
- Regulates the body’s temperature.
- Aids the transportation of nutrients and oxygen in the body.
- Helps the body digest more effectively.
How to Save Water in School
Environmental crisis such as droughts and melting ice caps reminds us just how precious our water is. We treat water as if it were an everlasting resource. But even then, we should ensure that schools take measures to protect and conserve water. Schools should encourage their students and teaching staff to not waste water for the next generations.
Certain steps may be taken to help encourage water conservation:
- Place signs near sinks reminding students to turn off taps and to close them tightly after using them.
- Create and scatter colorful posters that raise awareness of water-saving around the school.
- Place containers under the water fountains and dispensers to save excess water for use in the garden.
- Promote refillable water bottles. Reusable water bottles help keep the environment clean.
- Fit taps with aerators. Aerators help reduce the amount of water from the tap whilst still maintaining good pressure.
- Using rainwater tanks. Rainwater tanks could be connected to toilets and also could be used for a school’s garden.
If you would like to learn a bit more about how to save water in school, be sure to check our post “How Can We Conserve Water at School?“.
Greywater For School Can Substitute Fresh Water In Some Uses
Grey water is the wastewater generated for reuse. Grey water makes up for about 65 percent of total water wasted by an average home.
Greywater comes from streams free from fecal matter. Greywater is sourced through showers, sinks, washing machines, and dishwashers. Greywater is mostly safe to handle because it contains less harmful substances than most domestic wastewater. Greywater is useful to reuse for toilets, gardens, and other non-potable uses. Installing a greywater reusing system comes with many substantial benefits.
These economic benefits include the following:
- Reduces demand for freshwater.
- Reduced energy use and chemical pollutions that come with treatment
- Reclamation of nutrients
- Re-using greywater reduces the volume of sewage effluent entering waterways.
Using a greywater reuse system significantly reduces the cost of domestic water consumption and also relieves the pressure on global water resources.
Water Usage Stats
An example of why schools should make students aware is the fact that a single dripping tap can waste up to 84 liters of water a week.
Estimates are varied, but generally, each person uses about 80 to 100 gallons of water a day in a regular household. An average family group may waste up to 180 gallons of water a week, which is around 9,400 gallons of water yearly. This number is equal to the amount of water used for washing around 300 or so loads of laundry.
Leaks in a house may waste upwards of 900 billion gallons of water nationwide. This ridiculous amount of water is as much water about 11 million homes may use in a year. And handwashing a load of dishes may take 20 gallons of water.
So imagine how much more gallons of water a school filled with hundreds of children uses on a daily basis.
Ways to Keep the School’s Water Clean
Government standards and regulations require that a school’s water supply should be clean and safe for use.
Lead plumbing parts can contaminate the water that flows through it. Water may also become dirty because of negligence. All staff and students should always make sure to avoid flushing non-biodegradable items down the toilet.
Schools should test their water to figure out how clean their water is. Schools should always provide a safe way of drinking water if their taps are not up to date. A set of plans should be put in place to prevent water contamination. Filtration systems throughout the school’s water system help keep it clean from contamination.
Final Thoughts
Students spend a significant amount of their lives at school. Because of this, they should have all the simple necessities for them to stay healthy and develop naturally while they’re on school premises. Remember, water does not have only one use. It is essential for a student’s daily routine and tasks. This is why a school should offer access to clean and fresh water at all times.
