Critical Reflection

Module Learning: 

From the start of the module, my goal was to build up my confidence level and improve in my written and oral presentation skills. Throughout this 13 week journey of Effective Communication, I feel that I have gained more confidence in sharing my opinion in the groups. Being exposed to working with different peers for the various assignments allows me to interact with them. However, there are still many areas that I can improve on like improving in my presentation skills where I have learnt from the module.
In SIE2016 Effective Communication module, I have learnt a lot from this module with such as reader-response, annotated summary, APA referencing and meeting minutes which I can apply in my future projects and even in the workplace. The constructive feedback provided by my professor and peers has definitely benefited me to learn the mistakes in my writing and not make the same mistake again. By providing feedback to peers allows me to think and learn the good points that my peers have done well.

Project Learning:

For our research project, we faced different challenges along the way however we had worked together as a team to resolve the problems and understand each other's strengths and weaknesses. After some discussion, our teams have decided to install a pre-emptive measure in the water supply service pipeline at the upcoming Singapore Institute of Technology at Punggol. With limited background on our research project, we have to research on the relevant and credible article to come out with a feasible solution. Finding a credible source from online is difficult but we are fortunate to have learnt the different platforms such as OneSearch and GoogleScholar to research on our topics. Presenting in front of the class might be challenging for our teams but I am glad that we stepped out of our comfort zone to present. From this research project, I have gained knowledge on how the water system actually works and what actually caused the water to be discoloured which I will not know if I have not done this topic for our research project.

Presentation Showcase:

As an audience watching the presentation, I am amazed by the different interesting presentation that teams have presented during the showcase. As for me, I faced difficulty presenting in front of a group of people and I hope I will be able to build up more confidence in myself and step out of the comfort zone. The group that caught my attention is Team Bricknology where they introduced the mycelium bricks which is actually made up of fungi. The team’s topic was clearly presented and is easily understood by the audience with visual aids on the slides and video. During the Q&A session by the judges, they are able to answer most of the questions which shows that they have done a lot of research in this area. The presentation showcase gives students the opportunity to showcase their ideas to their peers and stepping out of their comfort zone to present in front of the large crowd.

Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Prof Blackstone and my peers for all the guidance throughout the whole 13 weeks journey.

Annotated Summary

Li, D. L., & Liu, S. Y. (2019). Wireless Sensor Networks in Water Quality Monitoring. [ScienceDirect version]. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128113301000028

The article focuses on the use of Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) to monitor the water quality. Water quality monitoring includes analysing water properties in freshwater sources such as reservoirs, lakes, and streams to ensure that the water source provides safe drinking water. The use of wireless sensors provides a more accurate water status and able to monitor location with difficult accessibility. One example of a wireless sensor used in water is the Underwater Wireless Sensor Network (UWSN) . It is established through the transmission of acoustic waves. However, the limitation of installing UWSN is it equips with limited battery that is not rechargeable or replaceable. The article states that 71% of the world is covered in water and only 2.5% is fresh water, hence freshwater is a precious resource that needs to be carefully monitored and maintained. The cost of a wireless sensor is low and thus the cost-effectiveness of our solution. To obtain and handle data at a number of distributed sampling points, the ability to interpret the information using low-power wireless communication procedures, which empowers decision-makers to collect data from different wireless sensor devices in a timely manner. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified the different water quality standards that specify the safe amount of certain chemical that can be found in the water and different wireless sensor to test the water to ensure that the concentration of the chemical is within the safe drinking water standard and if it is not within the safe drinking water standard it will raise awareness to the authority. The article provides useful information about the different types of sensors for water quality monitoring and gives examples of the application of WSN used in other countries.

Technical Report Draft #3

1. Background

This report has been developed as a response to a Call For Proposals (CFP) to developing solutions for engineering problems. 

