Council splashes out on summer water campaign
The Hamilton City Council has teamed up with the Waipa and Waikato District Councils to educate residents about the conservation of water this summer.
Summer is on our doorsteps and Hamilton City Council has found an engaging way to educate about water conservation.
Council staff have created the Smart Water programme and are currently implementing a Smart Water campaign.
Charmaine Petereit, Smart Water programme co-ordinator, said the council is partnering with Waipa and Waikato District Council to share resources.
“Recent summer droughts have provided a wake-up call for just how important and urgent the Smart Water campaign is,” Petereit said.
Instead of using only water level alerts, staff have planned a media campaign.
As the first council to take on a campaign like this, Petereit hopes others parts of the country will follow their lead.
“We would like to spread it nationwide.
“We know that water is increasingly going to become an issue for the whole country,” she said.
Petereit said she wanted the public and the council to act together to make a change.
“Our key message with this campaign is ‘Smart Water starts with you! ’ The region’s residents need to only make a few simple and easy changes to the way they use water to help protect and conserve this limited resource we all must share,” she said.
She said the programme will not only make people aware of the issue, but it will also educate school children across the region.
Programmes for schools are currently being planned and will be district specific, teaching children about where water comes from.
“We want to build that level of ownership,” she said.
Petereit said she has already received positive response about the quirky advertisements.
“People say they are going to be iconic,” she said.
Petereit said she wanted advertising to cater for a range of people and used fun and educational tactics.
The summer campaign is budgeted to around $81,000.
