Introduction

Located on the northern shore of Lower Seletar Reservoir, the Lower Seletar Reservoir Park is largely flat with some undulating terrain that provides a pleasant place for a leisure stroll or jog. You can find benches along the edge of the reservoir if you prefer to sit back and enjoy the beautiful view of the reservoir.

With the increasing demand for clean and drinkable water, more methods to  obtain water are needed. As a country, Singapore cannot rely solely on imported water, NEWater and desalinated water. That leads to why we need to obtain water from our local water catchment areas. Water catchment areas are very important sources of water for us. To ensure that we are able to understand the importance of these water catchment areas, PUB has introduced one of its long-term initiatives, Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters (ABC Waters) Programme into Lower Seletar Reservoir Park, which is mainly targeted at secondary school students.

The ABC Waters Programme is designed with features such as rain gardens, bioretention swales and the Heritage Deck. Features such as the rain gardens and bioretention swales are natural systems which retain and treat water on site before allowing the water to flow naturally back into the reservoir. The Heritage Deck is designed to let students learn more about the history of Lower Seletar Reservoir as they read about what happened in old Lower Seletar Reservoir through the timeline on the glass panels.

ABC Water Programme becomes Reality

The trail has helped us better understand the ABC waters programme as through the activities the trail provided for us, i know more about the reservoir, the water cycle,bioretention swales,which links to the ABC water programme which is to keep the waters clean. It has helped us better understand that the plan can become a reality as the features we have to treat the water is available,which can achieve the aim of the ABC water programme which is to achieve a sustainable urban environment.

Community’s Responsibility

The community holds an important responsibility on the cleanliness of the park.It is a part of their home.They should also not just rely on the cleaners to clean up what they dirtied and it is also not enough.They must do their part to make the water safe and the environment clean for all by not polluting it as it may be harmful to both the marine life and the human life.

Encouraging the Public

Firstly we can do this by creating awareness, like putting up posters and  notices about the water trail at Lower seletar reservoir,thus more people will come to the trail or visit the reservoir.
Secondly, we can organise a contest or competition,asking teams to complete the water trail or amazing race in the the fastest timing and award them prizes.Through this, people will be interested and will go for the trail.

Next, we can hold an event like a family day event where people in the community can come to visit the reservoir to relax,do recreational sports like kayaking, have a picnic there and understand more about the reservoir.

Lastly, we can hold a cleaning up activity, to ask people in the community to volunteer to clean up the lower seletar,in the same time killing two birds in one stone as through this activity,the people in the community can visit the reservoir and also help the environment.

Water Shortage Plan & Maintenance of our Resources

Singapore is a country with no natural water resources and depends on the “4 National Taps” which include local catchment water, imported water from Malaysia, NEWater (reclaimed water) and desalinated water.

Local catchment water is so far our strongest and most sustainable water supply. Water catchment area has increased from half to two-thirds of Singapore/s land surface with the completion of the Marina, Punggol and Serangoon Reservoir. More space is being cleared to create even more reservoirs to collect more water from streams, drains and rivers. Rainwater is collected to be treated so that it is clean and drinkable.

Singapore currently has one of Asia’s largest seawater reverse-osmosis plant, which can produce 30 million gallons of water daily and is able to meet approximately 10% of Singapore’s water needs. Another desalination plant will be built in 2013. By 2060, desalination capacity is intended to increase so that desalinated water meet up to 25% of Singapore’s water demand.

Water projects were carried out to ensure Singapore has a continuous supply of water for the future. The water projects include Clean-up of the Singapore River, building the Marina Barrage and creating the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System.

NEWater is reclaimed water produced from treated used water that is further purified and cleaned using advanced membrane technologies and ultra-violet disinfection, making it ultra-clean and safe to drink. Singapore’s latest NEWater plant was completed in 2010 and Singapore’s 4 NEWater plants can meet 30% of Singapore’s water needs. By 2060, the current NEWater capacity is intended to increase so that NEWater can meet up to 55% of our future water demand.

