Community of Great Torrington start their Local Water Forum

The Centre for Water Systems (CWS) at the University of Exeter and South West Water (SWW) have been meeting regularly this year with the community of Great Torrington in Devon, England, to create a Local Water Forum.  

A Local Water Forum is a group of people from a village, town or city who want to participate in actions which will contribute to solving water-related problems. Everyone is welcome to join; young and old, local councillors, scientists, businesspeople, artists, nature lovers and citizens who are concerned about the future of the planet and want to do something about it at a local level.

During the first online session, the community of Great Torrington met together with members of the local council, South West Water, and representatives of Fiware4Water from the University of Exeter. After introductions, there was a discussion about the water situation in the World and about local water issues.

The second online session was an opportunity for the community to brainstorm and discuss ideas for a water awareness campaign; activities and events that would get the town talking about water and people’s usage. Ben Ward and Josh Pocock from SWW were also on hand to take questions about the new smart water meters that are being installed in the town. There was keen interest from the community to be involved in helping SWW to design the app.

At the third online session, the forum decided to lead on three activities which include creating a fun activity pack for children, designing a list of ‘quick fixes’ to demonstrate how people can reduce water usage, and having a water day in June 2021.