Okatie, SC (May 18, 2016) — Each year, Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority marks National Drinking Water Week with poster and essay contests for local students.

This year’s winners submitted work representative of the theme Water: How can we build a future we want?. Contestants were asked to pay special attention to drinking water quality, efficiency and infrastructure. The Authority received 76 poster submissions and 27 essay and short story entries from Jasper and Beaufort counties.

Thomas Heyward Academy fourth grader Caitlyn Williams created a poster showing the importance of water conservation. Her class was treated to a pizza party at the school.

Quinlan Bruen, a sixth grader at St. Gregory the Great Catholic School, outlined her three-point plan – Save the Wave – Every Drop Counts. Bruen’s initiative seeks to reduce storm water in the local ecosystem by promoting the use of rain barrels, rain gardens and pervious pavers. Short story winner Taylore Simmons, a tenth grader at Beaufort High School, created a fictional world where clean water is scarce and two teens save their community using distillation in her composition Potable. Bruen and Simmons were awarded iPads for their efforts.

Information about BJWSA can be found online at www.bjwsa.org.

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