Water for Wildlife: How to set up a water station for animals

Water for Wildlife delivers free water stations to animal rescue groups, councils and caring individuals around Australia, who are all doing their bit to assist drought, heat wave and fire-affected animals.

Thank you for ordering a Water for Wildlife water station! Set-up instructions are below. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at waterforwildlife@animalsaustralia.org. Thank you for being part of this life-saving initiative and for everything you do to care for our precious wildlife.

Setting up: What you’ll need

1. Water station (supplied).
2. 2 x straps to secure the water station to a tree or fence (supplied).
3. A portable water carrier to re/fill your station (Marquee 20L Water Storage Containers are available from Bunnings for around $4.50).

Water station installation

1. Fill the water station through the spout at the bottom (the lid has been permanently secured to prevent any possibilities of wildlife drowning). To fill the water station, lie it down horizontally and pour in the water. You’ll know it’s full when it spills over the lip of the spout. Each station carries 15 litres of water.
2. Select a site with level ground and shade from the afternoon sun.
3. Stand the station up and secure it to a tree or fence with two straps (we suggest one near the top and one near the bottom).
4. Place some sticks or rocks in the bottom of the water station to prevent smaller animals or birds drowning.
5. A few days after installation, just pick up the water station, or tap it to determine remaining water level. Based on this, you can work out how regularly you’ll need to refill it.
6. Ensure that you can regularly visit and refill your station. Check that there are no leaks, all parts remain secure and that the lid remains glued on at all times.
7. If your station is leaking, it will need to be re-glued. The station will need to be fully dried before re-gluing.
8. If you can no longer care for a water station please take it down and consider donating it to a local wildlife group that can use it, or recycle the unit.

You can view/download a PDF copy of the set-up instructions here:

Download instructions »

Thank you

Water for Wildlife is a community-based initiative to assist native species in Australia who are being severely impacted by bushfires, heat waves and drought. Our water stations are free, ready to install and are accompanied by simple set-up instructions. Stations can hold nearly 15 litres of water and can be refilled as required.

Water for Wildlife is an initiative of Do Something and Animals Australia. Thanks to Arid Recovery for creating the original device on which this simplified version has been based and to Darren Pizel for his design expertise. We are also grateful to Happy Happy Foods, JFC, and volunteers from Men’s Sheds for helping make this life-saving project possible.