Event

Every year on March 22, the Board of Water Supply, the City and County of Honolulu's Department of Environmental Services, the Resilience Office, and government agencies, businesses, and partners around the globe celebrate World Water Day. It's an annual United Nations Observance that celebrates water and raises awareness of the 2 billion people currently living without access to safe, clean drinking water. 

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2024 Theme: Water for Peace 

Water can create peace or spark conflict. When water is scarce or polluted, or when people have unequal or no access, tensions can rise between communities and even countries.

In 2021, thousands of Oʻahu military families learned that their water system on base was contaminated by jet fuel that leaked from the Red Hill bulk fuel storage facility. This continues to bring about fears of long-term health effects for many military families. It also serves as a reminder of the need to make protecting our water supply a top priority, which the Board of Water Supply is committed to doing every day. 

While we tackle our own water issues at home, around 26% of the global population does not have safe drinking water, and close to 46% lack access to safely managed sanitation; this crisis poses a severe risk to life. 

As the impacts of climate change increase, there is an urgent need, within and between countries, to unite around protecting and conserving our most precious resource - water. Public health, economies, energy systems, and life all rely on and need water.

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Did you know? 

• 2.2 billion still live without safely managed drinking water, including 115 million people who drink surface water. 
• Currently, roughly half of the world’s population is experiencing severe water scarcity for at least one month per year due to climatic and other factors.
• Water-related disasters have dominated the list of disasters over the past 50 years and account for 70 percent of all deaths related to natural disasters.

Protect our water resources:

• Find simple ways to conserve water.
• Tips on how to check your home and business for leaks (inside and outside).
• Check weekly pumping & see how we're doing.
• View past TV segments from the BWS about operational initiatives the BWS is undertaking in response to the Navy's Red Hill contamination crisis.
• Find out why the BWS does not support the EPA's proposed 2023 Consent Order.
• Purchase water efficient appliances and systems and qualify for rebates from the BWS.

Sanitation:

The more water used in our homes means more water to treat at the City's Department of Environmental Services wastewater treatment facilities.

• How to prevent wastewater spills
• Why "flushables are not really flushable"

Climate Change: 

Climate impacts often manifest as water issues. Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of hazards like hurricanes, sea-level rise and coastal erosion, rising temperatures and extreme heat, flash flooding, and drought and wildfire – all of which affect our water resources.

• Read the City’s new climate adaptation strategy called Climate Ready Oʻahu
• Learn about the City’s One Water Strategy

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World Water Day Stories

• One of the world's biggest cities is almost out of water (Mexico City). 
• A young personʻs experience using a UNICEF water system in one of Sudanʻs remotest villages. 
• Tenerife, the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, is set to declare a drought emergency as Spain battles with water shortages. 
• Parts of North America will experience "hotspots of water scarcity" due to pollutants by 2050. 

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Vignettes (videos from 2023)

Video: Matt Damon Gets Emotional About Global Water Crisis I National Geographic 
In this interview, Matt Damon discusses the world's water crisis.