} ; we LOVE water! *

Sunday, April 19, 2009

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water is PRECIOUS!

11:06 PM

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water is PRECIOUS!

11:03 PM

A picture of a well...(click for a larger view)

water is PRECIOUS!

10:55 PM

Singapore is a country which can be considered to be IT savvy. We have the latest technology of treating water sources like that of seawater and also got hold of the idea of treating waste water into potable drinking water, lastly the different methods of treating water sources to make them safe for consumption. So our group feels that though there can still be many other ways to treat water for consumption purposes, we may not be able to think of them now since we are still not up to that level where we can implement new ways to treat water. Therefore we can only think of digging well to get water which is actually a method commonly used in the past but negelcted now due to the technology available on earth now.

water is PRECIOUS!

10:44 PM

Alternatives water source that our group has proposed:

1) Digging of wells to retrieve water from underground

Evidence: It is very clean because people in the past, who drank water from the wells which is untreated, has minimum impact on their health. And with our current technology, our group believe that the water retrieved from the well can be much cleaner and is safe for consumption.

water is PRECIOUS!

10:12 PM

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Desalination

The SingSpring Desalination Plant, located at Tuas, is a 20-Year Build-Own-Operate Project, undertaken by Hyflux for the Singapore PUB, to supply drinking water to the western part of Singapore. This is Singapore’s first seawater desalination plant and was completed 3 months ahead of schedule in September 2005. It produces 30 million gallons of water (136,380 m³) each day. Worth S$200 million, it is one of the biggest in the world and meets 10 percent of the country's water needs. The plant also produces bottled water called the Desal H2O. Hyflux undertook the design, engineering, procurement and construction as well as the operation and maintenance of the plant.

At the desalination plant, sea water is forced through plastic membranes with microscopic pores to extract dissolved salts. Silt is removed by dousing the seawater with chemicals that coagulate the particles.

The SingSpring Desalination Plant also claims many distinctions:
- The largest reverse osmosis seawater desalination plant in Asia
- One of the largest single reverse osmosis trains in the world
- One of the largest in-filter dissolved air flotation and filtration in the world
- One of the most energy-efficient desalination plants in the world

water is PRECIOUS!

3:48 PM

NEWater

NEWater is the brand name given to reclaimed water produced by Singapore's Public Utilities Board. More specifically, it is treated wastewater or called sewage that has been purified using dual-membrane, via microfiltration and reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet technologies, in addition to conventional water treatment processes. The water is potable and is consumed by humans, but is mostly used for industry requiring high purity water.

The Singapore Water Reclamation Study was initiated in 1998 by the Public Utilities Board (PUB) and the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR). The aim of this study was to determine if NEWater was a viable source of raw water for Singapore's needs. NEWater and desalination were explored as means to reduce reliance on water imported from Malaysia, which has been a source of friction over the years. Also, while the Malaysian government is treaty-bound to sell Singapore water until 2061, it is under no obligation to do so after this.

In 2001, PUB began an effort to increase water supplies for non-potable use. Using NEWater for these applications would reduce the demand on the reservoirs for potable water.

Singapore has a total of four operational NEWater factories, at Bedok, Kranji, Ulu Pandan and Seletar Water Reclamation Plants, with the former two completed at the end of 2002, and the latter in February 2004 and the Ulu Pandan plant on March, 2007. There is a Visitor Centre near Tanah Merah MRT Station, which contains a working NEWater factory for educational purposes. Tours and a private shuttle from Tanah Merah MRT station may be booked through the Visitor Centre.

PUB claims that the main reason why NEWater is not used as potable water directly is the psychological barrier of consuming (treated) sewage. Adding treated NEWater into the reservoirs helps to ameliorate this problem. The second reason PUB gives is that NEWater lacks minerals removed during the reverse osmosis process, and this changes the taste of the water.

water is PRECIOUS!

3:42 PM