Water celebrated at Guelph H20 Go Festival

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Published on Tuesday, 24 March 2015 17:40

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Food & Water First was there!

GUELPH-The taps may be running again in many homes after frozen pipes cut off water for hundreds this winter, but that doesn't mean that Guelph is taking water for granted.

It was feted at the third annual H20 Go festival in downtown Guelph, Saturday, organized by the city and water activist group Wellington Water Watchers.

"Really it's just to make people aware of how precious water is in our community," said organizer Jennifer Gilks, city of Guelph water conservation program coordinator, at a booth in Old Quebec Street mall.

"It's turned out to be a really great event. It's raining but that's a good thing because it's world water day," she said. The event was timed to coincide with both world water day and Canada water week, which runs from March 16 to 22.

The third annual celebration featured a range of activities for kids, including games and face painting, displays from local non-profits centering on educating the public about water, and speakers on water, conservation and sustainability.

"We want people to know that we are on a groundwater-based aquifer so we need to protect and preserve it," Gilks.

"Guelph is one of the few municipalities in all of Canada that gets every drop of our water from the ground," she added.

Gilks said residents may not be aware of ways they can reduce their water usage.

"When we conserve our water we have more for future generations," she said.

"People can do all kinds of things; we have a variety of rebate programs from replacing your washing machine, to your toilet."

Fixing "silent leaks" can also go a long way.

"If your toilet is leaking it can fill a bathtub in a day very easily, and so all that water adds up," Gilks said.

Gilks said the recent frozen pipe problem in the city made many appreciate the resource.

"They realized after what it's like to not have water at all," she said.

Katy Falk, a volunteer with the non-profit Engineers Without Borders, ran a game where kids pretended to be countries around the world and made their own water filtration systems with different amounts of monopoly money.

"The main thing is the amount of money they get is reflective of how rich their country is," said Falk.

The game is designed to show how inequalities in the world impact water access.

"And they get to play in water," she added.

"They get their hands dirty and they get to see dirty water become clean, so that's pretty exciting."

Nearby kids waited patiently in line for face painting. In keeping with the conservationist theme, flower designs were a popular choice.

This year H20 Go partnered with the Guelph Eco-market, hosted by Emerge Guelph, a sustainability non-profit and Transition Guelph, a citizen's group aimed at strengthening community.

"Really anything that touches on energy, including water waste and transportation, we have them come out and hopefully sell some wares, present the programs and really show people where the resources are in Guelph," said Eco-market coordinator Steve Yessie.

Items for sale included "dryer balls" made out of wool to keep clothes from getting tangled and cut down dryer, and therefore electricity, costs.

Yessie said the two events "joined forces" this year because the issues are so interconnected.

"Sustainability is the name of the game," he said.

By May Warren
Punblished in the Guelph Mercury, Mar. 21, 2015

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