This year marked a change of government in Australia, and the rise of strategies and action for climate change and water awareness. Join us as we review some highlights from the year that was—2022.
The first quarter of the year opened with a splash, Smart Approved WaterMark rebranded to The Water Conservancy on World Water Day (22nd of March 2022) and we launched our new website waterconservancy.org. We released our new strategy that outlined our suite of five programs, including: Smart Water Advice, Smart Water Solutions, Walter Smart & Friends, Smart Approved WaterMark and Water Night.
Chris Philpot, CEO of The Water Conservancy said: “The Water Conservancy made it its business to understand the attitude of Australians to water, improve water awareness and water literacy as well as water consumption and facilitate water efficiency.”
In the same month, Walter Smart and Friends, our live, inschool theatre, water education program toured Tasmania for the first time. The successful tour was sponsored by TasWater, who saw the opportunity to effectively present their key water messages in a fun and interactive way to primary school students across the region. Later in the year, Walter Smart and Friends completed their second tour of the Unitywater region in Queensland.
In June, we launched our new Webinar Series. The Series was developed to facilitate conversations about water use, share our program updates and highlight water industry innovations, case studies and research to help raise awareness about water efficiency in Australia. Stay tuned for our 2023 lineup.
Also during the mid year, we produced Water Efficiency Assessments through our Smart Water Solutions program for Bellingen Shire Council. Our services help businesses, local government and water utilities to become water efficient and to waste less water across their operations. We’re proud to work with business water users to facilitate fast, achievable and large-scale operational water savings.
In the latter half of the year, national attention turned to water in October as National Water Week ran from the 17th to the 23rd of October. During this important week, we ran our annual water awareness event Water Night on the 20th of October from 5pm-10pm with key water message ‘Life in Every Drop’ and our call to turn off taps and join our nationwide community supporting stronger action on climate change and water awareness. This year our major sponsor for Water Night was the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water and we received great support from the Hon. Tanya Plibersek, Minister for the Environment and Water who presented a virtual message at our first Water Night event launch held in Sydney. We thank all our sponsors from water utilities, councils, and organisations across the nation for their generous support and for playing their part in highlighting the importance of using water more sustainably in their regions. More than 1,300 households participated on Water Night, we received great feedback on the campaign and look forward to sharing greater insights with you next year.
In November, we announced the return of the Smart Approved WaterMark Product of the Year Award, Australia’s most leading-edge water conservation award that recognises water efficiency innovation in products and services. We look forward to announcing the finalists and winners in May 2023.
Throughout the year, the Smart Approved WaterMark label has flourished, and new products that were approved by our Expert Panel this year included the Go Organics Garden Mulch, RolaRain Sprinkler by Wobble -Tee and Airgarden. We look forward to building the Smart Approved Watermark portfolio next year.
December marks preparations for dialogue around the value of water. Now more than ever, it is important to value water as the effects of La Niña continue to bring water and water efficiency into national discourse. While most people instinctively understand the importance of conserving water in times of water scarcity and drought, this year has highlighted the equal importance of conserving water in times of heavy rain and floods. This year, heavy rain and floods have swept high volumes of leaves, dirt, and other debris into water catchments, making the usual demand for drinking water more difficult to meet and saving water greatly assists in managing water supply through this natural disaster.
As the year draws to a close, we wish you all a safe and rejuvenating holiday season. We will be back with more news and insights in January and we look forward to working with you in 2023!