This week, children aged between 7 and 9 in the town enjoyed workshops and experiments organised by Aguas de Torremolinos, in which they learnt the importance of caring for such as scarce resource as water

Smiles, enjoyment and respect for the environment. This could be a good summary of Aguas de Torremolinos' World Water Week. These days have been great for children aged between 7 and 9 in the town, who were invited to participate in workshops organised by the water services company at its stand in the fairground.

From Monday 18 to Friday 22 March, World Water Day, students of the schools of La Paz, Miramar, San Miguel, Medalla Milagrosa, Palma de Mallorca, Atenea, Benyamina, Mar Argentea, Del Rincón and Albaida learnt about the importance of looking after a resource as scarce as water.

The workshops were provided by Ciencia Divertida, a company that is a leader in the education and child entertainment sector, which has over twenty years of experience and franchises in over 40 countries worldwide. Its main premises and museum, called Planeta Explora, are in the Tivoli World amusement park in Benalmádena, and the mission is to awaken the curiosity and imagination of children through a fun, educational experience in which the importance and interest of science and its impact on the world around us is explained.

Children at the Aguas de Torremolinos stand had the chance to discover this, through crazy experiments to learn the minerals that water contains after a spark with electrolysis, to understand the states of water with dry ice, to discover how nappy dust helps to save water in crops or why wet wipes should not be thrown down the toilet.

World Water Day has been held on 22 March since it was first proposed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Río de Janeiro, in 1992. It is an important date for sustainable development that highlights the conservation, development and good use of water resources, which are so scarce and at the same time so vital to life.

Committed to raising children's awareness

Aguas de Torremolinos considers that the priority on these days should be children, as they are the ones who will be responsible for the planet tomorrow. Therefore, this week of days, which should be repeated in coming years, is added to other initiatives that the company undertakes during the rest of the year.

The Aqualogía programme uses games to explain water uses in school, how water reaches homes and what treatments it needs before it can be drunk by people or returned to the natural environment. Each year, around 600 third-year primary schoolchildren participate from all schools in Torremolinos, who attend the workshops in the educA room that the company has set up in its headquarters for this activity.

The ‘Stories of Smart Water’ Literary Competition is also relevant, which is organised with Hidralia and the rest of the joint venture companies. Thousands of young people between 12 and 16 years old from different parts of Andalusia are invited to participate in this literature competition each year, to raise awareness of the importance of water in people's lives.

This is recognised by the company manager, Pedro Peña, who puts children at the centre to change mentality and construct a more sustainable planet: 'We have to teach the youngest among us to use water responsibly and instil in them these values of environmental responsibility from a young age. We are happy to find that children correct their parents in habits that they may not have acquired yet. Seeing children enthusiastic and learning from our work encourages us to continue in the best way possible'.

Rather than being incompatible, having fun and learning should be a great way to retain knowledge better. The children of Torremolinos were able to experience this during the week and have understood that making a better planet is not only possible, but is in their hands.