Clean water

See how neighbors are turning SDG 6 into everyday action.

Fresh water and healthy sanitation as everyday commons — streams, taps, and habits that keep rivers clear.

Ideas: 22

Ideas advancing SDG 6: Clean water

Join Frankfurt's water-saving pledge, one habit at a time

Join Frankfurt's water-saving pledge, one habit at a time The city's "Frankfurt spart Wasser!" campaign, now running its fourth-plus warm season, asks residents to treat drinking water as the precious resource it is as heat and drought periods stretch longer. Posters, tram wraps, and postcards carry pledges like "Ich dreh ab", "Ich spar's mir", and "Ich fang dich auf": turn it off, skip it, catch it. What you can do - Shower instead of bathing: five minutes under the shower uses roughly a third of a full bath (about 50 versus 150 litres), and a water-saving showerhead or flow restrictor cuts it further - Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth or lathering up: saving hot water saves energy too - Run washing machines and dishwashers only when full, on eco programmes, and look for water-efficient models when buying new - Water the garden or balcony pots in the morning or evening, collect rainwater in a barrel, and choose drought-tolerant plants How it works The city renews the campaign each warm season with posters on Litfaßsäulen, tram and digital ads, U-Bahn messaging, and postcards stocked at neighbourhood libraries, restaurants, and cafés. It is part of Frankfurt's municipal water concept for securing long-term supply, and even children get a turn, with a button-making station at the GrünGürtel-Tier's birthday festival. Why it matters Longer heat and dry spells are lowering groundwater levels in and around Frankfurt. None of these habits cost much, but multiplied across a city they ease pressure on a resource everyone assumes will keep flowing from the tap.

water drought household

Programme nearbyRewilding London

Restore river banks through riparian rewilding

Let native plants heal your river corridor Riparian buffers slow floods, filter runoff, and give kingfishers and otters room to return. Catchment trusts across Britain pair landowners with volunteers to fence off banks and plant willow, alder, and wildflowers. What you can do - Find your local Rivers Trust project and sign up for planting days - Adopt a short stretch: remove invasive species, stake saplings, and photograph wildlife returning - Invite neighbours to a walk-and-talk along a restored reach How it works Trust officers match volunteers with farmers and councils. Teams work in wellies for a morning: mulch, plant, and label plots so future stewards know what to protect. Why it matters Healthy river edges cool cities downstream, reduce erosion, and turn muddy banks into corridors children can explore safely.

river riparian restoration

Programme nearbyRewilding Amsterdam

Join a wetland restoration brigade in your river delta

Rewild peat and reedbeds in the delta ARK Rewilding Netherlands works with farmers and volunteers to reopen river channels, graze wetlands lightly, and bring bitterns and spoonbills back to the Rhine–Meuse delta. What you can do - Sign up for ARK volunteer days: removing drains, planting reeds, or building bird hides - Visit rewilding demonstration farms and ask how grazing herds shape wet meadows - Map ditches on your polder walk and share photos with local water boards How it works Brigades work in waders on weekends. Ecologists show which sections can flood safely and which paths stay open for cyclists. Why it matters Wet deltas store floodwater, filter farm runoff, and give city dwellers a weekend marsh full of sound and colour.

wetland delta birds

Programme nearbyRewilding Rome

Monitor seagrass health as a citizen scientist

Snorkel for science along Italian coasts GreenLife4Seas trains residents to photograph seagrass cover, note anchor scars, and upload observations from coves near Rome and Naples. What you can do - Register for citizen science modules on the GreenLife4Seas portal - Adopt a cove: monthly photos from the same GPS point build a public meadow timeline - Host a shoreline talk so fishers and swimmers learn why mooring buoys matter How it works You receive a simple field card: depth, clarity, meadow edge, and boat traffic. Uploads feed maps that harbour masters use to move anchoring zones. Why it matters When residents measure meadows, protection stops being abstract: everyone sees regrowth after a single summer of care.

citizen science seagrass monitoring

Programme nearbyRewilding Brussels

Rewild river corridors by removing fish passage barriers

Free rivers so fish can roam again Dam Removal Europe connects communities tearing down obsolete weirs and culverts so eels, trout, and lamprey reach headwaters across the continent. What you can do - Explore the Dam Removal Europe map and advocate for a barrier near you - Read the Slovakia barrier removal guide for a step-by-step community playbook - Join local river trusts on barrier surveys: photograph choke points and share them with councils How it works Engineers and ecologists score barriers by impact and cost. Volunteer testimony about lost fishing and flooding speeds permits and funding. Why it matters Open rivers knit landscapes together: fish return, sediment moves naturally, and kids discover pools that were blocked for generations.

dam removal river fish

Programme nearbyCommunity London

Join a Plastic Free Community with Surfers Against Sewage

Make your town a Plastic Free Community Surfers Against Sewage helps neighbourhoods cut single-use plastic: business pledges, school assemblies, and refill maps that residents can actually use. What you can do - Start or join a Plastic Free Community near you - Recruit cafés and grocers to swap dispensers and accept reusable cups - Host a joyful street festival that celebrates local shops already plastic free How it works Community leaders complete simple milestones: businesses, schools, and events. SAS provides toolkits; you bring neighbours and celebrate wins publicly. Why it matters Plastic cuts work when they are social: visible badges on shop doors remind everyone the high street chose reuse together.

