Yorkshire Water to fix leak after Hebden Royd pupils uncover million-litre waste of water

Since 13 May, a water leak outside Hebden Royd Primary School in Hebden Bridge has been pouring out a staggering amount of water, right by the school gates, streaming down Church Lane.

Despite numerous reports to Yorkshire Water, no action has been taken to fix the issue, frustrating local residents and raising serious concerns among eco-conscious pupils.

Year 3/4 decided to take matters into their own hands and, armed with jugs, buckets, and stopwatches, they measured the water flow and found that at least nine litres were pouring out of the ground every 30 seconds.

The pupils took this knowledge back to class and their calculations revealed nearly one million litres of water had been wasted in 38 days – enough to fill 12,000 baths or make 333,400 cups of tea.

The children also calculated that the cost of the lost water, based on water rates, amounts to £1,790.

"We couldn't believe how much water is being wasted, pouring out of the ground outside our school,” said Madeleine McNichol, a Year 4 pupil involved in the investigation.

"We measured it and were even more shocked when we worked out it was almost a million litres. We are careful to save water ourselves with things like turning off the taps when we brush our teeth so we think Yorkshire Water should be careful too.”

The pupils’ efforts to highlight the waste provided a real-world application for their maths skills whilst learning about the environment. Their school’s commitment to the local environment has already earned them a Green Flag as an Eco School.

Despite Yorkshire Water finally sending someone to fix the leak after 39 days, the problem persists. Local residents, appalled with the water continuously flowing down the street, have also expressed their frustration. The pupils are now planning to write a letter to Yorkshire Water to complain about the ongoing waste and demand action.

Headteacher of Hebden Royd Primary School, Rob Paton, said: “We’re all aware of the importance of saving water. It’s not long since we had almost empty reservoirs and hosepipe bans in Calderdale. Our pupils have shown amazing initiative to highlight the shocking amount of water being wasted here, and the numbers continue to climb. Yorkshire Water needs to follow their lead and take immediate action to fix this leak.”

In response to the Halifax Courier, Yorkshire Water said because of where the leak is located, they need a permit to fix the issue as well as having to instigate a road closure, which is problematic due to being outside a school.

They said a road closure would mean people living in some surroundings streets wouldn’t be able to get in or out of their homes, meaning the work needs to be carried out at weekends or ‘out-of-hours’.

In a statement, Yorkshire Water said: "Saving water is very important and it's great to see that the children at Hebden Royd are so eco-conscious.

"We do everything we can to get repairs fixed as quickly as possible, but this one has been very tricky to sort due to where the leak is in the road and the road closure we'll need to put in place that will inconvenience local residents.

"We're fixing the leak on Sunday and we'll be getting in touch with the school to see how we can help support them with their eco-learning."