Continuing The Composting With The Students of SD Gabriel & Survey of The Water Recycling System At SDN Petemon 13

James Ogilvie – England

We returned to SDK Johannes Gabriel Surabaya, a primary school that located on Jl. Residen Sudirman 1, today to run another workshop with the children there. We carried out some practical activities with them, including making more compost holes filled with leaves and organising the compost baskets in their school. Like we showed them last week, we used a metal tool to bore holes in the ground and fill them with crushed leaves.

We then filled in the holes and marked their location so they can be found at a later date. The children were really keen and excited about digging the holes and collecting leaves to fill the holes with, and we made several holes full of leaves, which in time will break down into compost. Half of the students worked on digging and collecting leaves, while the others worked on organising the compost baskets in their garden.

Afterwards, we returned to the classroom and showed the children a number of environmentally themed cartoons. They are really good, and quite funny, and all have important messages in a way that children are more likely to understand. We asked the children to discuss the messages in each of the videos and write down why it is important, which they did very well.

The second school we visited today was SDN Petemon 13 Surabaya, where I carried out a survey of the water supply and drainage in the school to determine if it is feasible to install a greywater recycling system in the school. SDN Petemon 13 Surabaya is already an eco-school but is very interested in improving itself and becoming even more environmentally friendly. Last time I visited I mentioned a water recycling system might be good for them, and they were very interested so asked me to come back and come up with some ideas.

The main problem is that they use a huge amount of water. In becoming “green and clean” they have planted many plants and trees, which now require lots of water several times a day! The students and teachers also use a lot for washing their hands and faces, especially before praying and to cool down from the heat. Currently, the water from the drains goes straight into the ground, and is basically wasted. More worryingly, the water from the toilets (though luckily not the solid waste) goes straight into the river adjacent to the school, which as you would imagine is disgusting and very smelly.

I had a look around and have come up with a few ideas that could improve the water usage of the school by reusing the water they use in their sinks and toilets for watering their plants, hence reducing the amount of mains water they will use. I now need to look into the technology that is available over here, and then we will meet with the government to see if we can be granted funding to carry out the scheme at Petemon.