The Water Conservation Week 2016 (WCW), organised by the Water Supplies Department (WSD), is being held from 17 to 21 November 2016 at the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong under the theme "Save Water We Can". Through a wide range of activities, the event aimed to promote water conservation to different sectors of community, to help the public understand the challenge brought by climate change on water resources, and to build a water conservation culture in the community. Besides the "Water Conservation - Past • Present• Future" Exhibition was held for five consecutive days, a series of activities were arranged on each day to promote water conservation to different stakeholders of the society. Under the theme of the WCW's Opening Ceremony, "Let's Get Started! Make Every Drop Count", guests from the academic, education, business, environmental sectors, etc., together with Government representatives performed a lighting ceremony through accumulation of "droplets", signifying the build-up of concerted efforts from across every sector in the community to echo the theme of the event "Save Water We Can" and build a water-saving city together.
With the theme "Put Cherish Water Campus into Action", the "Cherish Water Campus" Award Ceremony was held to commend the outstanding performance of the participating schools and sponsoring bodies in the 2015/16 school year. Awards were presented to 56 schools and 27 sponsoring bodies. A lively "Cherish Water Campus" drama was staged at the ceremony with a cast including Water Save Dave and its friend, Big Waster together with Water Supplies Department colleagues to convey the water conservation message and highlight the importance of water saving practices in everyday life. The drama was divided into several acts that were mingled with sessions of award presentation.
Under the themes of the third and fourth days of the WCW, "A Small Drop for a Big Difference" and "Green Alliance for a Water-wise Hong Kong", the public could strengthen their understanding of wetland resources and waterworks history in Hong Kong by participating the eco-tours to Mai Po and Tai Tam, Save Water Go Go Run, Carnival, as well as "Water Save • DIY" Workshops.
In addition, the WSD invited the Under Secretary for Environment, Ms Christine Loh, as the keynote speaker, the Chairman of Advisory Committee on Water Supplies (ACWS), Dr Chan Hon-fai, as the moderator, and prominent environmental speakers to attend the "Water Resources Sustainability - Marching On" Seminar, and talk about the challenges brought by climate change on water conservation and water resources management.
Under the theme of "Join Hands for Water-efficient Business" on the fifth day, the "Zero Waste in Trades" Forum cum Launching Ceremony on "Best Practice Guidelines" (BPG) for Water Usage was held to serve as an official launch of the BPGs for the Catering and Hotel industries. The "Zero Waste in Trades" Forum invited the Chairman of the Working Group on Water Conservation, ACWS, Dr. MAN Chi-sum, as the moderator, and several professionals from the catering and hotel industries to share their water-saving experience.
The five-day WCW 2016 was successfully completed on 21 November. The WSD will continue to promote water conservation and encourage the public to improve the water-efficiency through multi-pronged ways, and to establish Hong Kong as a water-smart cosmopolitan with the concerted effort from society.
