The Masterpiece of Water: An Interactive Journey Through Singapore's NEWater Visitor Centre

Hello, Worldmappin fam! 💖 Hope you're all doing well and having a wonderful day ✨

Our educational trip Singapore has included learning about the country’s very impressive water management system. In my previous blog, I talked about visiting Marina Barrage, a reservoir that serves as both a source of water supply and a flood control system. Now, let’s learn more about how Singapore’s tap water ends up safe and clean. This time we visited the NEWater Visitor Centre.

Even before we entered the facility, we had a very pleasant sight that welcomed us: mini ponds with plenty of koi fish swimming gracefully. Koi fish are usually sensitive and don’t thrive with poorly contaminated waters, and their vibrant presence here was a clear indication to the good quality of water that this facility provides. This shows an instant promise of the amazing things we were about to learn.

The visitor center itself is so beautiful and highly interactive. We had a tour guide who led us through the various exhibits inside, which were filled with educational infographics and facts about water conservation. Everything was very informative and made learning about such an important topic so much fun.

We also learned that Singapore has 17 water reservoirs that collect and store rainwater for treatment. These reservoirs, including Marina Barrage, are managed by PUB (Public Utility Board), Singapore National Water Agency. With two-thirds of the country’s land area serving as water catchments, it’s apparent to see their serious effort towards conservation of water.

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The main part of this tour was learning about filtration. Before we went through the stations, we saw an infographic that stated: "Imagine you are a water molecule. Go through the NEWater process." This approach set our minds, making us felt like we were actually inside the tanks and tubes of a water treatment plant. This made the tour so much fun and interactive! ✨

The process itself might be familiar if you've had a small water filter at home, but this one’s on a larger scale. The whole viewpoint of this process is that the raw water goes to the treatment before it is supplied to consumers as tap water.

First step is the Microfiltration/Ultrafiltration. This is the primary stage wherein very large impurities are removed from raw water.

Here’s the membrane filter they use at this stage. This microporous film has very small pore sizes that acts as a physical barrier to separate contaminants from water.

Next step is the Reverse Osmosis. At this stage, the water goes through a membrane whose pores are incredibly small. This is the crucial step in which unwanted substances such as bacteria, viruses, heavy metals, salts, and other contaminants are removed.

Our guide perfectly illustrated it to us: imagine it as a gate that stops small creatures invisible to the human eye; that’s exactly what it does.

Lastly, the Ultraviolet Disinfection. This is the final step which serves as an extra protective layer just in case the reverse osmosis isn’t fully functional, and it helps further remove microorganisms.

In basic water filtration system, just like those installed at home, this step is optional. While the water from the reverse osmosis stage is already purified and safe to drink, this final stage ensures it's as clean as it gets. It's also the reason why the water tastes a little bit sweet.

There’s also a station in this stage where I tried looking at my hand and saw some white spots. I’m wondering about it at first, but I realized that those are germs! 😅

Because we’re inside UV disinfection stage, it is lit with UV lamp. And we all know that UV lamp can detect germs in our hands. It was a reminder for me about the importance of proper handwashing 👐

Before the end of this tour, we entered a room, called the Commitment Hub. Here, we input our personal pledge about the ways that we would make in conserving water.

It's so amazing seeing our vows floating next to everyone else’s on a big screen, a collective expression of promise to the world 💕

This visit was a powerful reminder that we're all stewards of the earth and that every drop of water matters 💧