water@school

Development of a water safety plan and determination of the water balance in a school building taking into consideration seasonal usage patterns

The project water@school focused on the problems associated with seasonal water use in buildings, in this case a school building. The pipe network of the partner school was assessed and possible effects on relevant chemical and microbiological parameters of the drinking water were determined through a twelve months randomised sampling campaign. Taking into account consumer behaviour these results allowed for the development of a Water Safety Plan (WSP) for the investigated school building.

The project adopted an innovative, combined approach to evaluate the costumer/user component. A classic survey based on questionnaires was supported by the development of web-based tools and the use of smartphones for the flexible collection of behaviour feedback by the students themselves.

Students were actively involved during all project phases, from the creation of the website and the project information materials, the compilation of the school pipeline network inventory, the development of the sampling plan considering the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points approach, to the active sampling, the collaborative development of user and usage questionnaires and their evaluation. The results were presented by the students on their self-developed project website as well as during two dedicated project workshops.

This project has been completed.