Each year, Public Utilities conducts a Water Awareness Calendar Contest to help educate our customers about ways to use water wisely. The calendar's theme is "How I use water wisely in and around my home."
Last Year's Calendar
Copies of the 2021 calendar are available at Virginia Beach Public Libraries and Virginia Beach Recreation Centers while supplies last.
2022 Calendar
ENTRY DEADLINE EXTENDED! Entries due by Friday, April 2.
Contest Entry Form
Contest Rules
Water Awareness Calendar Topics
Please choose a topic from the following list for your artwork submission. You can stick with one topic or combine a few—just use your creativity! Please ensure your artwork is on 8.5x11 inch paper in landscape orientation (horizontal/sideways).
The picture can be about:
1. Water Conservation
- Take shorter showers
- Only wash full loads of laundry
- Only wash full loads of dishes
- Turn off the water while brushing your teeth
- Only fill the bath tub halfway
- Wash your pets on the grass so you are watering the lawn at the same time
- Water plants in the morning or evening to reduce water loss due to evaporation
- Use a hose nozzle
- Check for leaky toilets
- Fix leaky pipes
- Sweep your driveway and sidewalk instead of using a hose
- Wash fruits and vegetables in a bowl of water instead of under running water
- Install low-flow toilets
- Look for the WaterSense (high-efficiency) label when purchasing a toilet, showerhead, or fau-cet
- Keep a pitcher of drinking water in the fridge rather than letting the faucet run until it’s cold
- Collect rain water with a rain barrel to use to water plants, wash your pets, etc.
- Adjust automatic sprinklers when it rains so you are not overwatering
- Make sure your sprinklers are only watering grass and plants, not the driveway or sidewalk
- Use mulch in your garden to retain water
- Plant native species because they use less water
- Repurpose used water to water your plants
- Turn off the water while washing your hands
2. Backflow Prevention
- Don’t put a hose in water (pool, bucket, puddle, etc.)
3. Keeping Fats, Oil, and Grease out of the Sanitary Sewer System
- Reduce or eliminate garbage disposal use because food scraps can contain fat, oil, or grease
- Pour cooking grease into an empty food can to let it cool, then toss it in the trash
- Scrape your plate over a trashcan before rinsing
4. What Not to Flush/Only Flushing the 3 P’s
- Do not flush: wipes (even those labeled “flushable”), tissues, paper towels, disposable diaper liners, cotton swabs, cat litter, dental floss
- Don’t use your toilet as a trashcan
*While preventing pollution of our local waterways is very important, artwork with this theme will not be considered for this contest.
More Information: Contest Entry Form and Contest Rules