Rural Aid secures drinking water for students after Valkyrie State School ran dry
| A small central Queensland state school now has a secure drinking water supply, after six years of dry taps and plastic bottles. Australia’s most trusted rural charity, Rural Aid, has facilitated the installation of a SOURCE Hydropanel array at Valkyrie State School and believes that this technology could help facilitate drinking water security for other struggling schools. SOURCE Hydropanels utilise advanced materials and renewable energy to create high-quality drinking water using only air and sunlight. Rural Aid delivered more than 10 million litres of drinking water to farming families during the drought. The Valkyrie Hydropanel installation is Rural Aid’s third water-delivery project at a Queensland school. Valkyrie P&C President Kristen Michelmore said the Hydropanels have given the community a huge amount of peace of mind since their installation late last month. Ms Michelmore said prior to the Hydropanels’ installation, students had taken it upon themselves to monitor how much water they drank during the day. “School needs to be a safe place where kids can learn and not have to worry about turning on a tap,” Ms Michelmore said. “Regional school children should be treated the same as those in the cities and provided the same basic services. Through my work with the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association it is clear this is not just a problem for Valkyrie – many other schools across regional and remote Australia have issues with drinking water quality and access, so it would be great to see more projects like this supported by the Government and Education Department.” “A huge thanks to Rural Aid, Stanmore Resources, the Central Queensland Mining Rehabilitation Group and SOURCE for providing potable water to our school.” Rural Aid CEO John Warlters said the technology will better the students’ quality of life. “Droughts are difficult for kids to process, so to not have safe drinking water at school, on top of dry taps at home, is an appalling situation,” Mr Warlters said. “Rural Aid acted quickly to offer the Valkyrie school community a sustainable and drought-proof alternative to trucked-in water. We’re hoping that this installation will serve as the benchmark for providing water across more schools in Queensland that face issues of scarcity and contamination.” “Rural Aid is proud to have provided a solution to this rural community’s drinking water woes,” Mr Warlters said. SOURCE Global’s Director of Market Development, Alex Polson, said that the innovative technology will shore up supplies and provide much needed resilience for students, parents, and teachers within the Valkyrie community. “No parent or teacher should have to worry about where they’re going to get drinking water from for their children and students, so we’re glad that SOURCE Hydropanels can ensure a consistent, drought-proof supply of water here in Valkyrie” he said. Rural Aid, SOURCE Global, the Central Queensland Mining Rehabilitation Group and Stanmore Resources have covered the majority of the panels’ costs with some local funding also helping to finalise the project. With the school previously reliant on plastic bottled water and donations, SOURCE also highlighted the environmental benefit of the Hydropanels, with the Hydropanel array able to offset more than 800,000 plastic bottles over its 15-year lifetime. “The use of decentralised, renewable technologies like SOURCE Hydropanels give regional and remote parts of Australia the ability to become healthier and more climate resilient, while avoiding the cost, waste, and inconvenience of single use plastic bottles,” Mr Polson said. For more information or interviews, contact Rural Aid media on media@ruralaid.org.au or 0447 116 757; or to find out more information about SOURCE Hydropanels please contact, Alex Polson on alex.polson@source.co or 0405 367 020 About Rural Aid Rural Aid is Australia’s most trusted rural charity. We stand with our farmers when they need us most. Rural Aid provides critical support to farmers affected by natural disaster through financial, wellbeing and fodder assistance. Rural Aid’s community programs help create more sustainable communities by building stronger futures for all Australian farmers. Find out more at www.ruralaid.org.au About SOURCE A Public Benefit Corporation, SOURCE Global, PBC’s mission is to make drinking water an unlimited resource. The company’s SOURCE® Hydropanels create drinking water using sunlight and air as the only inputs, and can put the power of safe, sustainable drinking water in the hands of every person in nearly every climate and corner of the world. SOURCE is on Fast Company’s 2020 list of most innovative social good companies. The company is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, and operates in 48 countries and on six continents. SOURCE is a registered trademark of SOURCE Global, PBC. For more information, visit www.source.co