Geography WA2

Team members: Zan Tan, Isaac Chua, Lu Boyuan, and Aaron Lim

Format: Letter as a resident of Singapore, writing to a friend in a less developed country

who is a member of the Climate Change Committee in his country. Explaining how and
why Singapore manages water sustainably and encouraging him to do the same.

Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Why water is precious
3. First stage of NEWater
4. Second and third stage of NEWater
5. Rainwater harvesting
6. How the collection works
7. Conclusion
(555 words in total)

Bibliography:
https://www.pub.gov.sg/watersupply/fournationaltaps/newater
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/hdb-rainwater-harvesting-system-
yishun-jurong-green-towns-programme-solar-panels-2590301
https://www.greensingapore.com/articles/industry-articles/pub-singapore-s-national-
water-agency
Dear John,
How are you doing? I have heard that you are a Climate Change Committee
Member in your country. Let me share with you how Singapore manages water
sustainability, and you can do the same to make a better living environment in your
country!
We all know that water is an essential element of survival, and we use it daily to
wash laundry, bathe, or cook. A more densely populated country would need more
water supply to suit its needs. However, if many people result in wasting water, they will
have insufficient amounts of it in the long term. Through large meat and material
production, the world uses 10 billion tons of freshwater per day, when less than 2.5% of
Earth’s water is fresh. Although countries like us do not have their own lakes or
mountains, we have thought of great ideas to keep up with the demand.
The 1st one is NEWater. NEWater manufacturing processes convert our used
water into ultra-clean, high-grade reclaimed water. NEWater is made in 3 stages:
Microfiltration, Reverse osmosis, and Ultra-violet disinfection. During microfiltration,
the used water is forced through membranes which filter out particles larger than the
tiny membranes, allowing mostly water to pass through.
The second stage, reverse osmosis, is almost like the above but involves a
physical process of diffusion. This can get rid of bacteria, viruses, and other harmful
contaminants. Step three is ultra-violet disinfection. After the reverse osmosis stage, the
water is already fairly clean. Ultra-violet disinfection just kills the remaining substances
to make sure that the output is extremely pure. NEWater is still new, only providing
most of its water to industrial companies that require clean water. Probably it will soon
be rolled out to the public!
The 2nd one is the collection of rainwater. The Urban Water Harvesting System,
first introduced in 2018, is designed to maximise the volume of rainwater collected by
harvesting stormwater surface runoff from the ground area surrounding multiple
residential blocks. Recently, they started installing rainwater harvest systems for non-
potable uses such as washing common areas and watering plants, to nearly 90 house
blocks. The Housing Development Board said that they could potentially save 17,500
cubic meters of water per year. Risks of small floods during heavy storms can be
decreased by slowing down the discharge of water into the drainage system.
How this system works is that the stormwater is channelled to a harvesting tank, before
being pumped into a treatment room. Over there, water is processed by another set of
filters, not as much, for non-drinkable water to be made. However, the cost of all these
systems may be huge. We are spending large amounts of money just for our water,
making it a precious element.

All these ideas mentioned are ingenious, but I think that not only can you take
some of these ideas to your country, but you can also make them much better. The
water system in Singapore is not perfect and there are still some ways we all can
improve. The common thing is to ensure that our fellow citizens experience proper
water hygiene and learn to control their usage sustainably. The future generations to
come will then have the same amounts of water we have. With that, I have come to the
end of my letter. Well wishes!
Best Regards,
Jacob
(555 words)