According to World Health Organisation(WHO, 2019), safe and readily available water has always been one of the key goals globally. The article stated that the ‘United Nation(UN) General Assembly explicitly recognized the human right to water and sanitation’. This shows a huge emphasis had been placed on water quality. The consumption of water in Singapore is approximated 430 million gallons of water per day (The Straits Times, 2018). In the same article, it was stated that there are four sources of water supply in Singapore: local catchment water, imported water, NEWater and desalinated water; they each can only provide up to 10%, 60%, 30%, 25% of the water needs of the entire island country respectively.

Singapore provides one of the highest quality of municipal water supply in its surrounding region. The quality of water is kept within the World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water guidelines and US Environmental Public Health (Quality of Piped Drinking Water) Regulations 2008 (Refer to Figure 1). According to Singapore’s water agency Public Utilities Board (PUB, 2018), the quality of supplied water is assured through routine chemical and bacteriological water samples collected daily across the island. PUB also monitors the water quality at every stage of their service reservoirs and water treatment plants through online-sensors before dissemination to the public. 

Despite these efforts to ensure a stable supply of clean water, PUB (2018) has stated that water from the taps can sometimes still appear brownish. They stated that this is due to unforeseen circumstances such as pipe leakages or flushing of fire hydrants, where the resulting change of direction or rate of flowing water can cause the resuspension of excess iron, manganese and other dissolved metal deposits that have accumulated over time inside the underground municipal water pipelines. Consumption of water that contain excess iron and manganese could leave a negative impact in aspects of neurological as well as physically. According to Passaic Bergen Water Softening (2017), water with excessive amounts of dissolved minerals such as iron and magnesium can have negative effects on your skin. Water with iron doesn’t blend well with soap. This, in turn, can lead to skin problems such as acne or eczema. At the same time, T&H Blog (2015) states that long term exposure to high concentrations of manganese in drinking water is associated with toxicity to the nervous system, producing a syndrome called Manganism.

According to Xue (2014), there was an example case where thousands of households in the Punggol estate were affected by discoloured tap water. It was caused by the mineral sediments in a water pipeline being stirred up during valve operations on a potable water pipe along Tampines Expressway. The contaminated water in the mains were only resolved by the next morning after PUB and Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council subsequently flushed the affected water tanks, although the problem has been solved but the residents were still advised to run their taps until the water is clean. This leads to wastage of water and also inconvenient for the residents. 

 
Moreover, the routine tests that PUB conduct are only indicative of the water quality in the PUB pipes upstream. There is currently no way building owners/facility managers(FMs) can be aware of any change in quality of water once it enters their premises. Therefore, the users in household will be the first to find out the discolouration instead of the FMs. This will eventually lead to disputes between the household users and FMs, which are supposed to be prevented in the first place.

1.1 Current Situation
In Singapore, when potable water is supplied to a private building, it is done through a ferrule connection that splits off from the main underground municipal water pipe. The water is then drawn towards the building through the use of a pump, before the pipe leads into a water tank. This water tank then stores and distributes water in a network of smaller service pipes directly to a user’s taps when it is opened. The capacity of the water tank is usually built with at least 24 hours of usage volume as reserve water supply if water supply is ever disrupted. (Refer to Figure 2.)
In the event of discoloured water, once water exiting the taps have become brownish, it would indicate that the brownish water has already entered the water tank and diffused throughout the entire water supply system in the building. The entire capacity of the tank (~24 hours of reserve supply) is rendered unusable. 

The contaminated water would go undetected for a while as more and more brownish water flows into the distribution system. It might be too late when the discolouration reveals itself— when canteen cooks have already used it for cooking and hundreds of students have consumed them. The sudden drop in water quality would also overload and choke the filters inside of water coolers and dispensers.

Currently, the only process to remove the polluted water involves the halting of water supply, then flushing of contents inside the entire water tank is only completed with the refilling of fresh water— with all the water ticking through the tariff meter. Apart from the wastage of water, it would be expensive for facility managers to deal with the aftermath should brownish water ever enter their water tanks.

There should be preventive/corrective measures implemented so that facility managers can effectively handle influx of such unpredictable brownish water from reaching the end-users.

