With water shortages and droughts becoming a growing concern due to a changing climate and a growing population, a fresh perspective on our overall water usage is essential.

A new initiative, called Water Smart is shining a spotlight on children, who are emerging as champions of water stewardship within their communities.

The Water Smart Educational Programme, which has launched in schools, aims to foster an understanding among children, their families, and the wider community about the crucial need for water conservation, offering simple yet impactful ways to make a positive change.

The programme, which is part of Affinity Water’s ongoing Save our Streams programme, was jointly developed with social impact agency ‘We Are Futures’. It includes water-saving curriculum-based materials to help pupils explore and understand the importance of saving water and inspire them to make everyday changes that will leave more in the local environment.

Children were asked to share their inspiring water smart ideas by taking part in an exciting competition. They were invited to design a poster that could educate and encourage their local community to embrace water-saving.

The winner of Affinity Water’s competition was Rebeka Lihosithova, a pupil at St Teresa’s Primary School.  Her design stood out amongst the entries, echoing key values and water-saving messaging. Rebeka’s winning creative design will be displayed locally ​on digital posters and on the side of a digibus to generate awareness surrounding this important conversation, and she has also won a water-saving garden for her school.

Ealing Times:

Director of Customer Experience at Affinity Water, Rebecca Froud, said: "I was delighted to be asked to be a member of the judging panel. All of the entries were well thought through, and I could see the boundless creativity and talent showcased by all of our young innovators and participants.

“Their imaginative ideas remind us that the future is bright and filled with passion and care of our environment, amongst the next generation who are grasping the importance and value of water-saving was extremely wonderful.”

Alongside this, Rebeka’s school, St Teresa’s Primary School, received a water saving garden up to the value of £5,000 designed by Joes Garden (@joesgarden.official). The five runners up schools have also won £500 each towards school supplies, with all 117 participating schools receiving a free water butt, helping them encourage water conservation and sustainable practices.

As Affinity Water looks towards the future, plans are underway to expand this initiative in 2024 and beyond, with further endeavours aimed at promoting sustainable practices while safeguarding our county’s water resources.