Children from Strandtown Primary have been keeping water diaries detailing each time they have used or come across water during a typical day.

The pupils will compare their diaries with ones completed by schoolchildren in Cambodia where the British Red Cross supports water and sanitation work in schools.

Leigh Daynes, spokesman at the British Red Cross, said: "The idea behind the water diaries is to encourage the children to think about where their water comes from and how they use it.

"By comparing their water use to that of a child in Cambodia they are also able to look at the bigger, global picture and to discuss what water related issues children from other countries may face."

Colin Devine, a Year 6 teacher at Strandtown Primary, said that the children in his class learned a lot from completing the water diaries and thinking about their counterparts in Cambodia.

"The children who have written water diaries are amazed at just how much water they use on a daily basis, how many different tasks involve using water and how much they take it for granted," he said.

Pupil Susannah Ashfield (11) said: "In Cambodia the children have to help carry water from a well or a river and the water isn't very clean or safe to drink. I hadn't realised before how lucky we are."

For children in Cambodia water is an integral part of the culture as many families rely on fishing or rice farming for income, there is an annual water festival and often there are floating villages housing hundreds of people and even incorporating a floating school.

According to the UN, every day around 6,000 children die from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, more than a billion people do not have access to safe water and well over 2 billion people live without adequate sanitation.

More than half of the developing world's population is suffering from one or more of diseases associated with unsafe water and poor sanitation.

Gregory Rose, health advisor at the British Red Cross, said: "The most vulnerable in Cambodia are often children - in Oddar Meanchey, where the British Red Cross is working with schools to provide safe, clean water in classrooms, the statistics are shocking."

The British Red Cross has been working in Cambodia for over 5 years and has provided over 1,000 water filter units, over 200 latrines and over 50 hand dug wells with pumps serving almost 2,000 people.

Over 100 Red Cross volunteers give hygiene promotion sessions to the most vulnerable.

The British Red Cross has also launched an education resource in time for World Water Day to help schools raise basic hygiene awareness among students.

Teachers can get a free copy by emailing reducation@redcross.org.uk or by downloading it from www.redcross.org.uk/ handwashak.

It is suitable for primary school children and could also be used in secondary schools.