1.2 Problem Statement

In the upcoming Singapore Institute of Technology @ Punggol campus, potable water supplied should always be within World Health Organisation (WHO) clean drinking standards at all times.
However, due to the absence of current measures, the FM of SIT has no way to know should any fluctuations in water quality occur, and thus have no way to be prepared to deal with them in time.

1.3 Purpose Statement

The purpose of this report is to propose to SIT to install a pre-emptive measure in the downstream potable water supply service pipeline as an early buffer to control and prevent potential contamination of the water tanks in SIT@ Punggol.

2. Proposed Solutions

The team highlights two solutions to manage the potential influx of discoloured water into their water supply distribution system.

2.1 Installing active water sensors (Solution 1) 

The current water system in most buildings are unimpeded pipelines that directly link to the building’s water tanks. Due to the absence of existing measures, should there be any dip in water quality, the discoloured water will directly flow into the water tank, rendering the entire water supply unusable.

The team proposes the installation of an active water sensor directly onto the main water pipe prior to the pump. This allows early detection in the case of a supply influx of lower quality water before they even reach the pumps. With the ability to instantaneously detect these fluctuations, the pump can be set to automatically withhold its operation. A solenoid-controlled pilot valve downstream can then be programmed to shut off so that the brownish water do not travel any farther. This prevents dirty water from ever reaching the water tanks. It would nullify the need to wash and flush the water tanks, saving time and reducing the wastage of water in the occurrence of the inevitable influx of discoloured water. 

2.2 Installing modified water treatment system in water tanks

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2009) states that water contamination can occur even in the safest tap water supply. The article also states that one of the causes of contamination could be the ‘improperly maintained’ pipeworks. The idea of installing water purifier/treatment system in water tanks is to ensure that water quality is maintained clean when it is being drawn out from water tank. It would either be: set on constant operation, re-treating the water in the water tank at all times; or set to be activated for treatment upon the influx of brownish water from external factors like pipe leakage. It can also act as a failsafe to the first solution. Implementing this on the internal water system would allow the water supply quality to be independently controlled by the facility management instead of being completely susceptible to external sources of contamination. In the event of external contamination of water supply, water treatment system can be in place to purify the water/keep the contamination to the bare minimum. Some of the common methods of water treatment system includes filtration, disinfection, distillation, water purifiers or a combination of the mentioned methods. The water treatment system should include the following to restore initial water quality parameters:

2.2.1 Active carbon / Adsorption
Active carbon is a method of filtration that involves passing water through an active material that removes impurities chemically as they pass through (Chris,2019). The author states that charcoal has a large internal surface area that helps to draw and ‘trap chemical impurities through a process called adsorption’. This process helps to remove non-polar substances, odor and taste of the water.

2.2.2 Ozone water purifiers
According to brighthubengineering.com, ozone water purifiers are a smaller version of those used in municipalities. Ozone water purifiers are located at the water intake point between the tank and the intake to ensure the water supply are disinfected before entering the water tank. Ozone water purifiers work by oxidizing most bacteria and bonds with many dissolved materials that result in them precipitate to the bottom of the water. Ozone water purifiers is effective in removing iron and manganese as well as freeing chlorine to kill even more microbes if used in a multiple step systems.

3. Benefits of proposed solutions
Among the two solutions proposed, we have also done research to find out its benefits.

3.1 Active water sensor

To preserve the water quality, it is important to monitor the water parameters. The use of wireless sensor enables a more accurate map of water status and allows permanent deployment of monitoring in location that has difficulty in accessing without the need of FMs manually retrieving the data. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is small and inexpensive devices with sensing, processing and transmitting the data to the FMs on the water quality. The sensor will provide real-time data to FMs, if the sensor detects that there is some problem with the water quality, it will alert the FMs to investigate the water and resolved the problem as soon as they can.
3.2 Water treatment system

Water treatment system is a combination of different components that complement each other to achieve the optimal result. Water treatment system helps to recreate the water quality of the initial phase after the water is treated by removing most of the impurities in the scope of micro-organism. Water is separated from unwanted substance once it has been purified. Water treatment system does not require too much humans intervene as to control how it works. Water treatment systems are able to obtain the main objective of keeping the water quality to be within the drinking standard of WHO/prevent people from drinking contaminated water.

