STORY: Green Doctor on the Ground – Lattoyah
Meet Lattoyah, a Water Efficiency Lead from Greater Manchester who used to teach in primary schools. After switching jobs to a different type of education, she now visits schools and other organisations to save thousands of litres of water from going to waste!
Lattoyah first spent over ten years employed as a teaching assistant in primary schools. She enjoyed it for a long time but found herself eventually longing for a new challenge. Before taking on the role of Water Efficiency Lead, she first worked as a Groundwork Green Doctor because she was interested in being able to help more people – not just children, but families, the elderly community and those struggling to keep their homes warm.
During her time as a Green Doctor, while Lattoyah was completing free home visits to help people to save energy, she helped a colleague out with administration tasks for a project that offered similar visits to schools and organisations, but specifically to help save water.
Lattoyah really enjoyed the new skillset and knowledge in another field that she was developing from being able to support businesses and the environment in this way. After doing a few visits she became a full time Water Efficiency Lead – working with United Utilities to improve water efficiency across the region through a targeted water saving initiative.
Lattoyah loves going out to visits and finding leaks that clients didn’t know they had – which happens more than you’d think! She enjoys having the expertise to know what to look for and that she can pass this knowledge on so that people can continue to look out for leaks in the future.
Lattoyah said:
“The most challenging aspect is getting the word out there about the free visits and reassuring those who insist that ‘there must be a catch’ or ‘it’s too good to be true’. We overcome this by working with water retailers who send out communications to their customers. We also try to look for any opportunities for more visits. For example, if we have helped a school within an academy trust, we will offer the visits to other schools in the same trust.
“I had a primary school visit booked a few months ago. In the booking notes it stated to ‘be aware of one dripping tap but no other known issues’. As we did the walk around , examining each water outlet, we came across a number of leaks that had gone unnoticed. The client was unaware that they were paying for this water that was being wasted. The main culprit was water running at the back of toilet bowl, which people sometimes think is just the toilet flushing. In total we saved the school approximately 10, 200 litres of water per day from a total of 19 leaks!
“I think the United Utilities Water Saving Project is so important for today’s current climate. Water is a precious resource that we need to protect and reserve as much as possible. Despite the idea that it ‘always rains in Manchester’, there is a real water crisis which needs to be considered in our day-to-day lives. Even small things, like turning off the tap when brushing your teeth, will help in the long run. It’s important that we all play our part, however big or small.”