Schools and Universities
Teach your students about water conservation and efficiency with great teacher resources!
Schools and universities use large volumes of water in high-traffic bathrooms and commercial kitchens, but adopting efficient practices and installing efficient products in these areas could significantly reduce the amount of water used. For example, if just half of Pennsylvania's elementary schools replaced their existing urinals with new efficient urinals, the commonwealth could save more than 50 million gallons of water annually.
What Can You Do
Did you know?
Pennsylvania's elementary and secondary educational system includes more than 5,700 schools, with a total enrollment of more than 2 million students. In addition, Pennsylvania is home to about 160 colleges and universities.
High-Traffic Bathrooms
- Install efficient toilets and urinals.
- Install efficient faucets.
Commercial Kitchens
- Install efficient pre-rinse spray valves.
- Replace boiler steamers with connectionless steamers.
- Install water-efficient dishwashers that use less than 1 gallon per rinse cycle.
- Use dry heat setting on combination ovens.
- Replace water-cooled ice machines with air-cooled units.
- Defrost food in refrigerator rather than under running water.
Locker Rooms
- Install efficient showerheads.
Landscaping and Athletic Fields
- Regularly check water meters to identify leaks in irrigation systems.
- Investigate using treated wastewater effluent for irrigation. Wastewater contains nutrients that can be used by turfgrass better than by any other plants.
- Wash equipment and machinery with soap and water from a bucket instead of water from a running hose.
- Design school ground landscaping with water conservation in mind.
- Harvest rainwater for reuse and make its collection a school project allowing students to get involved.
- Allow native plants to thrive.