plastic free beach community

Programme nearbyCommunity London

Test your local river water quality with FreshWater Watch

Sample your river and share the data FreshWater Watch trains residents to measure nitrate, turbidity, and algae in local streams. Your readings join a global map scientists and councils use. What you can do - Sign up at FreshWater Watch and request a simple test kit - Pick a bridge or footpath you walk weekly and sample at the same spot - Upload photos of wildlife and pollution hotspots with your readings How it works Short training videos show safe sampling. You enter results on the app; project scientists flag unusual spikes to local water managers. Why it matters When neighbours measure water, cleanup stops being invisible: communities spot sewage spills and celebrate when clarity returns.

freshwater water quality citizen science

Programme nearbyCommunity London

Organise a beach and river litter survey in your area

Turn beach cleans into evidence Surfers Against Sewage beach cleans ask volunteers to record what they find. Brands and councils listen when residents bring sorted data, not just full bags. What you can do - Find a beach clean near you or register your own - Sort litter into categories on the shore and log items in the SAS app - Invite river groups upstream so plastic is traced to its source How it works Organisers receive tally sheets and bags. One hour of cleaning plus ten minutes of sorting creates open data policymakers cannot ignore. Why it matters Joyful crowds on the sand plus hard numbers push companies to redesign packaging and councils to fix storm overflows.

beach clean litter survey

Programme nearbyCommunity London

Advocate for clean waterways through Surfers Against Sewage River Action

Speak up for rivers that should be swimmable SAS River Action helps residents challenge sewage pollution: petitions, sample requests, and media toolkits that turn anger into organised pressure. What you can do - Join River Action campaigns targeting your catchment - Request water company monitoring data and share results at parish meetings - Pair advocacy with FreshWater Watch sampling so stories have numbers behind them How it works Campaign coaches help you set goals: legal letters, councillor questions, or community monitoring. Wins get celebrated publicly to recruit more neighbours. Why it matters Rivers belong to everyone who walks their banks: organised voices restore trust and funding for real infrastructure fixes.

river advocacy water quality

Programme nearbyCommunity London

Run a freshwater literacy workshop in your neighbourhood

Host a river evening for your block FreshWater Watch materials help any community group run a freshwater evening: where your tap water comes from, what lives in the brook, and how to sample safely. What you can do - Download workshop guides from FreshWater Watch - Invite a local angler, birder, or councillor to share stories of the catchment - End with a pledge: adopt a storm drain, plant a buffer strip, or schedule monthly tests How it works You need a hall or pub back room, a projector, and one trained sampler. Neighbours leave with a map of their sub-catchment and a date for the first test day. Why it matters Freshwater literacy turns abstract SDG talk into names of streams people can walk to after dinner.

freshwater workshop literacy

Programme nearbyRewilding Zagreb

Visit and volunteer at Lonjsko Polje floodplain

Walk Europe's great Sava floodplain Lonjsko Polje Nature Park joined the European Rewilding Network as a Wilder Parks frontrunner. More than 50,000 hectares of alluvial forest, pasture, and villages along the Sava still flood with the river. Visitors cycle stork villages; gardeners can join the park's traditional gardener volunteer programme. What you can do - Start at visitor centres in Čigoč or Krapje for maps, bike hire, and guided floodplain walks (park site) - Apply for the Tradicijski vrtlar volunteer programme when spring calls open - Read why the park joined the network on Rewilding Europe How it works Park staff reconnect oxbows, expand natural grazing, and host visitors who learn floodplain culture without inventing a new landscape. Volunteers tend traditional courtyard gardens during multi-day spring sessions with board provided. Why it matters Floodplains that still breathe with the river protect villages downstream and keep storks, eagles, and pasture herds in one living system.

Lonjsko Polje floodplain volunteer

Programme nearbyCommunity Belgrade

Public drinking fountains as urban water commons

Blue dots on the city map: free water and heat resilience Across Serbia, javne česme (public fountains) are reopening each spring, heritage infrastructure that doubles as climate adaptation. Refill stations cut single-use plastic, offer free hydration during heat waves, and anchor neighbourhood gathering spots when maintained and tested. What you can do - Residents: locate your nearest public fountain, carry a reusable bottle, and report broken taps to the local utility or health institute - Neighbourhood groups: map fountains in your district and advocate for repairs, signage, and water-quality transparency - Municipalities: treat fountains as public-health infrastructure, regular testing, winter maintenance, and new installations in heat-exposed zones How it works Most urban fountains connect to municipal water networks; Belgrade also lists dozens of spring-fed fountains monitored by the city public-health institute. Quality data should be published before peak summer use. Why it matters Accessible water is a solarpunk baseline: low-tech, shared, and life-sustaining. Every working fountain is a small act of care for the whole neighbourhood.

Clean water

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