Sharing water knowledge
As part of TasWater’s mission to spread awareness of where water comes from and the treatment process, the organisation has launched a brand-new website.
The microsite, called Sharing Water, is just one part of a range of educational resources and initiatives being rolled out.
Research on water literacy revealed Tasmanians could learn more about water cycle and the ways we impact it. The research also found that our community expects TasWater to assist in providing this information.
The new microsite is one way we can educate young people about water as a precious resource.
“It features the processes involved in getting fresh drinking water to households and what happens to wastewater when it is flushed or goes down the drain,” TasWater Community Stakeholder and Customer Relations Department Manager Ruth Dowty said.
When accessing the website, the community can follow the ride water takes from precipitation to entering a catchment, through treatment facilities and 6,500 kilometres of pipes to homes.
The journey concludes with returning the water as sustainably as possible to the environment.
The website is built using ‘scrolly-telling design’, which gives it a much more interactive feel.
It behaves quite differently to a standard website, so it’s much more engaging for young children.
The site features illustrations, animations and videos, stepping visitors through the water cycle journey.
There are factsheets available on the site to be downloaded, as well as activity and colouring in sheets in addition to a link to some water saving tips.
The Sharing Water microsite will soon also feature a link to an interactive game, called Water Wheelers, where players build water infrastructure to supply services to the community.
This gives players a fun, small insight in what goes into managing a utility like TasWater.
Finally, throughout March, water-savvy character Walter Smart and his friends visited schools as part of a pilot program.
An engaging and entertaining pantomime and workshop, the Walter Smart and Friends performance group set out to recruit a new generation of smart water champions.
“The new suite of educational resources underpins TasWater’s commitment to improving water literacy,” Ms Dowty said.
“The pantomimes and workshops align to the Australian curriculum and use original music and songs, comedy, and multimedia to captivate and motivate a young audience.
“It’s an engaging way to get our water use messages across to youngsters and hopefully they are inspired to take action to make changes in how they use water in their schools and homes.
“We are committed to doing our bit to educate Tasmania’s young people about water as a precious resource and we believe it’s important that children, and the broader public, understand where our water comes from and the processes it goes through to get to the tap,” Ms Dowty said.
“The new microsite, game and school visits mean we can share these messages in a fun, engaging and interactive way.”
The website, pilot program and game are just the beginning of our educational offerings, and we will be adding more resources over time.
The Sharing Water microsite can be found at: https://watersurety.taswater.com.au