Water audit at St Augustine College reveals student habits and perspectives | Mikael Balzan, Mattia Stafrace

Maltese households consume the least water in the EU but then consumed an average of 1000 plastic bottles per household in 2021 .

These are highly alarming figures! With the introduction of the Beverage Container Refund Sceme (BCRS) aimed at collecting 90% of single user beverage containers in Malta , this scholastic year, the St Augustine College Ekoskola Committee at the Secondary Campus has launched a water audit amongst its 360 students, 80% of which participated, therefore shedding light on their water consumption habits and sustainability initiatives within the school environment.

62% of students reported using reusable water bottles at school, indicating a positive trend towards sustainable practices. However, there were divided opinions whether single-use water bottles should be completely banned on Campus. Reasons were mostly related to the fear of ending up without spare water if the need arose.

30% of students bring drinking water from home using reverse osmosis systems. This is a positive decision made in households, however the majority of households still opt for buying single-use water bottles for household use.

Almost half of the students who took part in this survey expressed the need for extra water at school. This indicated the need for water availability on campus for all students, which has been addressed by the College administration with the installation of a water fountain on Campus, which the students are using to refill their bottles when needed. In this way students do not need to leave single use water bottles in the lockers, or carry heavier school bags to have extra water available.

The Committee has been educating students on how to use the water fountain, and avoid excess use to avoid the wastage of water.

Water wastage was in fact the second point in our investigation this year. In the past two years, water-saving devices were installed in all flushings. However, in a College with more than 20 bathrooms, it is important to check regularly for water leakages. The Ekoskola Committee members checked this out during the first term and identified a few loose taps and flushings that were seen to by the maintenance team.

The next step was to present our findings with the College Rector, Fr David Cortis OSA, and discuss the way forward where students and school administration would collaborate to create sustainable practices to further save water on Campus and beyond.

During our discussion, we discovered that while we have one working water reservoir collecting water from parts of the Campus, there are others on Campus that need cleaning and re-integration into the secondary water collection network to be used as water reservoirs for surface runoff from the other buildings. We also do not collect water from the air conditioning units, that have been installed in the past few years.

We therefore came out with a project that combines public awareness about water wastage that we will be sharing in the local community via the Local Council and Parish, while the College administration will be working on the infrastructure to upgrade the water collection system. In this way the College will be able to roughly collect a further 470m3 of water with 3 more wells.

The Committee is also working towards raising funds towards these projects through a second-hand book sale, thus contributing to the circular economy, while finding new ways to educate our fellow students about the actions we are taking.

The Committe also applied for funds through the LIFE school projects for the restoration of the school water reservoirs.

The application was approved, and the restoration will be partially funded by the Energy and Water Agency.

The focus of the Committee is an educational campaign through information posters, contributions in the student-led newsletter, and a Campus-wide quiz.

In this way we aim to reach our fellow students, their families and their local communities and encourage them to make minor changes in their daily routines, so that together we fulfill the title of our campaign – H20: Every Drop Counts!