and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Background Valkyrie State School, southwest of Mackay, completely ran out of water in June 2021. Students and staff had to rely on store-brought plastic bottled water, with a high economic and environmental cost. The school unfortunately missed out on funding from the QLD 2021 State Budget to access alternative supplies of water, and the Queensland Government even blocked their ability to accept charitable donations of bottled water. Through a coalition of supporters, including Rural Aid, technology partner SOURCE Global, mining company Stanmore Resources, and the Central Queensland Mining Rehabilitation Group, the school was able to install 15 Hydropanels which supply a drought resilient drinking water supply, independent of any infrastructure. SOURCE has also collaborated with the Department of Education in NSW to supply drinking water to ten remote and regional schools, which has been well received by students and teachers alike. Through collaborations with Patty Mills they have also been able to support remote Indigenous schools including Cunnamulla in Queensland, and Oodnadatta in South Australia. They were also able to supply water during the March Queensland/New South Wales floods, transporting water from their 600-panel water farm in Queensland to a school in Lismore that was serving as an evacuation point. As a result of the floods drinking water in the area became contaminated and undrinkable. Other schools in Queensland have also experienced supply challenges or run out of water completely, including Tamborine Mountain State School which ran dry in 2019. Clarke Creek State School also relies on a nearby creek for non-potable water, while Mistake Creek State School, and Woodstock State School both rely on bore water [comments RE schools via Burdekin MP Dale Last in ABC News article]. Article References: ABC Tropical North: Valkyrie State School trucks in water, bans students from playing on hard, unsafe oval ABC Tropical North: Valkyrie State School parents, students getting more frustrated as water crisis continues CQ News/Courier Mail: Govt bans ‘school with no water’ from accepting help CQ News/Courier Mail: Valkyrie State School water crisis continues after missing out on funding CQ News/Courier Mail: Education Minister Weighs in on Valkyrie State School CQ News/Courier Mail: Valkyrie State School water crisis continues with further delay The Guardian: Queensland school [Mt Tamborine] runs out of water as commercial bottlers harvest local supply |
| Rural Aid secures drinking water for students after Valkyrie State School ran dry |
| A small central Queensland state school now has a secure drinking water supply, after six years of dry taps and plastic bottles. Australia’s most trusted rural charity, Rural Aid, has facilitated the installation of a SOURCE Hydropanel array at Valkyrie State School and believes that this technology could help facilitate drinking water security for other struggling schools. SOURCE Hydropanels utilise advanced materials and renewable energy to create high-quality drinking water using only air and sunlight. Rural Aid delivered more than 10 million litres of drinking water to farming families during the drought. The Valkyrie Hydropanel installation is Rural Aid’s third water-delivery project at a Queensland school. Valkyrie P&C President Kristen Michelmore said the Hydropanels have given the community a huge amount of peace of mind since their installation late last month. Ms Michelmore said prior to the Hydropanels’ installation, students had taken it upon themselves to monitor how much water they drank during the day. “School needs to be a safe place where kids can learn and not have to worry about turning on a tap,” Ms Michelmore said. “Regional school children should be treated the same as those in the cities and provided the same basic services. Through my work with the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association it is clear this is not just a problem for Valkyrie – many other schools across regional and remote Australia have issues with drinking water quality and access, so it would be great to see more projects like this supported by the Government and Education Department.” “A huge thanks to Rural Aid, Stanmore Resources, the Central Queensland Mining Rehabilitation Group and SOURCE for providing potable water to our school.” Rural Aid CEO John Warlters said the technology will better the students’ quality of life. “Droughts are difficult for kids to process, so to not have safe drinking water at school, on top of dry taps at home, is an appalling situation,” Mr Warlters said. “Rural Aid acted quickly to offer the Valkyrie school community a sustainable and drought-proof alternative to trucked-in water. We’re hoping that this installation will serve as the benchmark for providing water across more schools in Queensland that face issues of scarcity and contamination.” “Rural Aid is proud to have provided a solution to this rural community’s drinking water woes,” Mr Warlters