4. Drawbacks of proposed solutions
We also identified possible drawbacks of the two proposed solutions for your consideration.

4.1 Active water sensor

A sole electrical sensor acting as a preventive measure to ensure a constantly-clean water supply means that its reliability is a huge concern. There would be a need for regular maintenance for the sensor; it might relate to increased cost for the FM of SIT@Punggol if 3rd party contractors were to be hired for regular maintenance on an ad-hoc basic
A guarantee-contract with the sensor manufacturer for regular scheduled maintenance would be recommended, as long-term contracts tend to be cheaper in the long run.

4.2 Water treatment system

Water treatment system requires all components to be in working condition. In event of spoilt/damaged components, water treatment system would not be as effective in acquiring its objective of purifying water. A considerable amount of energy consumption would be required to allow water treatment system to run at all times as a preventive measure against contaminated water. Constant check schedule has to be made to identify if the water treatment system is working. The drawbacks of water treatment system can result in a worse water quality if maintenance is not done consistently. Hence, daily maintenance is required for water treatment system to work efficiently and effectively. Water treatment system might be considered an ‘overkill’ as a preventive measure contamination in water due to leakage in pipes since the water supply has already been treated before.

5. Evaluation

Our team made benefits and drawbacks to two of the solutions and we analyse that implementing active water sensor is the best way(cost effective/reliable/credible) to solve our issues. 

5.1 Prevention over correction
Firstly, active water sensor is able to detect any kind of impurities when there is fluctuation in the pipes. However, according to Madans (2018), ozone water purifier can only treat water to a certain degree like iron and manganese, but it does not remove chlorides, sulfates etc. To add on, water treatment system can treat the discoloration but there are other impurities still remains that are not visible to naked eyes. Whereas, active water sensor is able to detect any impurities, although it cannot treat water.

5.2 Cost
Secondly, active water sensor cost cheaper compared to water treatment system based on maintenance cost. As mentioned above, the benefits for water treatment system, it has a combination of different components. Therefore, the cost for maintenance of water treatment system is relatively higher compared to active water sensor.

To conclude our evaluation, we decided that active water sensor should be implemented in SIT at Punggol because it is more reliable and cost effective. Another optional suggestion by us is to implement both solutions as a bundle in SIT Punggol.

6. Methodology

This section details the methods used by the team to gather information for the report.

6.1 Primary research

The team has one member who had worked as an assistant engineer in PUB in the past. During his 2-year tenure, he had some exposure to the water distribution network systems in many different types of buildings. He also had the opportunity of witnessing the rectifications works that resolved a discolouration event similar to the subject of this report. We used this experience as source information for the current situation in the background.

A phone-call interview was also done with a senior assistant engineer in PUB, Mr Mohd Sazali Bin Tarsim. With 42 years of working with water services, he was able to provide insight on some of the background and the current existing practices of managing occurrences of discoloured water— from both the municipal side as the water supply and the facility management as the receiving end.

A survey was then conducted to gauge how much importance students of SIT@Dover place in the supply of clean water, the views on Singapore’s current water supply quality and how they would react if discoloured water were to flow from the taps in campus.

6.2 Secondary research

The team did research through the internet and was able to obtain online information, statistics and standards published by government websites and research journal articles for the background information and other relevant information.

7. Conclusion

Despite Singapore boasting a clean supply of water, the occurrence of discoloured water can still happen on the downstream. The rectification thereafter would not only be costly but also interrupt campus operation due to the halting of water supply. It may also give rise to difficult situations such as angry tenants in the canteen and students getting sick because of the late detection arising from the absence of safeguard measures.

