News
15 November 2016 Go back to News
Irish Water backing communities across Ireland in their bid to conserve water as part of SuperValu Tidy Towns competition
Skerries crowned inaugural winner of the National Irish Water Value Water Award
Irish Water is backing communities across the country in their bid to conserve water as part of the SuperValu Tidy Towns competition. Initiatives implemented by the winners to conserve water included significant reductions in daily water consumption, projects to educate local school children to the importance of conserving water, work by local schools to introduce water saving measures, installation of water butts and rain water harvesting.
Irish Water presented 8 towns across Ireland with their Irish Water Value Water Awards at regional ceremonies. Skerries Tidy Towns group took home two Irish Water Value Water Awards and were crowned the inaugural national winner of the Irish Water Value Water Award and also won the Irish Water Value Water Award in the Best Large Town category in the East and Midlands region. Irish Water Value Water Awards were presented to 8 regional winners (four villages and four towns). The Regional Value Water Awards winners, were presented their prizes at the Regional Tidy Towns Awards ceremonies in October and November.
The winners of the Irish Water Value Water Awards in the Best Small Town category were Abbeyleix in Laois and Ferns in Wexford and the winners in the Best Large Town category are Cobh in Cork and Skerries in Dublin. The four winners in the Village category are Coolagown in Cork, Milltown in Galway, Williamstown in Galway and Tuamgraney in Clare.
This year’s prize fund of €8,000 for the Value Water Award includes four regional winners for each category and a prize of €1,000 for Best Large Town and Best Small Town.
Commenting on the Value Water Awards, Dr. Roisin Bradford of Irish Water said “Congratulations to the all the Tidy Towns groups on winning Irish Water Value Water Awards. Irish Water is very proud to sponsor the Value Water Awards for a second year which we hope will lead the way in inspiring water conservation at a local level. The work the Skerries Tidy Towns group has carried out to win the inaugural National Irish Water Value Award is truly inspirational from designing sustainable rain water harvesting and off-grid watering solutions in communal recreational spaces in the town and carrying out Green Home Water surveys in schools to actively promote water conservation and water safety in the community.
She added “We are particularly encouraged to see the inclusion of young people in the Tidy Towns committees as many of the projects undertaken by the winning towns have involved a great effort by local school children. Working with students is an important step in educating young people on the importance of water conservation. Irish Water works closely with the Green Schools Initiative which educates children on the importance of water conservation and with the Value Water Awards hopes to further assist communities in cutting back their water usage.
Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow