Celebrate Drinking Water Week, May 13 – 19, 2012 by attending one of the many community events being held throughout the province, and submit your water wise pledge in the Community Water Challenge for a chance to win an exciting water-themed getaway in BC.
When you turn on your tap and clean, safe water comes out, do you ever stop to think about how it gets there and where it ends up when you’re finished with it?
BC Water & Waste Association (BCWWA) invites you to celebrate Drinking Water Week 2012 by learning more about your water and how a few simple changes in your water use habits can have an impact. Take the Community Water Challenge and pledge to take shorter showers, install water-efficient fixtures and appliances, turn off the tap when shaving, brushing teeth or doing dishes, and stop disposing of medications, grease and household cleaners by putting them down the drain.
By making one of five simple pledges to be more water wise, participants will automatically be entered in draw for a prize package featuring and a 2-night stay and dinner for two at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver, and a roundtrip for two on Helijet’s scheduled helicopter service between Victoria and Vancouver (http://www.drinkingwaterweek.org/challenge/submit?pledge=11).
During Drinking Water Week, attend one of the many open houses, information sessions, and tours of local watersheds and treatment plants being held throughout the Lower Mainland, and all across BC. BCWWA CEO Daisy Foster says Drinking Water Week and the Community Water Challenge play a key role in raising awareness of the value of our water, and helping the public better understand where their water comes from, where it ends up when they’re finished with it, and the many people and processes involved along the way.
“Twenty-six per cent of BC residents have no idea where their water comes from,” Foster notes. “The fact is, it goes on quite a journey from the original source before it comes out of our taps and is safe to drink, and then it gets treated after we are finished with it. The water we use continually cycles throughout the environment and is reused again and again, so it’s important for us to adopt good habits when it comes to water use. That’s what this week and this challenge are all about.”
“When you consider that it costs municipalities millions to clean fats and grease from sewer pipes, it’s easy to see how our every-day actions can have a big impact on our water, the environment and our water costs,” adds Foster.
For more information about Drinking Water Week and the Community Water Challenge, and to find community events throughout BC, visit www.drinkingwaterweek.org.
Did You Know?
- The average water use in BC is 426 litres of water per day, per person.* That’s nearly 100 litres more than the Canadian average (329 L/day) and nearly twice as much as the average European.
- 65% of indoor water use occurs in the bathroom, followed by laundry (20%), kitchen and drinking (10%) and cleaning (5%).
- 73% of British Columbians admit they use their toilet as a garbage can and flush items down the toilet that they could dispose of in another manner.
- We use up to 50% more water in the summertime when people are watering their lawns and gardens.
- 26% of Canadians have no idea where their water comes from. (They use 329 L/day but think they only use 132 litres per day.)
- Canadians put a lot of effort into conserving electricity, but only four in ten make a connection between water and energy and realize it takes energy to treat and pump water.
Photo credit: Lynn Kriwoken
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