18 Oct 2022
This Thursday is Water Night
TasWater encourages all Tasmanians to turn off their taps and increase their water awareness by participating in Water Night 2022.
Held this Thursday, October 20, Water Night asks participants to turn off their taps and abstain from using non-essential water for five hours to increase water awareness in the community.
TasWater is proud to be a major sponsor of Water Night, our third consecutive year of supporting the event since it began in 2020.
Matt Balfe, TasWater General Manager Customer and Corporate Relations, said in 2022 there has been an increase in sign-ups for Water Night in Tasmania, and signing up only takes a couple of minutes.
“The theme for Water Night is ‘Life in Every Drop’ and there’s no truer word when it comes to water,” Matt said.
“While 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, just 3% is fresh water, and of that only 1% of it is accessible for human consumption. That is how precious water is. There is so little of it available, and humans share that amount with every other living thing on the planet.
“It’s easy to forget how precious water is, especially after so much rain across Tasmania in the last week. However, the long-term outlook is for a hotter, drier climate where we will all need to love our water, not waste it.
Another interesting fact is that flooding events place additional stress on our networks by churning up sediment and making it harder for our treatment plants to clean the water.
“This is why we’ve been asking some of our customers to temporarily reduce their water use after major rain events – it sounds counter-intuitive, but excess rain makes it harder to keep up supply.
“Water Night is a chance for us all to think about the value of water and, by having a break from using it for just a few hours, perhaps think about the way we use water, our habits, and our conscious and unconscious consumption of water in the long term.
“Participating in Water Night is as simple as not turning on taps from 5 to 10pm. You can still pre-fill water bottles, kettles, or sinks before the event. And yes, people can flush their toilet, that is a sensible exception!
“Individuals, families and businesses can all register to take part in a matter of minutes.
“Even our Spokesfish Bob Goldfish will be participating in Water Night and, although all the water in his bowl is classified essential, he has promised not to accept any top ups to his bowl from 5pm to 10pm on October 20,” Matt said.
Water Night
5:00 - 10:00 pm, 20 October 2022
Sign up here: www.waternight.com.au
More information here: www.thewaterconservancy.org