Project to rid school of 'revolting water'

Lilly Hardisty and Harry Setiawan, both 5, will be filling their bottles with filtered water in the next couple of months. Photo / Michael Cunnigham

Ruakaka School is about to say goodbye to its "revolting" drinking water.

It is the first school in Northland to sign up with the Water in Schools project, which will filter the entire school's drinking water for free.

Principal Marilyn Dunn said while there were no issues with the quality of the water at the school, it did not taste nice.

"The water out here is revolting," Ms Dunn said. "The kids deserve better than that."

Because it would not cost the school anything, she thought "why not".

The Water in Schools project, launched last month, aims to improve the water quality in schools nationally.

The $150,000 project, led by HRV, will install new filtration systems in 60 schools around the country.

While Ruakaka was one of the first 15 to sign on, there was interest from other Northland schools, a spokeswoman for the project said.

"Many of the schools involved in the project are located in smaller towns and rural areas which have water quality compliance issues," she said.

The filtration system would be installed in the next couple of months after a visit from a plumber. The water in the staffroom was filtered but doing the entire school was difficult until now, she said.

"If we have a new water system I am sure they will want to drink more," Ms Dunn said. It is already a "water only" school.

The move to filtered water was a natural one for the eco-friendly school, which already has a chicken coop, vege garden and fruit trees.