PUB Is currently planning for phase 2 of the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System and it will consist of a deep tunnel, associated link sewers, a centralized WRP integrated with NEWater facilities and deep sea outfall. It will cover the western part of  Singapore and is intended to be completed in 2022. The programme aims to increase Singapore’s catchment areas. PUB also introduced measures to reduce demand for water by including incentives for industry to develop water efficiency strategies, certification for water efficient buildings and campaigns to encourage the public to conserve water.

To maintain our water resources, PUB adopted a 3P (People, Public, Private) approach to engage the 3P partners to use water wisely, keep the water catchment and waterways clean and build a relationship with & enjoy using our waterways and reservoirs. The public is also constantly reminded that water is a precious resource and not a network for the public to dispose their unwanted materials.

Ode

Situated at yishun,

there is a reservoir i know,

where the sun shines and the waters shimmer with a glow,

the reservoir i know is no other than lower seletar, 

the reservoir that holds our living water,

the source of which quenches our thirst.

oh, how we humans the creator of this beauty pollute it,

spitting, littering, fishing, killing this beauty,

destroying the marine life.

this is the reservoir i know,

where once it was free from the little pains it bore,

the unappreciation we show,

the love we never cared for.

Still the reservoir stills lives today,

the beauty that protects mother nature

that protects our water.

Reflection for Each Station

• Station 1 - Fishing Jetty

We learnt that the importance of cleanliness of water at the reservoir. The quality of the water has to be good, and it has to be clean and safe in order for living things to survive. The most common standards used to assess water quality is related to the health of ecosystems and safety for human contact and drinking. Water at Lower Seletar Reservoir is very clean as there is minimal debris on the water surface. The colour of the water is green due to the presence of algae, indicating that nutrients and organic matter are available in the water. Temperature of the water is around room temperature and the amount of oxygen in the water is 3-4 ppm which is sufficient for marine life. We were told to place a tablet in a tube containing water from the reservoir that we collected which then showed us the pH of the water by changing the colour of the water. We found out that the pH is 7 which showed that the water was a healthy environment.

• Station 2 - Rain Garden

We learnt that the plot of vegetation that we see was a rain garden and its purpose is to collect, detain and treat rainwater runoff from paved areas like footpaths and rooftops. Impurities in the rainwater pass through the plants and soil and are removed from the rainwater. The rainwater is then further treated and reused in the water play area and wading stream. This not only enhances the quality of the rainwater runoff but also promotes biodiversity. The rainwater go through the 4 processes of detention element, sedimentation, filtration and biological uptake. The plants in the rain garden act as filters and absorbs nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrate; and also prevent algae bloom so that marine life can survive.

• Station 3 - Litter Trap

From this station, we learnt that our activities affect the quality of water collected at our water catchment areas. Some activities such as littering, fishing and kayaking can cause the water to become dirty. We learnt that we should not litter anywhere we want because it may choke marine life and will block sunlight, which is needed the marine plants to make food, from entering the water.  Life baits used for fishing introduces harmful bacteria into the water and people who go for kayaking may spit into the water or litter results in introduction of harmful bacteria as well. This will cause marine life to die.

• Station 4 - Heritage Deck - Viewing Gallery

In this station,  we learnt about the ABC Waters Programme which aims to integrate Singapore’s parks, reservoirs and waterways and the community.The rain garden and bioretention swales are design features of the use of ABC Waters which help to keep our waters clean. The features also form ecological habits that benefit from the proximity to water sources.New community spaces are created allowing people to get closer to water. Apart from that, we were also told that the structure of the Heritage Deck is shaped like a fishing net which reminds us of one of the past activity of Lower Seletar Reservoir - fishing. The structure was build like that so as to preserve our heritage which later generations can appreciate.

• Station 5 - Heritage Deck - Heritage Panels

From this station, we learnt some interesting facts about the history of Lower Seletar Reservoir. It was actually a fishing village named selita/ seletar/salaeta which means straits. In the early days, early settlers would travel down Seletar to trade for goods such as tobacco and kerosene. Gambier and pepper were also cultivated. Later on, rubber and pineapple plantations were replaced as the demand for this goods increased. We also got to know how the reservoir changed from just an ordinary fishing village to how it is right now, clean, beautiful and still as active as before. 

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