Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) Posts from Black & Veatch

Nothing is a waste, everything is a resource

Posted Jul 5 2010 by Ngee Ann Poly - Written News Group in Ideas, News, Facts & Figures, People, SIWW 2010 Posts with Comments Off

The Singapore Junior Water Prize is a national competition to search for a winning team to represent Singapore in the Stockholm Junior Water Prize that will be held in Stockholm, Sweden from the 4^th to 9^th of September 2010.

The aim of the game? A winning report that displays how their proposal can help improve the quality of lives of people through water.

Through interaction with the winners from Dunman High School and NUS High School, I finally learnt the purpose of aquatic plants in water bodies where their basic function is to absorb chemical compounds in water that are not needed for drinking water which would help purify the water before it undergoes the other desalination functions.

Right after the ceremony ended, delegates moved on to the Opening Ceremony of Singapore International Water Week 2010 and the Second World Cities Summit where our Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Mr Teo Chee Hean spoke, citing that Singapore had to collect every drop of rain water we had due to the increase in pollution.

Later we saw Mr Teo Chee Hean wandering the halls of the Water Expo. Then we spotted Ms Constance Ward at the Black & Veatch booth. Walking over to say hello seemed like a natural thing to do when she was so kind to us during her talk in Ngee Ann Polytechnic. She introduced us to Black & Veatch’s Chairman, President and CEO Mr Len Rodman and its top female engineer Ms Cindy Wallis-Lage. We asked to take some pictures and we struck up a conversation with Ms Wallis-Lage.

She started out from a technological role in Black & Veatch before moving to a management role in the company. She spoke about how it was important it to be at the “leading edge and not bleeding edge” where keeping to the fundamentals was important in technological solutions.

Before embarking on this assignment, I did not have much interest in water issues save for the rising water bills in Singapore households but speaking to people who are extremely passionate about water issues such as Ms Cindy and the prize winners of the Singapore Junior Water Prize made me sit back and think, are Singaporean youths just lazy or have we become so apathetic that we just don’t care about such key issues that affect us directly?

In the words of Ms Wallis-Lage, “Nothing is a waste, everything is a resource.” If all of us look at things in such a manner, we would then realize that we, apathetic youths we may be, we have in us the potential to make a change, be it in water or other issues that affect our lives today.

By Koh Lee Mei Fanny, School of Film & Media Studies, Ngee Ann Polytechnic

Hmmm…How about walking on water?

Posted Jul 5 2010 by Ngee Ann Poly - Written News Group in Around Singapore, Sights, Sounds & Quotes, SIWW 2010 Posts with Comments Off

Anyone tired of plain boring running? Why not try walking, or even running on water?

Yes, you can walk on water

At the recently concluded Singapore International Water Festival, secondary school students from all across the island had a race like no other – a 100m dash across the choppy waters at Marina Barrage, a reservoir in the heart of the bustling city that has been managed and converted into a vibrant lifestyle hotspot.

Now you may be thinking, “Are you serious?!”, but apparently it isn’t as hard as it seems or sound. The students had trained only three days prior to the competition. That’s pretty hard to believe, judging from how some of the students breezed through the waters in their Styrofoam-made “flippers”.

With proper management, Singapore’s water bodies need not remain just water bodies. Along with the Active, Beautiful and Clean (ABC) Waters programme launched by the PUB, water bodies like reservoirs and rivers, canals as well as drains can now be redesigned into lifestyle hubs and beautiful waterways where many exciting activities (eg. walking on water!) can be held. Find out more at the PUB website.

By Ong Sing Rui, School of Film & Media Studies, Ngee Ann Polytechnic

Just add water!

Posted Jul 2 2010 by Ngee Ann Poly - Written News Group in Around Singapore, Sights, Sounds & Quotes, SIWW 2010 Posts with Comments Off

Small raindrops were beating on my head by the time I arrived at Marina Barrage, and, for a moment, I thought it was wildly ironic for it to be raining during a water festival. Though it seemed like everything and everyone at the Singapore International Water Festival were oblivious to the depressing drizzle. The crowd was also heavily concentrated with Gen Y, which I would like to think largely had to do with the fact that Singapore Polytechnic organized it. I was also pleasantly surprised at the amount of related activities, sports and events there were to water and no matter how bizarre they were (there was a particular sport where participants used foam boards to walk on water), each one of them had its own loyal pool of supporters and sportsmen! As subtle as it may be, I thought the event was an apt portrayal of the vitality of water for the rising generation. The kids rowing their canoes or splashing about in the fountains may not know it, but unless they look forward to paddling their boats on land or are enthusiastic about suffering dehydration, water needs to be conserved.

