Drinking water refills made easy

Eurobodalla Council will officially launch the first of its community water refill stations at Riverside Park this Saturday at 9.30am.

The water refill stations feature a bubbler, bottle refill tap and dog bowl, and are accessible for everyone.

Council will install 16 of the stations across Eurobodalla over the next three years to help residents and visitors keep choosing tap water when they’re out and about.

The first refill stations were installed over the summer holidays at Rotary Park in Narooma and Riverside Park in Moruya and are already provide a hit. A third station at Corrigans Reserve in Batehaven is going in this week.

Council’s Manager of Environmental Services Deb Lenson says Saturday’s launch in Moruya is a chance to formally welcome the first refill station to the Eurobodalla landscape and to remind people about the benefits of tap water over bottled water.

“If you’re coming to Moruya country markets on Saturday, grab your refillable water bottle and meet us at the new refill station, near the play area,” Ms Lenson said.

“Only one-third of the plastic bottles used for purchased water end up being recycled. The remainder end up in landfill or as litter in our environment and our waterways where they take up to 1,000 years to break down.

“The refill stations make it easy for our residents and visitors to use their refillable water bottles and choose tap water over bottled water. They’re good for the hip pocket and for our environment,” she said.

The three water refill stations feature the winning photo from Council’s ‘Tap Water Please’ photo competition, won last year by Narooma High School student Georgie Poyner. The image features Georgie’s sister ‘drowning’ in plastic bottle pollution and the catch phrase ‘Why drown in pollution when the solution is at hand’. Many of the bottles used in the photo were found littered in the road verges near her home.