Follow these steps to make a plan to do your audit.

1. Do a risk assessment for your water audit. Think about all the things you’ll do and how you can do them safely.
2. Form small groups and select a group leader, recorder and reporter.
3. Gather the things you'll need.

4. Study your audit area on the school map. As a group think about what kinds of water devices are in your area and who uses them.
5. Interview the people who use water.

Water audit video

The video is a short and simple guide to doing a water audit and developing your school's water efficiency plan.

On the day of the audit follow these steps and your plan to find out how and where your school uses water.

1. Gather in your group with your plan and your equipment.
2. Use the Water audit recording sheet (stage 4) to fill in information about the devices in your area using a tally.
3. For each leaking tap you find (a tap that can’t be turned off properly):
   1. hold the measuring jug under the tap and, using the stopwatch or watch, work out how much water is wasted in one minute
   2. write this information under the table
   3. put a mark where the leaking device is on the map.
4. Look at your water bill to find out how much water the school uses every day.
5. Read your school’s water meter.

After the water audit, return to your classroom and review your data as a whole class.

1. Add together each group’s tally to get the total number of devices.
2. Add the leaking devices from each group’s map onto a class map to show where all the leaking devices are.
3. Calculate how much water could be lost through leaking devices in a year by adding up all the millilitres (mL) of water lost from each group’s Water audit recording sheet (stage 4) using the table below.

School water lost through leaks

A	B	C	D	E
Water lost in one minute	Water lost in one hour (A x 60)	Water lost in 24 hours (B x 24)	Converted to litres (C / 1000)	Water lost in a year (D x 365)
A  = mL/min	B = mL/hr	C = mL/day	D = L/day	E = L/yr

4. Discuss your audit findings (the class total) and ways you can help your school become more water efficient. Think of ideas to save water. Learn more about water use and conservation at home and school.
5. Give the information to your Principal so that leaking devices can get repaired.

Report your findings

Finish off your water audit report and record your findings. You should be able to:

• identify if your school is water efficient
• recommend actions for water savings improvements, both fixing faults and changing behaviour
• share your findings with teachers, students, cleaners, facilities and maintenance manager, office and finance manager and Principal.

Need help? Learn How to write a scientific report.

Do a water audit at home and share your new skills with your family, too.

Monitor the outcomes

Monitor your school water use by regularly checking your water meter.

• Has your school improved?
• Are your water saving actions working?
• Have leaking devices been fixed?
• Is the school community following more sustainable behaviours?
• Do you need to keep motivating the people who use water to keep saving water? How could you do that?

How can you tell if a water device is efficient?

An efficient water device could be:

• taps with at least a WELS 4 star rating. They can reduce water use by up to 52%
• taps that automatically turn off and can't be left on
• taps without a handle (can only be used by certain people, like cleaners)
• aerators that screw onto the end of taps. They can reduce the flow rate by more than 50% without reducing pressure.

WELS 4 star tap.

Aerated tap.

Tap with no handle.

We can choose to practise water efficient behaviour to help manage water in our school too. We can do this by:

• checking for leaks and reporting to school staff
• turning the tap on only as hard as you need
• turning the tap off while soaping hands
• using a bucket when washing paint brushes, art supplies or dishes
• using the ½ flush button on your toilet instead of the full flush when you can
• water gardens before 10 am or after 4 pm.

Can you think of other ways to be more water efficient at home or at school?

Learn more about water use and conservation.

Interviewing people who use water at school is a great way to get helpful information about how and where water is used in your school.

Who should I interview?

You should interview people who use water regularly at school. This might be other students, teachers, the school general assistant, cleaners, the school groundskeeper or gardener and your Principal.

What should I ask?

It helps to plan your questions before starting an interview. Ask open-ended questions (questions that can’t be answered with a yes or no) to get the most information. Ask questions like:

• Where do you use water?
• How much water is used and how often?
• What should students do if they see water leaks at school?
• How water efficient are the water devices in the school?
• Is there a rainwater tank in the school to capture water?
• Is there a procedure for identifying and reporting leaks?
• What kinds of water devices are used in the garden?
• Does the school monitor water use?

There’s lots of ways to share your findings from the water audit with your school community. You could share your report, make a presentation or a video, give a speech or hold a meeting.

Think about how what your message is and ways you can get people to take notice of it. You might like to try some Persuasive techniques.

A media campaign could help get your message out. You could try:

• making posters that encourage water wise behaviour
• writing an article for the school newsletter or website
• using social media.

Don’t forget to celebrate your success! People like to know they’ve helped achieve something. So, when you start seeing water savings, think about ways to tell everyone what a great job they’re doing and how they can do more.