Brief summary of community's responsibilty in taking care of the place :)

Everyone has the  responsibility of ensuring the cleanliness of our water bodies so as to sustain the potability and low-priced water so that we do not have to pay so much for our water. Every action counts, just one person can influence others to refrain from littering and carry out less of these activities such as fishing, dragon boating etcetera and take the initiative to pick up litter from the ground. This will make  the reservoirs be litter-free. Refraining from harming or capturing the creatures living in the reservoir will help preserve the ecosystem. In conclusion, without the catchment areas to collect water for further treatments to produce freshwater, Singapore may face problems of water constraint and it may affect our economy and other factors. Thus, we must always keep our water clean!

 

Ways to encourage community to participate in the trail :)

1. Host a family event there.

  - host an event where family participates in the trail together. This would promote the trail as well as family bonding.

2. Posters about beauty of the reservoir.

   - Promote the beauty of the reservoir and attract people to visit the reservoir.

3. Promote the trail and its benefits to schools.

   - Thus, schools would be interested due to the benefits and arrange field trips to the reservoir and participate in the trail.

4. Posters about the activities of the trail.

   - Posters would allow people to know about the activities hosted there and might interest them in joining the trail and visiting the reservoir.

5. Hosting an event where people who completes the trail gets prizes

   - People who participate in the trail and finish it quickly will receive prizes based on their time taken to complete the trial.

Final Reflections

The trail made me understand more of purpose of ABC water programme. The ABC water programme aims to integrate Singapore’s parks, reservoirs and waterways and the community. The ABC Water design features such as Rain Gardens and bioretention swales help to keep our water clean. Firstly, I had learnt that Rain Garden collects and treats rainwater runoff that flows from the park. The vegetation there helps to remove nutrients, such as phosphates and nitrates, thus no growth of algae could be found in the water. Hence, these vegetation are known as natural filters for water. There is also the bioretention swales but as there is currently drought in Singapore so we did not carry out that activity. However, we were told that the bioretention swales treat runoff water to cleansed water and then channel it to the reservoir. I feel that this plan of transforming Singapore into a city of Gardens and Water that is soon becoming into reality is evident from the sight of the Marina Barrage and many other reservoirs.

I feel that this trial enabled us to do many hands-on activities to enable us to understand more of our water resource and the  importance of reservoirs in Singapore. I feel that we should always take care of our water resource. I feel that this programme has also made me get closer with the environment  

   To prevent water constraint to happen in Singapore, Singapore has developed a sustainable water supply system known as the Four National Taps. The 4 national taps are local catchment areas, NEWater, imported water and desalinated water. Lower Seletar Reservoir belongs to the local catchment areas. Our local catchment areas take up two-third of our land area. Local catchment areas collect rainwater to be further treated to clean water.

    In order to prevent water constraint, we need to control our increasing demand for water. In the above mentioned, Singapore has introduced the four national taps to ensure a diversified and sustainable supply for people in Singapore. Thus, its our duty to make sure we use water wisely and save water. Singapore has launched many water campaigns to remind people to conserve water and how scarce and precious water is. There are also policies made, for example, imposing water conservation tax on the amount of water used.

-By Toh Yu Lin (leader of Bedok Reservoir Group)

After this trail to the Lower Seletar Reservoir, I have learnt a lot about Singapore's shortage in water resources and the measures taken to solve the water problem. There are four ways of obtaining water in Singapore, which are the four national taps. There are the local catchment, imported water, NEWater and desalinated water. This trail also helps me in understanding the ABC water programme which allows students to explore and learn about Singapore's water resources and management through the first hand experience at Lower Seletar Reservoir. We also learn by observing our changing environment, collecting information and drawing conclusion about our water quality. It is important to conserve water as our next contract of importing water from Malaysia will expire in 2061. To solve this problem, the government has planned to fill the void of imported water by creating awareness to the public the importance of conserving water. By then, the amount of conserved water will be able to supply 20% of Singapore's water. While other 80% will come from local catchment, NEWater and water desalination plants.

-By Huang Bo Lin (member)

 After this trail, I had learnt that water is a precious resource and we must save water. The ABC water programme aims to integrate Singapore’s parks, reservoirs and waterways and the community. Features like Rain Garden and Bio retention swales helped in treating rainwater to clean water. Since Singapore may have a possibility to face water constraint, government had put up many water campaigns to remind people to save water even if there are 4 national taps that could help us for producing more clean water. Drains and canals are some examples of the plan to turn Singapore into a city Gardens and Waters.

-By Qin Yu Xin(member)

Not only did i enjoy myself in this learning trial at Lower Seletar Reservoir with my group of friends, I felt that it was also beneficial as I managed to learn a lot more about the uses of water and how important water is for us today. It is important for Singaporeans to conserve and use water wisely as  Singapore has a limited amount of water resources to supply our population with water. A lot of effort have been put in to ensure that water is reused and made clean for us to drink. For example, the Litter Trap we saw at Lower Seletar traps litter and ensure that no litter will contaminate our drinking water so we can safely enjoy clean water. I believe that if all of us put in an effort to save water, we would all be able to feel secure and enjoy the water resources provided!

