International Water Awards call for Australian entries

An opportunity for Australian water-saving projects to be recognised internationally is now available through the annual Intelligent Use of Water Awards.

The Intelligent Use of Water Awards are open to any organisation or group worldwide with a water saving or water sustainability project. Projects are submitted to the website, www.iuowawards.com, and votes are cast by the online community.

Australian inventor Lloyd Linson-Smith, of Toowoomba, Queensland, has put forward a project to develop a website to spread the word about saving cold water from the hot water tap.

The Australian partner in the awards is Smart Approved WaterMark, a nationwide scheme which promotes products and services that help save water. More than 240 products and services proven to save water now have approval in Australia.

Linson-Smith’s own product, the Enviro Save Water System, has Smart WaterMark approval, but it is not a requirement to be an entrant. Two other entries have been received from Australia so far, both from the Power and Water Corporation of the Northern Territory.

“We encourage any individual or group which has a worthwhile project that saves water to enter. The awards are an excellent opportunity to gain some additional financial support for a project, with more than $50,000 being made available to 10 winners in three categories,” said CEO of Smart WaterMark, Julian Gray.

“Estimates indicate around 10% of household water - that is drinking quality water - is lost down the drain while we wait for it to become hot in Australia. We could expect similar figures in other countries around the world - what a waste of one of the world’s most precious resources!” said Linson-Smith.

He says while established houses are more difficult to fit with the water-saving valves, they should be mandatory on new homes around the world.

“Here in Australia we have around 450 new homes being built every day. If these were fitted with valves, around 40 litres per day of water would be saved per home. That’s 18,000 litres a day and if you consider that each day another 18,000 litres was being saved, it would not take long to make a huge difference to water consumption,” Linson-Smith said. “My goal is to develop a website where we can increase awareness of the issue internationally and encourage people to take steps to save that precious water.”

Smart WaterMark encourages people to visit the awards website and cast a vote for worthy projects. To find out more, to enter your project or to vote for a project, visit www.iuowawards.com. For more information about the Smart WaterMark, visit www.smarktwatermark.org or email info@smartwatermark.info; and for the Enviro water-saving device, www.enviro.net.au.