It was a hot, sunny morning – a good reminder of the weather we have in Singapore; and an appropriate setting for the Saturday event about water. The theme of Singapore’s World Water Day 2016 is: Walk, Jog, Conserve – make every drop count. The neighbourhood community of Jurong Lake: elderly residents, families, and students alike were invited to take part in the event.
Sweaty and warm from an early mass walk/jog around the Garden, it was a crucial reminder to the public about how much we need water. Water is a valuable resource that we commonly take for granted, especially given that we do not need to worry about water shortages or poor water quality in Singapore. The effective management and treatment of water could be both a good and bad thing in this respect. Schools and organisations came early to set up their booths in a coordinated effort with PUB to educate the public about the significance of water conservation, the value of water, and how water allows us to enjoy meaningful activities.
River Valley High School helped to promote awareness about virtual water. Water is inherent in everything we do, use, or consume; computers, plastics, clothes – basically everything – require lots of water to produce. They also had a hands-on “Residential Rain Garden” activity, where participants can create a well-drained, mini plant, in reused NEWater bottles.
Making the effort to conduct their own research, Jurong Junior College shared their research results on cost savings from water and energy conservation. They also had structures made from recycled 500ml plastic bottles to visually represent the amount of water we waste by leaving the tap running instead of using a mug when brushing our teeth, for instance.
Boon Lay Garden Primary School represented their spin-off experimental findings about the use of “Shade Balls” to reduce evaporation from a water body. This is an idea actually implemented for the Los Angeles reservoir in an attempt to preserve enough supply amidst the tough drought last year.
A key showcase from Yuan Ching Secondary School was their very prominently decorated kayak, which serves to highlight their established Dragon Boating CCA. This is to remind the public that water allows us to enjoy many recreational water activities.
Earthlink was also active in engaging and educating the public about the impending water crisis around the world, and how it affects Singapore. Simple but thought-provoking questions were posed to participants about how they conserve water at home, and how they can do more.
There were also organisations – namely Engineering Good, Anytime Fitness, and the Taman Jurong GRO – promoting their various work and activities. Engineering Good aimed to bring clean water to developing countries via “humanitarian engineering”. Their LifeStraws, Biosand filters, and Ceramic Pot Filters are all designed to eliminate most pathogens and bacteria from water, hence giving the people clean water on the spot.
We are all truly fortunate to be living in Singapore, with access to clean water supplies. Hopefully participants were able to take away lessons from the short event about the necessity to conserve our water. It doesn’t take much to waste that little bit of water, but it also doesn’t take much to save that little bit of water we waste: “Make Every Drop Count”.