-By Xena Lim (member)
 

I have learnt that there are a few ways that singapore have solved our shortage of water. The ABC water programme have taught me to conserve water and keep it clean.  There are campaigns to raise awareness about the water programme and we can help by doing our part. One of the stations like the litter trap has shown me that we should dispose of our rubbish properly instead of throwing them into drains as it will cause the filtering process to become costlier due to the need to filter the water more.

Singapore have done its part to help us in the shortage of water but we must also be responsible to help in using water wisely and making sure that the water bodies are litter-free.

-By Chen Zijun (member)





I have learnt that the ABC water programme helps in conserving water and also help to maintain the clean quality of fresh water in Singapore. However, people in Singapore failed to solve and curb their tremendous usage of water, thus may lead to water constraint. Eventually, Singapore came out with the 4 national taps to help in maintaining and producing sufficient water for the people. I feel that Singapore had gone through many troubles of letting people be aware of the great consequences of not saving water like for example, hosting water campaigns and broadcasting in the media. I feel that the plan is becoming a reality as seen from all the different 17 reservoirs and drains etcetera.


-By Phoebe Lim (member)

  

 

Our Ode (:

An ode to lower seletar reservoir,

A place where water is seen,

an essential source that it will always be!

What else do we see?

Lushy, green shrubs so lovely ,

Leaves of trees so green,

what a magnificent sight to see!

The sun rays cast itself on the clear water,

Its transparent face illuminating gold,

Clean and unsullied ,this water body is,

And we must maintain this!

Playing and have fun,

That’s what our awesome group did!

Running around, footsteps shuffling,

Creating an unbreakable bond with nature!

Active, beautiful and clean,

Be youthful water ambassadors,

So we can make our waters litter-free!

 

 

Rain Garden

The rain garden also called bio retention basin. It collects, detains and treats rainwater runoff that flows from the park. The filtered rainwater is then further treated and reused in the water play area and wading stream. Therefore, they are known as “natural filters” as they absorb nutrients like phosphates and nitrates from the rainwater before channelling the water to the reservoir, thus prevent growth of algae in the water. We feel that it is an excellent method to curb the growth of algae and also beautify the environment.  Approximately 80m2 in size, the rain garden not only enhances the quality of rainwater runoff, but also promotes biodiversity.There are about  10 species of plants.. It is a small habitat for insects and animals. However, we were not able to see these creatures due to the dry weather in Singapore, but according to our seniors, they   saw Grey Pansy Butterfly, Little Heron etcetera.

 

Third Station- Litter Trap :)

The canal delivers water from nearby housing estates and drains to the reservoir to purify the water for use. The litter trap is located at the mouth of the canal just before the reservoir to trap litter and other things like leaves and twigs. The purpose is to prevent litter from entering the reservoir and causing blockages in the drainage systems as these litters will cause harm to the marine life and ecosystem of the reservoir. The litter can also cause pollution to the reservoir so thus, the water in the reservoir requires more filtering systems which is costlier,Hence, the litter trap is installed. Although we have such a commodity, it is still our responsibility to keep our waters clean, by throwing our litter into bins instead of the drains.

 

 

Fishing Jetty

Our first station was the Fishing Jetty. Then, we did a water quality testing there. We learnt that clean water is essential for living organisms in the water to thrive and that quality of water affects not only the health of Eco-systems but also whether it is safe for human to consume the water.

The Fishing Jetty!

Firstly, we collected water from the reservoir.

Water collected from the reservoir! :)

Then, we observed and smelt the water. We learnt that smelling the water could give us basic information about the water quality. On its own, water does not have any smell. The smell of the collected water could give a a rough indication of pollution sources. The water had little or almost no particles at all and there was no debris on the water surface. The water was also odorless. Our conclusion was that the water was clean as it had no debris, little or no particles and was odourless.

We then observed the colour of the water as colours could give us clues as to what may be in the water, like dissolved pollutants or bacteria. But coloured water did not necessarily mean the water was polluted. We observed that the was greenish-yellow, which meant that there was an algae bloom that was usually caused by high nutrients in the water, fertilisers or organic matters.

Then, we observed the turbidity of the water. Turbidity is the level of "murkiness"of the water. It meant that there are particles suspended in the water. Turbidity affects the amount of light that can penetrate through the water, which determines the water level reaching the different depths of the reservoir. This in turn affects the aquatic plant life. We observed that the results were 40 JIU, which meant that the water was slightly turbid. 

Next, we tested the temperature of the water. The temperature of the water will vary with the weather and time of sampling. The temperature of the water affects the amount of dissolved oxygen. The temperature that we took was 30 degree Celsius, meaning that it was in the acceptable range. 

We also tested for dissolved oxygen. Dissolved oxygen is the amount of oxygen dissolved in a given volume of water, at a given temperature and atmospheric pressure. The minimum amount of dissolved oxygen need to sustain fish life is about 4mg/l (milligrams per litres). The results were 4ppm, which we analysed that the amount of dissolved oxygen was sufficient and acceptable. 

Then we tested the pH of the water.

pH of the water!

The pH of the water was actually pH 10 when we tested it but according to the seniors its supposed to be between pH 8-9, which means neutral to basic.

In conclusion, the overall quality of the water was quite clean. However, we could not drink the water directly from the reservoir as there is bacteria and other minerals in the water. Also, the water quality of our reservoirs is considered rather clean as compared to water with chemical waste in it, which is renderd toxic even after it has been treated.

Our beautiful reservoir :)