A water conservation project managed by St Theresa College was inaugurated this morning by Education Minister Dolores Cristina.

The project aims to collect the rain water gathered on the roofs of the schools incorporated in the project - those of Birkirkara, Sta Venera, Msida and Lija, preventing it from being wasted.

Education Minister Dolores Cristina said during a visit to the college at Mriehel this morning that the initiative was in line with the country's environmental policy, announced by the Prime Minister some days ago and which highlighted the principles everyone should adopt.

The project involves the installation of a rainwater catchment system, through which rainwater is trapped, filtered and drained into the water table through a borehole. It also features the installation of regulated push taps and the addition of hippo bags to each of the 255 flushing cisterns in the college. These initiatives, coordinated by hydrologist Marco Cremona, will save the college a projected 3.5 million litres of water every scholastic year.

Frank Fabri, Principal of St Therese College, spoke of the college’s inclusive approach towards environmental conservation. All members of the college, be it teaching staff, administrators and cleaners or students, were involved in every stage of the conservation process.

Ms Cristina welcomed the college’s initiatives, saying that it was a further step towards transforming schools into educators of their communities, as well as making them more autonomous in their use of resources such as water and electricity.