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Tweed Shire Council is challenging residents to sign up for next month’s national Water Night and spend a night without taps.
Scheduled for 20 October during national Water Week, Water Night encourages people to realise how often they reach for the tap.
Mayor of Tweed Shire Chris Cherry said the challenge was to stop yourself from using running water from 5 to 10 pm on the night and instead use prefilled water bottles and kettles for all your household needs.
The use of running water for health and hygiene reasons is still permitted.
“Try not to underestimate the challenge – most of us are on auto-pilot when it comes to using water,” Cr Cherry said.
“Yet we live on the world’s driest continent and our fresh water supply is limited. The next drought won’t be far away and we must always do everything we can to make our water supply last as long as possible.
“That’s why it’s important for everyone in the Tweed to use less than 160 litres a day, even when there are no water restrictions.
“We’ve done a good job in recent weeks at keeping around the 160-litre target, but our use is starting to climb up as the temperature warms.
“We are all caretakers of our natural environment and we share a responsibility to reduce our environmental impact. A key way we can do that is by saving water.”
Sign up for Water Night by heading to waternight.com.au.
On the night, chat online with Gardening Australia’s Costa Georgiadis and thousands of people throughout the country and learn some new ideas for saving water in the garden, bathroom and kitchen.
Share your Water Night experience on social media using the hashtag #lifeineverydrop
“We can all save water quite easily if we change just a few of our behaviours,” Cr Cherry said.
“Turn off the taps when washing your hands and make sure you fix your leaky taps and toilet. Keep your shower to 3 minutes or less and always think before you reach for the tap.
“I urge you to sign up for Water Night and encourage your family and friends to sign up as well so you can have a discussion about the importance of water to our everyday lives.”
Water Night is sponsored by Council and run nationally by The Water Conservancy.
The event was created after research conducted by the organisation showed only 42% of Australians consider tap water to be precious.
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