Implementation of the proposed solutions would allow the water supply in campus to operate undisrupted in the occurrence of any discolouration. It would ensure utmost quality of water supplied to students and tenants at SIT@Punggol, leaving them clean and healthy.

References 

 
Biotech Water Researchers. (2019). Advantages and disadvantages of water purification. Retrieved November 2, 2019 ,from https://biotechwater.com/advantages-disadvantages-water-purification/
Centers for disease control and prevention. (2009). Water Quality & Testing. Retrieved November 1, 2019, from https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/public/water_quality.html
Data.gov.sg. (2017). Unaccounted for water. Retrieved October 29, 2019, from https://blog.data.gov.sg/hidden-data-stories-unaccounted-for-water-e5523c4c6058
Huang, J. Y., & Kankanamge, N. R., & Chow. C., & Welsh.D.T.,& Li.T.L. & Teasdale.P.R. (2018). Removing ammonium from water and wastewater using cost-effective adsorbents .[ScienceDirect version]. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1001074217315565?via%3Dihub#!
Li, D. L., & Liu, S. Y. (2019). Water quality monitoring and management. [ScienceDirect version]. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780128113301/water-quality-monitoring-and-management#book-description
Madans, H. (2018, November 21). How does ozone water purification works? Retrieved from https://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-does-ozone-water-purification-work
Public Utilities Board. (2018). Water quality. Retrieved October 28, 2019, from https://www.pub.gov.sg/watersupply/waterquality
Public Utilities Board. (2019). Drinking water quality. Retrieved October 28, 2019, from https://www.pub.gov.sg/watersupply/waterquality
Trends in Japan. (2016). A cutting-edge urban water supply model. Retrieved from October 27, 2019, from https://web-japan.org/trends/11_tech-life/16_water-supply.html
WaterPurifiers. (2011). Ultraviolet Water Purifiers. Retrieved from November 1, 2019, from http://www.waterpurifier.org/ultraviolet-water-purifiers/
Word Health Organization. (2011). Manganese in drinking-water. Retrieved October 27, 2019, from https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chemicals/manganese.pdf
Xue, J.Y. (2014, June 24). S$10 rebate for Punggol households affected by discoloured tap water. Today online. Retrieved from https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/s10-rebate-punggol-households-affected-discoloured-tap-water

Technical Report Draft #2

1.Background

This report has been developed as a response to a Call For Proposals (CFP) to developing solutions for engineering problems.

According to World Health Organisation(WHO, 2019), safe and readily available water has always been one of the key goals globally. The article stated that the ‘United Nation(UN) General Assembly explicitly recognized the human right to water and sanitation’. This shows a huge emphasis had been placed on water quality. The consumption of water in Singapore is approximated 430 million gallons of water per day (The Straits Times, 2018). In the same article, it was stated that there are four sources of water supply in Singapore: local catchment water, imported water, NEWater and desalinated water; they each can only provide up to 10%, 60%, 30%, 25% of the water needs of the entire island country respectively.

Singapore provides one of the highest quality of municipal water supply in its surrounding region. The quality of water is kept within the World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water guidelines and US Environmental Public Health (Quality of Piped Drinking Water) Regulations 2008. According to Singapore’s water agency Public Utilities Board (PUB, 2018), the quality of supplied water is assured through routine chemical and bacteriological water samples collected daily across the island. PUB also monitors the water quality at every stage of their service reservoirs and water treatment plants through online-sensors before dissemination to the public.

Despite these efforts to ensure a stable supply of clean water, PUB (2018) has stated that water from the taps can sometimes still appear brownish. They stated that this is due to unforeseen circumstances such as pipe leakages or flushing of fire hydrants, where the resulting change of direction or rate of flowing water can cause the resuspension of excess iron, manganese and other dissolved metal deposits that have accumulated over time inside the underground municipal water pipelines. Consumption of water that contain excess iron and manganese could leave a negative impact in aspects of neurological as well as physically. According to Passaic Bergen Water Softening (2017), water with excessive amounts of dissolved minerals such as iron and magnesium can have negative effects on your skin. They can damage healthy skin cells, which can lead to wrinkles. In addition, water with iron doesn’t blend well with soap. This, in turn, can lead to skin problems such as acne or eczema. At the same time, T&H Blog (2015) states that long term exposure to high concentrations of manganese in drinking water is associated with toxicity to the nervous system, producing a syndrome called Manganism.

