What is the Problem?
Kamehameha Schools Kapālama gets all of its water from a well or aquifer below ground meaning that they don't have to pay for water. This is an unusual situation that has both benefits and flaws. The benefit is that the water comes from a reserve and Kamehameha schools doesn't have to pay for the water, but the flaw is that because they don't have to pay for the water, it allows us to be less mindful in our water usage.
In the 2013-2014 school year, data was collected to show that the school as a whole consumed 75.6 million gallons. Of that 75.6 million gallons, more than 25% of that water is being used for landscaping. 76 million gallons is an enormous amount of water for one school to be utilizing.
In the 2013-2014 school year, data was collected to show that the school as a whole consumed 75.6 million gallons. Of that 75.6 million gallons, more than 25% of that water is being used for landscaping. 76 million gallons is an enormous amount of water for one school to be utilizing.
We found data on the well that Kamehameha schools draws their water from that shows the level of the groundwater within the well in comparison to how deep the well is itself.
If the water level was already 4/5 empty in 2000 and we've been using about 76 million gallons per year since then, I would be scared to discover the current water level. This was the most recent water level study conducted on the Kamehameha Schools well so there's no way of knowing what the water level is now but if we continue to use millions of gallons of water every year, we will deplete the well.
How can we solve this problem?
Our solution to this problem was to reduce the amount of water we utilize from the well by creating a rain catchment system so that we could use rain water to water the various māla (garden) on campus instead of water from our reserve. The thought process behind our solution was that rain typically goes back to the ʻāina (land, earth) anyway so...
why are we using clean water from our reservoir to water our māla on campus?
This is the question that gave us our idea for our project.
why are we using clean water from our reservoir to water our māla on campus?
This is the question that gave us our idea for our project.