Busselton Water puts the focus on efficient water use
by Water Source
Busselton Water celebrated this year’s National Water Week with three innovative community engagement initiatives.
The Western Australian water corporation, which supplies drinking water to 26,000 people in the state’s south west, focused on educating its customers about the importance of efficient water use.
Pilot program
Getting young people involved was an important part of the business’ approach. It launched a water conservation pilot program with Busselton Senior High School, giving year 7 students access to detailed data about the school’s water use through a newly-installed water logger.
Over the next year, students will complete a water audit, brainstorm water efficiency measures and implement strategies to save water across the school campus.
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Name the drop
The utility’s waterwise educator, a blue water drop, was named by the local community. In the lead up to National Water Week, residents had the opportunity to suggest names for the mascot, with nearly 2000 people putting forward a name and/or voting for their favourite.
Surprisingly given the result of other public polls, the chosen name wasn’t ‘Water McWater Face’ but ‘Hydro’, which was announced during the week.
Education through art
The 2019 National Water Week theme was ‘It’s time to change the world’, taking inspiration from the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Busselton Water embraced this theme by putting the challenge to local schools to show how the community can ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
Geographe Education Support Centre, Vasse Primary School and Georgiana Molloy Anglican School helped showcase the importance of grey water use, stopping plastic waste from entering waterways, and reducing water consumption at home and in everyday life.
To learn more about National Water Week and how your organisation can get involved, click here.