According to Xue (2014), thousands of households in the Punggol estate were affected by discoloured tap water caused by the mineral sediments in a water pipeline stirred up during valve operations on a portable water pipe along Tampines Expressway. The water in the mains were only resolved by the next morning after PUB and Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council subsequently flushed the affected water tanks, although the problem has been solved but the residents were still advised to run their taps until the water is clean. (This leads to wastage of water and also inconvenient for the residents.) [link back to water quality]

Moreover, the routine tests that PUB conduct are only indicative of the water quality in the PUB pipes upstream. There is currently no way building owners/facility managers(FMs) can be aware of any change in quality of water once it enters their premises. Therefore, the users in household will be the first to find out the discolouration instead of the FMs. This will eventually lead to disputes between the household users and FMs, which are supposed to be prevented in the first place.

1.1 Current Situation

In Singapore, when potable water is supplied to a private building, it is done through a ferrule connection that splits off from the main underground municipal water pipe. The water is then drawn towards the building through the use of a pump, before the pipe leads into a water tank. This water tank then stores and distributes water in a network of smaller service pipes directly to a user’s taps when it is opened. The capacity of the water tank is usually built with at least 24 hours of usage volume as reserve water supply if water supply is ever disrupted.

In the event of discoloured water, once water exiting the taps have become brownish, it would indicate that the brownish water has already entered the water tank and diffused throughout the entire water supply system in the building. The entire capacity of the tank (~24 hours of reserve supply) is rendered unusable. Currently, the only process to remove the polluted water involves the halting of water supply, then flushing the contents of the entire water tank is only completed with the refilling of fresh water— with all the water ticking through the tariff meter. Apart from the wastage of water, it would be expensive for facility managers to deal with the aftermath should brownish water ever enter their water tanks.

There should be preventive/corrective measures implemented so that facility managers can effectively handle influx of such unpredictable brownish water from reaching the end-users.

1.2 Problem Statement

In the upcoming Singapore Institute of Technology @ Punggol campus, potable water supplied should always be within World Health Organisation (WHO) clean drinking standards at all times.

However, the FM of SIT have no way to know should any fluctuations in water quality occur, and thus have no way to be prepared to deal with them in time.

1.3 Purpose Statement

The purpose of this report is to propose to SIT to install a safeguard measure in the downstream potable water supply service pipeline as an early indicator to prevent potential contamination of the water tanks in SIT@ Punggol.

2. Proposed Solutions

2.1 Installing active water sensors 

The current water system in most buildings are unimpeded pipelines that directly link to the building’s water tanks. Should there be any dip in water quality, the discoloured water will directly flow into the water tank.

The team proposes the installation of an active water sensor directly onto the main water pipe prior to the pump. This allows early detection in the case of a supply influx of lower quality water before they even reach the pumps. With the ability to instantaneously detect these fluctuations, the pump can be set to automatically withhold its operation. A solenoid-controlled pilot valve can then be programmed to shut off so that the brownish water do not travel any farther. This prevents dirty water from ever reaching the water tanks. It would nullify the need to wash and flush the water tanks, saving time and reduce the wastage of water in the occurrence of the inevitable batch of discoloured water.

