As I rushed to Suntec City as a little confused jitterbug, my mind was in a whirlpool, not knowing exactly what to expect from the Water Expo.

Arriving at the food court next to the convention centre, among the furious lunch crowd were delegates with the very same, prominent nametag I had received. And that was when I knew the importance of my presence to SIWW.

As I finally laid my feet onto the convention centre, the scale of SIWW dramatically reduced me to a timid little mouse that I curled up at a little coffee table and revised my materials and questions for an hour.

At 1.00pm, I slung on my very exclusive nametag and braved the hall. To some delegates, Water Expo seemed to a commercialised platform to market products.

What really stopped me to take a second look at certain booths was the genuine human touch they gave to their ingenious inventions.

I used to assume that water companies are merely keen on building big, impressive machineries I’ve seen on television.

Little did I know some of them possess the ability to think beyond riches and create little affordable water wonders.

Some examples: An improved underground grease separator for hawker centres, which prevents odour and bacteria in water, a sports water bottle with an integrated virus filter, widely used by relief organisations and army units for life saving and a locally produced 40 cents mineral water are all it takes to provide everyday water, for everyday people.

Posted by Iris Koh, School of Film & Media Studies, Ngee Ann Polytechnic