Sing or Paint Your Way to Win with NI Water

24 November 2010 9:45

NI Water is launching its annual schools competition and is calling on local children to design a poster or rap a song telling us how they would use water more wisely.

Water is one of the world’s most natural resources and over the last 50 years, lifestyle changes have doubled our demand for water. People mistakenly believe that the heavy rain we experience in Northern Ireland means that we don’t have to be conscious of wasting water.

However, NI Water’s Education Manager, Jane Jackson, explains why we should be more water wise:

"The average person in Northern Ireland uses 150 litres of water each day. That’s a lot of water, much of which is unnecessarily wasted. We decided to theme this year’s competition around water conservation in a bid to make children aware of how we can help sustain this precious resource while at the same time saving energy and money.

Simple good habits such as turning off the tap when brushing our teeth and only filling the kettle as much as is necessary will certainly make a big difference."

With many wonderful prizes to be won, the competition is open to all primary school children including Special Educational Needs Schools.

The entry deadline is Friday 25th March 2011.

Further information and all details of how to enter can be found on www.niwater.com.

Ends

Notes to Editor:

Posters are available in Irish for Irish medium schools.

Examples of how you can use water more wisely include:

· Using watering cans around the garden instead of hosepipes and sprinklers;

· Using buckets to wash the car instead of a hosepipe;

· Not leaving taps running longer than necessary, for example when brushing teeth or washing vegetables;

· When using the dishwasher and washing machine, make sure it has a full load;

· Only filling the kettle as much as necessary; and

· Mend leaking taps - taps that drip once a second, result in the loss of 33 litres of water a day.