2.2 Water purifier/treatment system installed in water tanks
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC,2009) states that water contamination can occur even in the safest tap water supply. The article also states that one of the causes of contamination could be the ‘improperly maintained’ pipeworks. The idea of installing water purifier/treatment system in water tanks is to ensure that water quality is maintained clean when it is being drawn out from water tank. In the event of contamination of water supply, water treatment system can be in place to purify the water/keep the contamination to the bare minimal. Some of the common methods of water treatment system includes filtration, disinfection, distillation, water purifiers or a combination of the mentioned methods. The water treatment system to rectify the issue that was mentioned in this report can include:

2.2.1 Ultra-violet(UV) purification

According to waterpurifier.org, UV water purification system consists of a UV light source that produce a strong intensity radiation that can eliminate 99.99% of bacteria and render any harmful microbes sterile.

2.2.2 Ozone water purifiers

According to brighthubengineering.com, ozone water purifiers are a smaller version of those used in municipalities. Ozone water purifiers are located at the water intake point between the tank and the intake to ensure the water supply are disinfected before entering the water tank. Ozone water purifiers work by oxidizing most bacteria and bonds with many dissolved materials that result in them precipitate to the bottom of the water. Ozone water purifiers is effective in removing iron and manganese as well as freeing chlorine to kill even more microbes if used in a multiple step systems.

2.3 Installing portable water treatment plant

Our team’s third solution is the implementation of portable water treatment plant. A portable water treatment plant is generally smaller than a normal water treatment plant. So it can be installed right next to a building’s water tank itself. It will either always treating the water in the water tank or treat the water when it’s dirty from pipe leakage etc. It can act as a backup solution to the first solution. Although the water treatment plant affects the water pressure due to the filtration process. Fortunately, there is a water pump after the filtration process to allow the water to travel to each household.

Benefits of proposed solutions

3.1 Benefits for Solution 1 

To preserve the water quality, it is important to monitor the water parameters.

With the installation of the active water sensor, it minimizes the effect on measurement accuracy from contamination and improves the accuracy at higher turbidites and the tolerance of a range of particle sizes.

3.2 Benefits for Solution 2 

Water treatment system is a combination of different components that complement each other to achieve the optimal result. Water treatment system helps to keep the water quality within the drinking standard by removing most of the impurities in the scope of micro-organism. Water is separated from unwanted substance once it has been purified. Water treatment system does not require too much humans intervene as to control how it works. Water treatment systems are able to obtain the main objective of keeping the water quality to be within the drinking standard of WHO/prevent people from drinking contaminated water.

Drawbacks of proposed solution

4.1 Drawbacks for Solution 1

A sole electrical sensor acting as a preventive measure to ensure a constantly-clean water supply means that its reliability is a huge concern. There would be a need for regular maintenance for the sensor; it might relate to increased cost for the FM of SIT@Punggol if 3rd party contractors were to be hired for regular maintenance on an ad-hoc basic

A guarantee-contract with the sensor manufacturer for regular scheduled maintenance would be recommended, as long-term contracts tend to be cheaper in the long run.

4.2 Drawback for Solution 2

Water treatment system requires all components to be in working condition. In event of spoilt/damaged components, water treatment system would not be as effective in acquiring its objective of purifying water. Considerable amount of energy consumption would be required to allow water treatment system to run at all times as a preventive measure against contaminated water. Constant check schedule has to be made to identify if the water treatment system is working. The drawbacks of water treatment system can result in a worse water quality if maintenance is not done consistently. Hence, daily maintenance is required for water treatment system to work efficiently and effectively. Water treatment system might be considered an ‘overkill’ as a preventive measure contamination in water due to leakage in pipes since the water supply has already been treated before.

Technical Report Draft #1

1. Background

This report has been developed as a response to a call for proposals to developing solutions for engineering problems.

Singapore now constitutes of 4 water supply sources which contributed to the usage of 400million gallons of water in Singapore, namely local catchment water, imported water, NEWater and desalinated water (The Straits Times, 2018). Currently, local catchment water, imported water, NEWater and desalinated water each can only meet 10%,60%,30%,25% of the Singapore water needs respectively. Our daily water consumption is based on the 4 water sources. Household water supply in Kulai are cut off due to the ‘ammonia-contaminated water flowing into the Sayong River – one of the creeks that supply raw water to the Johor River’. Although Singapore water supply was not affected, this could be one of the potential causes that can affect water quality in the water supply source.

