International Grammar School Sydney

A commitment to best practice in efficiency led the International Grammar School in Sydney to adopt sensor tapware for their washrooms. Installing Presto Volta has resulted in better hygiene, a reduction in water usage and better user comfort.

As a community of over 1000 students, teachers and staff, the International Grammar School in Sydney was established in Randwick in 1984, and moved to its current Ultimo campus in 1997. A thriving community, students from Preschool right through to Year 12 are exposed to an engaging culture of language, music and high academic standards.

Best practice management

The school has adopted a Best Practice model when it comes to environmental management, with a range of initiatives being implemented to help students, teachers and staff to be considerate of their surroundings and the impact they have on the environment.

EnviroBanks in the campus courtyard, recycling of paper in classrooms, battery and lamp recycling, and the replacement of old, inefficient fluoro tubes with newer, longer-life and lower emission T5 tubes are just some of the initiatives from the Facilities Management team.

Reducing water use and maintenance costs

Sensor taps had been suggested as an important consideration for reducing water and also ensuring better hygiene for users.

“When it came time to update tapware throughout the school, we wanted to keep in mind the best practice approach. Sensor taps had been on our radar for some time, and that of our parents & teachers group. The availability of a Government Water Grant made it possible,” said Facilities Manager, Patrick Skagerfält.

The Facilities Management team opted to install the Presto Volta Sensor tap. Presto Volta is designed to deliver high levels of hygiene for users, reduce the amount of water used in each wash and has several features that improve water efficiency, such as sensor activated flow and automatic shut off when the user removes his or her hands.

“We spoke to Thornthwaite about the Volta, and they came out to see us and find out about our requirements.” says Pramod Mainali, the school’s Maintenance Supervisor. “We were impressed by the ease of maintenance and the emphasis on hygiene with the tap.”

Installing Volta

Over seventy taps have been installed throughout the school, a combination of non-mixers in the student washrooms and mixer taps in the teacher washrooms.

Battery versions of the taps were used because the taps needed to be retrofitted to existing washbasins and offered easier installation. Battery versions have on average a 3 year battery life.*

“Thornthwaite’s customer service has been very good - both in training us how to maintain the Voltas and with technical support,” said Pramod. “We have a preventative maintenance program, so being able to service the taps efficiently is very important.”

The outcome

The result? Substantially less water being used and less maintenance time. With a best practice ethos being applied across the school’s facilities, the International Grammar School is well on its way to achieving a greener, more environmentally-aware community.

“We have seen a substantial reduction in water usage and fewer maintenance requests by both teachers and students. And, as the use of efficient, green technology becomes commonplace, the question is then ‘What’s the next goal in efficiency?’” said Patrick Skagerfält.

* Tested to 40 cycles per hour for eight hours per day, which is equivalent to 3 years’ daily use at these levels.