said. SOURCE Global’s Director of Market Development, Alex Polson, said that the innovative technology will shore up supplies and provide much needed resilience for students, parents, and teachers within the Valkyrie community. “No parent or teacher should have to worry about where they’re going to get drinking water from for their children and students, so we’re glad that SOURCE Hydropanels can ensure a consistent, drought-proof supply of water here in Valkyrie” he said. Rural Aid, SOURCE Global, the Central Queensland Mining Rehabilitation Group and Stanmore Resources have covered the majority of the panels’ costs with some local funding also helping to finalise the project. With the school previously reliant on plastic bottled water and donations, SOURCE also highlighted the environmental benefit of the Hydropanels, with the Hydropanel array able to offset more than 800,000 plastic bottles over its 15-year lifetime. “The use of decentralised, renewable technologies like SOURCE Hydropanels give regional and remote parts of Australia the ability to become healthier and more climate resilient, while avoiding the cost, waste, and inconvenience of single use plastic bottles,” Mr Polson said. For more information or interviews, contact Rural Aid media on media@ruralaid.org.au or 0447 116 757; or to find out more information about SOURCE Hydropanels please contact, Alex Polson on alex.polson@source.co or 0405 367 020 About Rural Aid Rural Aid is Australia’s most trusted rural charity. We stand with our farmers when they need us most. Rural Aid provides critical support to farmers affected by natural disaster through financial, wellbeing and fodder assistance. Rural Aid’s community programs help create more sustainable communities by building stronger futures for all Australian farmers. Find out more at www.ruralaid.org.au About SOURCE A Public Benefit Corporation, SOURCE Global, PBC’s mission is to make drinking water an unlimited resource. The company’s SOURCE® Hydropanels create drinking water using sunlight and air as the only inputs, and can put the power of safe, sustainable drinking water in the hands of every person in nearly every climate and corner of the world. SOURCE is on Fast Company’s 2020 list of most innovative social good companies. The company is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, and operates in 48 countries and on six continents. SOURCE is a registered trademark of SOURCE Global, PBC. For more information, visit www.source.co and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Background Valkyrie State School, southwest of Mackay, completely ran out of water in June 2021. Students and staff had to rely on store-brought plastic bottled water, with a high economic and environmental cost. The school unfortunately missed out on funding from the QLD 2021 State Budget to access alternative supplies of water, and the Queensland Government even blocked their ability to accept charitable donations of bottled water. Through a coalition of supporters, including Rural Aid, technology partner SOURCE Global, mining company Stanmore Resources, and the Central Queensland Mining Rehabilitation Group, the school was able to install 15 Hydropanels which supply a drought resilient drinking water supply, independent of any infrastructure. SOURCE has also collaborated with the Department of Education in NSW to supply drinking water to ten remote and regional schools, which has been well received by students and teachers alike. Through collaborations with Patty Mills they have also been able to support remote Indigenous schools including Cunnamulla in Queensland, and Oodnadatta in South Australia. They were also able to supply water during the March Queensland/New South Wales floods, transporting water from their 600-panel water farm in Queensland to a school in Lismore that was serving as an evacuation point. As a result of the floods drinking water in the area became contaminated and undrinkable. Other schools in Queensland have also experienced supply challenges or run out of water completely, including Tamborine Mountain State School which ran dry in 2019. Clarke Creek State School also relies on a nearby creek for non-potable water, while Mistake Creek State School, and Woodstock State School both rely on bore water [comments RE schools via Burdekin MP Dale Last in ABC News article]. Article References: ABC Tropical North: Valkyrie State School trucks in water, bans students from playing on hard, unsafe oval ABC Tropical North: Valkyrie State School parents, students getting more frustrated as water crisis continues CQ News/Courier Mail: Govt bans ‘school with no water’ from accepting help CQ News/Courier Mail: Valkyrie State School water crisis continues after missing out on funding CQ News/Courier Mail: Education Minister Weighs in on Valkyrie State School CQ News/Courier Mail: Valkyrie State School water crisis continues with further delay The Guardian: Queensland school [Mt Tamborine] runs out of water as commercial bottlers harvest local supply |