About Water Night
In 2020, The Water Conservancy launched Water Night to help people improve water knowledge, understand where water comes from and the importance of valuing water more in their home.
A history of Water Night
Research by The Water Conservancy titled 'Australia’s Relationship with Water' found that most of us don’t think about the many times that we use water every day. In fact, we turn on our taps at least 15 times a day but most of us underestimate that.
Our knowledge of how water gets to our homes is very low with the younger generations having the lowest water literacy in the country. We determined that in order to encourage people to use water efficiently Australia needed an event, similar to Earth Hour, to raise awareness of home water use and improve knowledge. In 2020, we launched Water Night.
Over the last 5 years, 41,024 combined individuals have signed up to WaterNight and committed to going for 5 hours without using water on the Thursday of National Water Week. Evaluation shows the experience has improved participant's water knowledge by an average of 30% and water awareness by 58%. At the same time it is a fun challenge that everyone can get involved in.
What is Water Night?
Water Night is an annual event supporting stronger action on climate change and water awareness. We ask individuals and households to turn off all taps and running water from 5-10pm with the aim of improving water knowledge and helping people value water more.
When is Water Night?
Water Night is held every year on the Thursday of National Water Week between 5pm and 10pm. In 2025 it takes place on Thursday October 23.