By Iffah Rakinah, School of Film & Media Studies, Ngee Ann Polytechnic

The beauty of water

Posted Jul 2 2010 by Ngee Ann Poly - Written News Group in Ideas, SIWW 2010 Posts, Technology with 1 Comment

I was anticipating luscious green canopies during the tour of the Lower Seletar Raingarden as part of ABC Waters Project. I have to admit that I was disappointed when the raingarden turned out to be a small vegetation plot.

I continued to learn about the raingarden’s functional ability from one of National Park’s Assistant Directors and I realised how valuable these natural resources are when it comes to reusing rainwater.

The rain floods the raingarden and is then filtered through three layers of soil.With gravity’s aid, unwanted particles are removed through natural processes.

The water is eventually collected in a reservoir and used for recreational activities. This was demonstrated by a Vietnamese water puppetry show staged inside the children’s pool.

Here’s when I had an epiphany. We have been so transfixed on technological advances in water management that we seem to have neglected the beauty of Mother Nature’s creations.

The raingarden is living proof of how we can combine beauty with simple ways to manage our water.

Posted by Tan Hui Xin Jessica, Ngee Ann Polytechnic

Paparazzi at Universal Studios

Posted Jul 2 2010 by Constance Ward in Sights, Sounds & Quotes, SIWW 2010 Posts with 3 Comments

During the closing dinner at Universal Studios on Sentosa, Ng Ann Polytechnic students from Joh Ting Koh’s journalism course conducted a group interview with Professor Robert Glennon, who led Black & Veatch’s roundtable yesterday. This “scrum” of students drew an even larger crowd of passersby who wondered what star was being interviewed outside the fake movie theater.

Several surprise guests – like Black & Veatch’s Len Rodman and PUB’s Khoo Teng Chye – stopped by to meet the students, too, as well as Global Water Intelligence editor Christopher Gasson.

Among the students I met were Joshua Tay Han Wen, Khoo Quin Xin, Irlada Seow, Iris Koh Min Hui and Rayner Lee Shao Wei, who shot the photographs here.

Posted by Constance Ward

SIWW Opening Ceremony – Networking and New Ideas

Posted Jul 1 2010 by Ngee Ann Poly - Written News Group in Ideas, SIWW 2010 Posts with Comments Off

Walking the halls of the Water EXPO on opening night

It was certainly a sight to see so many important delegates from all around the world coming together in an effort to sustain the essential resource we have and that is – water. I felt rather privileged to part of such a grand event and it undeniably reminded me of the importance of water conservation and management.

At the opening ceremony

A rather smart and subtle initiative I felt on the part of the organisers of SIWW was to have the reception after the Opening Ceremony held in the Expo Hall. It was definitely intentional for the reception to be amongst the booths to make it easier for networking and discussions to take place -as it always is with food around. I also gleaned something intriguing to reflect on at Black & Veatch’s booth. Cindy Wallis-Lage, one of Black & Veatch’s engineering leaders, mentioned that people may not be as keen on the idea of wastewater treatment simply because of the negative intonation of its name and thus are not as aware of its benefits. Black & Veatch seeks to change that perception into something more positive by possibly calling it a ‘water resource plant’ so that people will come to know it as a ‘resource’ and will be more interested and open to invest in the management of water.

We meet Cindy and Connie at Black & Veatch's booth

Posted by Olivia Ng School of Film & Media Studies, Ngee Ann Polytechnic

More songs to add to the water song list?

Posted Jul 1 2010 by Constance Ward in Sights, Sounds & Quotes, SIWW 2010 Posts with 7 Comments

I’ve collected the extra songs people have posted in response to the original water song list (see blog entry with this photo way, way down the list) Post more!

Posted by Constance Ward

• Tears of a Clown – Smokey Robinson

• River Deep Mountain High – Tina Turner

• Take me to The River (and wash me down) – The Soul Man

• Somewhere Down the Lazy River – Robbie Robertson

• The River – The Boss

• Cold Water – Damien Rice

• Thunderstruck – AC/DC.

