Knysna High wins Youth Water Prize

KNYSNA NEWS - Knysna High School was the Western Cape winner in the SA Youth Water Prize (SAYWP) competition which was recently held in George. The competition, organised by the department of water and sanitation, seeks to promote the idea of water conservation among the youth.

Grade 11 learners from three schools, George, Knysna and Vredenburg high schools were competing for the first position as they presented their projects to a panel of judges.

The SAYWP gives learners an opportunity to identify water and sanitation-related problems in their schools or communities (such as pollution of water sources, water-borne diseases, health and hygiene, invasive alien species), do research and present recommendable solutions to the problems.

Knysna High impressed the judges most with their awareness category. The school recommends the use of grey water for flushing and watering gardens to curb water wastage. Shante Strydom from Knysna High says that on average, 798 houses can flush more than 10 000 litres of clean potable water per day. "We suggest that people start thinking about converting grey water into usable water," said Shante.

Knysna High received R6 000 in prize money. The team will represent the province during the national competition in Pretoria later this month, with a possibility of representing the country in Stockholm, Sweden during the Stockholm Junior Water Prize competition, against more than 27 countries.

The objective of this competition is to promote the protection of natural resources and increase awareness amongst young people.