NEWS
Lourinhã Secondary School uses
water that falls on the roof
water that falls on the roof
Published on the 15th of march 2017
The High School João Manuel da Costa Delgado (Lourinhã) has already implemented all the climate change adaptation measures envisaged in the project "Water, a Renewable Resource in School", winner of Category A of the "Climate Change" school competition organized by the Climate@EduMedia project.
The school applied the € 30,000 prize in actions aimed at the sustainable use of water resources: collecting and storing rainwater from the roof of the building in cisterns, in order to supply toilet cisterns; the use of water from the well on the school grounds to supply the reservoirs; And the replenishment of water in the well, with feed to the water tables, whenever the maximum storage level is reached.
The measures are primarily geared to" adapting to the consequences of climate change, in particular to the increased occurrence of long periods of drought ", but “it is also expected to result in economic savings ", says the team of teachers responsible for the project. "Considering the size of the school roof, the total rainfall with collection potential is 2 866 910 liters per year." The first step for the implementation of the planned actions was the cleaning of the space for the placement of the cisterns. This was followed by the construction of platforms for the laying and modification of the existing rainwater network, so as to be partially used in the collection of rainwater to supply the cisterns. [See chronology opposite] After the cisterns were built, the well was cleaned and two lifting pumps were installed to store the water. On the roof were installed approximately 60 meters of water distribution piping for the toilets. Finally, pipes were changed inside the bathrooms and cistern protection structures and electromechanical equipment installed. Project objectives achieved The students and teachers who designed the project closely followed the progress of the construction work and documented the different stages in photography. "During this period, some articles about the implementation of the project were also written and published in the newspaper of the Inter-School Group of Lourinhã". Also in the school community in general, the "impact has been significant, especially in the new students, whose awareness of the importance and possibility of implementing concrete measures to combat climate change is awaken", emphasize the teachers involved in the project. They also add that, besides the visible changes in school and the articles published in school media, this theme appears "frequently as a subject of discussion in the disciplines that include these themes". Thus, "the objectives of the project are being achieved": adapting school space to the consequences of climate change and "educating citizens to be aware, involved and genuinely committed to climate change, in particular, and environmental issues, in general". The "Climate Change" school competition aimed precisely to put pupils and teachers from schools that took part in Climate@EduMedia project to think about the importance of mitigation and adaptation to climate change, challenging them to think of concrete measures to implement in their schools. The winners were announced in March 2016 and may implement the proposed measures until the end of March 2017. By: Isabel Pereira |