For the first time in the history of Kazakhstan’s secondary-level education, a professional scientific research laboratory of water biotechnology was created in a school. The laboratory equipment was donated by TURAN, a natural water brand, to Gandhi Lyceum №92.
The first school laboratory is fully outfitted with specialized equipment for analyzing the quality and properties of water and can be used to study physiological properties of water and its potability. With the provided equipment, the lab can make a full analysis of water along 19 criteria. This is a very high-level lab and is uncommon for a school to have, otherwise only companies producing drinking water and sanitary-epidemiological authorities have such facilities.
“We drink water every day, but we still don’t know enough about its properties. We plan to make the study of different types of Kazakhstani drinking water an ongoing project and to keep the society informed about their composition,” said Madi Kadylbek, a 10th grade student of Gandhi Lyceum №92.
The lab was set up in November-December 2016. It got a full set of research equipment: an aquadistillator, microscope, dryers and air hoods, burners and stoves, pH meters and turbidimeters, a spectrophotometer, conductometers, labware, protective gear and a supply of chemicals enough for a year. Before the lab was launched, the lyceum’s teachers were taught how to work in a professional lab and how to analyze water.
The Principal of Gandhi Lyceum №92 Yerulan Zhienbayev said, “The opening of the water lab is a big event for our school. Thanks to TURAN natural water company, the grand aspirations of our students to study water and work towards improving people’s health have become a reality. They have always dreamed of discovering new properties of water not yet known to science, and maybe in the near future such a discovery will be made here at the lyceum.”
Lyceums students are planning to analyze all the bottled water that can be obtained from Almaty stores and check each type for compliance with the national standards of Kazakhstan and the international standards for physiologically wholesome drinking water.
