News Release

For Immediate Release
December 4, 2017

BWS Launches 40th Annual Poster Contest and 10th Annual Poetry Contest to Challenge Students to Conserve Water: Use It Wisely

Deadline for Water Conservation Week contests is February 28, 2018

HONOLULU – The Board of Water Supply (BWS) is seeking entries for its 2018 Water Conservation Week Poster and Poetry Contests. The Poster Contest began as part of National Water Conservation Week in April 1979, and for four decades, the contest has instilled conservation awareness in Oahu’s youth and encouraged them to take an active role in ensuring the long-term sustainability of Oahu’s water supply. In 2009, due to the contest’s popularity, the BWS added a poetry contest to expand the program’s reach to Oahu’s middle and high school students.

“As they participate in these contests, our children come to understand that they are the future stewards of our precious resources, and even at a young age, they can help to influence our island community toward a more sustainable future,” said Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell.

“Each year, the BWS looks forward to seeing the creative and insightful conservation messages from contest participants,” BWS Board Chair Bryan Andaya said. “They inspire all of us to care for our water supply to ensure its continued viability,”

The 40th annual poster contest is open to Oahu students in grades K-6, while the 10th annual poetry contest is open to Oahu students in grades 7-12. The 2018 contest theme, “Conserve Water: Use It Wisely,” invites Oahu students to creatively express why it’s important to use our precious drinking water resource wisely and to offer ideas of how to be more water-efficient in our daily lives.

“Throughout the history of these contests, the students have impressed us with the caliber of their artwork and poems that reflect a personal commitment to protecting our finite groundwater supply,” said BWS Manager and Chief Engineer Ernest Lau.

Students entering the poster contest should submit one original piece of artwork that expresses the theme on a 12 x 18-inch sheet of paper. Any art medium can be used except 3-dimensional work, chalk, charcoal, and oil-based crayons.

Students entering the poetry contest should submit one original poem, typed on a standard 8½ x 11-inch letter size paper. The poem must also reflect the theme and be 150 words or less and no longer than 20 lines. Any form of poetry is acceptable.

Entries must be submitted with a completed entry form by February 28, 2018, to the BWS’s Communications Office at 630 South Beretania Street, Monday through Friday, 7:45 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., or to any Satellite City Hall on Oahu (except Hickam) during their normal business hours. The contest entry form, complete contest rules, and additional information are available online at www.boardofwatersupply.com or can be obtained by contacting the BWS Communications Office at 748-5041 or by email at contactus@hbws.org.

Winning and honorable mention posters and poems will be showcased at different venues across the island in 2018, as well as featured in the 2019 Water Conservation Calendar, which will be made available to the public at the end of the year. In May, the winning students will be recognized at a special ceremony and presented with awards.

The BWS would like to thank the BWS Federal Credit Union, the Friends of Halawa Xeriscape Garden, Hard Rock Café, Sodexo, Times Supermarkets, Aloha Pacific Federal Credit Union, and Hawaii Energy, for their generous sponsorship of these contests.

About the Board of Water Supply

The Board of Water Supply (BWS), a semi-autonomous agency of the City and County of Honolulu, manages Oahu’s municipal water resources and distribution system.  As the largest water utility in the State, the BWS serves approximately one million customers on Oahu.  The BWS embraces its mission of “Water for Life – Ka Wai Ola” – to provide a safe, dependable, and affordable water supply, now and into the future.  Uwē  ka lani, ola ka honua – “When the heavens weep, the earth lives.”  For more information, visit www.boardofwatersupply.com.

###

---

Contact:

Kathleen Elliott-Pahinui
Information Officer
Honolulu Board of Water Supply
Phone: (808) 748-5041