Calendar Contest
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."
Now Accepting Entries for the 2026 Water Awareness Calendar Contest!
Create an illustration about water conservation; backflow prevention; keeping fats, oils, and grease out of the sanitary sewer system; or what not to flush/only flushing the 3 P’s: pee, poop, and toilet paper.
DEADLINE: March 7, 2025
All entries must include a completed entry form.
Mail, drop off, or have your teacher interoffice mail your artwork and entry form to:
Virginia Beach Public Utilities
ATTN: Water Awareness Calendar Contest
2809 S. Lynnhaven Road, Suite 250
Virginia Beach, VA 23452
Contest Information
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 bathtub 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
- Look for the WaterSense (high-efficiency) label when purchasing a toilet, showerhead, or faucet
- Keep a pitcher of drinking water in the fridge rather than letting the faucet run until it’s cold
- Collect rainwater 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
- Backflow Prevention
- Don’t put a hose in water (pool, bucket, puddle, etc.)
- 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
- 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.
Calendar Theme
How I use water wisely in and around my home.
Create an illustration about water conservation; backflow prevention; keeping fats, oils, and grease out of the sanitary sewer system; or what not to flush / only flush the 3 P’s: pee, poop, and toilet paper.
Who May Enter
All kindergarten through 5th grade students who live or attend school in Virginia Beach may enter. Proof of age, school registration, and/or home address may be required.
Instructions
All entries must be postmarked by March 7, 2025, to be eligible. Entries may be created with pens, colored pencils, acrylic or poster paints, watercolors, crayons, or colored markers. All words must be printed neatly in large dark print. Artwork must be submitted on 8 1/2” x 11” white poster board or paper and drawn in landscape orientation (11” side horizontal). Only original artwork will be accepted.
Mail, drop off, or have your teacher interoffice mail your artwork for the Water Awareness Calendar Contest to 2809 S. Lynnhaven Road, Suite 250, Virginia Beach VA 23452. Normal working hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. No entries will be accepted without a completed entry form.
Only one entry per student. Only one artist per entry. All entries need a separate entry form. Incomplete entry forms, or submissions without entry forms, will not be accepted. Public Utilities is not responsible for lost, stolen, illegible, or misdirected entries. Entries cannot be returned. All entries become the property of Public Utilities and may be used in other promotions without further permission or compensation to the artists.
Judging criteria include but are not limited to: Best expression of theme, picture design, creativity, and artistic skill. Winners will be notified by mail. The selected entries will be displayed in the 2026 Water Awareness Calendar. The artists of entries selected for full-page display in the calendar will be honored at an official awards ceremony. The artists of all entries selected as Honorable Mentions will receive a signed certificate.
By entering the contest, entrants accept and agree to these rules and the decision of Virginia Beach Public Utilities, which will be final.
Good luck!
Contest Winners' Artwork
Art by Angela E.
Art by Annie V.
Art by Ariadna H.
Art by Avalee E.
Art by Calanit W.
Art by Elyssa J.
Art by Emma S.
Art by Emma W.
Art by Kansas P.
Art by Keren S.
Art by Kyrah B.
Art by Madison B.
Art by Marnet R.
Honorable Mentions' Artwork
Art by Addison D
Art by Adithi D.
Art by Alaina P.
Art by Ann F.
Art by Annabelle B.
Art by Aria H.
Art by Asia S.
Art by Brielle A.
Art by Bryce M.
Art by Caleb R.
Art by Candice D.R.
Art by Caroline H.
Art by Emelia S.
Art by Evelyn R.
Art by Fiona R.
Art by Harmonee H.
Art by Jaeden B.
Art by Josselyn G.
Art by Juniper D.
Art by Lailah L.
Art by Laura M.
Art by Lauren L.
Art by Lexiel F.
Art by Liya J.U.
Art by Luca A
Art by Meredith D.
Art by Mohana F.
Art by Molly M.
Art by Natalie S.
Art by Nika I.
Art by Penelope A.
Art by Samus W.
Art by Shiloh A.
Art by Shin K.
Art by Sloane R.
Art by Winter J.