• Yellow Submarine – Beatles

• Rainy Night in Soho – Pogues

• The Water is Wide

• Singing in the Rain

• Moon River

• Water is Alright in Tea! – Dubliners

• The Waterboys

• Here Comes the Rain Again – Eurthymics

• Have You Ever Seen the Rain – Creedence Clearwater Revival

• Rain – Madonna

• I Can’t Stand the Rain – Tina Turner

• Blame it on the Rain – Milli Vanilli(!!)

• Umbrella – Rihanna

• Purple Rain – Prince

• Bad Moon Rising

The comfort of Singaporean water

Posted Jul 1 2010 by jotwein in News, Facts & Figures, SIWW 2010 Posts with Comments Off

Time and time again this week, I’ve been reminded of how supremely excellent the infrastructure in Singapore is and the danger of becoming complacent about our position. In fact, I’ve written about it a couple of times in articles on the Youth@SIWW webpage (a little shameless advertising never hurt).

Especially when attending talks and forums with the many international delegates, it really sinks in how truly blessed we are to have had such a problem that needed to be addressed in (arguably) the most Singaporean way – with kiasu-ism (a Hokkien term meaning afraid to lose).

Within my lifetime, 90% of the island will be turned into a water catchment area, and though we are barely a red dot on the world map (with some editions not even bothering with the dot), that is indeed a substantial area that we are dedicating to water conservation, collection and sustainability.

I suppose it is this comprehensive plan that has made Singaporeans put water issues at the back of their minds. Prior to the conference I had no idea that so many people cared this much about water to fly hundreds (and in some cases thousands) of kilometres to attend such a conference.

So at the end of the day, it is unlikely that Singapore will ever undergo any kind of water crisis again. Nevertheless, it’s nice to know that as usual, the government has our back.

Posted by Joshua Tan

Practicing the craft of journalism

Posted Jul 1 2010 by Constance Ward in People, SIWW 2010 Posts with 2 Comments

Today’s American Business Forum was co-chaired by Black & Veatch Chairman, President and CEO Len Rodman and by Nilaksh Kothari of the American Water Works Association. As I snapped a photo of Len and Nilaksh before the forum began, I also took a photo of his badge to be sure I got the spelling right because I’ve always had a problem with all the consonants in his name. It’s a trick I learned as a former journalist.

Then one of our student bloggers from Ng Ann Polytechnic, Leng Ji En Paul, came into the meeting room and was introduced to Len. The first thing he asked Len after posing for this photo was how to spell Len’s name. This student has good journalist instincts!

Posted by Constance Ward

From a layman’s point of view…

Posted Jul 1 2010 by Maria Adrianna in Ideas, People, Sights, Sounds & Quotes, SIWW 2010 Posts with 1 Comment

I’ve never felt more ignorant than this week.

Attending the talks, lectures and business forums during the Singapore International Water Week has enlightened me on the absolute enormity of the water problem. I don’t know how I wasn’t aware of it– it’s like missing the fact that I’ve got daisies growing on my forehead.

How did I not know that humanity’s water sources were so stretched?

Sure, I’ve seen the news about bush fires in Australia, about the droughts and the media went crazy over the energy crisis and climate change. It just seems that in all the frenzy, the connection all these had with the looming water problem was pushed aside.

Who would’ve thought that solar energy required water? I’d always assumed it was just the sun, and photovoltaic cells. How much more information has been glossed over?

Yesterday, after sitting in on the Black & Veatch round table, I realised how much is being done. How companies have been trying to find new ways to obtain water, and get it approved.

The resistance that large organizations have to some of the measures floored me.

One thing discussed was the ‘yuck factor’. Essentially, people just find the thought of drinking water that may have passed through their own bodies repulsive.

Can people afford to be picky? Maybe growing up in Singapore, where natural water resources are scarce, has made me more pragmatic about drinking ‘toilet to tap’ water.

It wasn’t until yesterday that it came to light how much the PUB did to make the transition into use of NEWater as smooth as possible. One word with negative connotations could have changed everything. As Mr Khoo, the CEO of PUB said, “We only had one chance.”

Thank goodness for that one chance, then.

Not that Singapore’s completely accepted NEWater… Before coming to the SIWW, a doctor asked me if it was true that dogs didn’t drink NEWater. (They do, don’t they?)

Posted by Maria Adrianna

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Nothing is a waste, everything is a resource

Hmmm…How about walking on water?

Just add water!

The beauty of water

Paparazzi at Universal Studios

SIWW Opening Ceremony – Networking and New Ideas

More songs to add to the water song list?

The comfort of Singaporean water

Practicing the craft of journalism

From a layman’s point of view…

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