Singapore provides one of the highest quality of municipal water supply in its surrounding region. The quality of water is kept within the World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water guidelines and US Environmental Public Health (Quality of Piped Drinking Water) Regulations 2008. According to Singapore’s water agency Public Utilities Board (PUB, 2018), the quality of supplied water is assured through routine chemical and bacteriological water samples collected daily across the island. They also monitor the water quality at every stage of their service reservoirs and water treatment plants through online-sensors before dissemination to the public.

However, PUB (2018) have stated that water from the taps can sometimes appear brownish due to the change of direction or rate of water flowing in municipal water pipes from occurrences such as pipe leakages or flushing of fire hydrants. The discolouration is due to the resuspension of excess iron, manganese and other dissolved metal deposits that accumulate over time inside the underground municipal water pipelines.

There had been cases where drinking water supply being contaminated by a corpse in one of the water tanks (Asiaone, 2011). ‘A 43-year-old home-maker, Mrs Goh, said that she saw white bubbles when bathing her children. Her son could be affected by the water as he had sensitive skin, she said.’ Residents still use the water supply despite knowing there is discolouration in the water quality.

According to Passaic Bergen Water Softening (2017), water with excessive amounts of dissolved minerals such as iron and magnesium can have negative effects on your skin. They can damage healthy skin cells, which can lead to wrinkles. In addition, water with iron doesn’t blend well with soap. This, in turn, can lead to skin problems such as acne or eczema.

1.1 Current Situation

In Singapore, when potable water is supplied to a private building, it is done through a ferrule connection that splits off from the main underground municipal water pipe. The water is then drawn towards the building through the use of a pump, before the pipe leads into a water tank. This water tank then stores and distributes water in a network of smaller service pipes directly to a user’s taps when it is opened.

This would mean that once water exiting the taps have become brownish, it is indicating that the brownish water has already entered the water tank and diffused throughout the entire water supply system in the building. The process to remove the polluted water involves the halting of water supply, then flushing of the entire water tank is only completed with the refilling of fresh water— with all the water ticking through the tariff meter. Apart from the wastage of water, it would be expensive for facility managers to deal with the aftermath should brownish water ever enter their water tanks.

1.2 Problem Statement

In the upcoming Singapore Institute of Technology @ Punggol campus, potable water supplied should always be within World Health Organisation (WHO) clean drinking standards at all times.
However, the facility managers (FMs) have no way to know should any fluctuations in water quality occur, and thus have no way to be prepared to deal with them in time.

1.3 Purpose Statement

The purpose of this report is to propose to SIT to install active water quality sensors in the downstream potable water supply service pipeline as an early indicator to prevent potential contamination of the water tanks in SIT@Punggol.

Draft 3 Summary_Reader Response : Tapping Tech for Smooth Traffic

In the article from Urban Solutions “Tapping Tech for Smooth Traffic”, Tay (2018) mentioned that although there are existing improvements of technological advancements, Singapore requires more advanced traffic management measures to counter with the increasing number of vehicles on the road and a more complicated road system in the 21st century. Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) introduced the Area Licensing Scheme (ALS) to ease traffic congestion. However, Tay stated that with the current implementation it is still inadequate to solve with the rising of vehicle population and road system. Hence, LTA introduced the Intelligent Transport System (ITS). An example of ITS is the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system which replaced ALS. It reduces traffic volume and travel time for road users. Tay concluded that with the implementation of ITS, Singapore has improved in both traffic safety and efficiency and Singapore will continue to push boundaries to improve urban mobility.

While the article focuses on the implementation for private transport that improves traffic safety and efficiency, it fails to discuss in-depth on implementing new systems for public transport in terms of rail network, buses and shared vehicle services that could smoother traffic.

To start off, the introduction of new lines for rail-network, allows commuters to travel more conveniently. LTA is introducing Cross Island Line (CRL) in the near future. Based on LTA’s website (2019), CRL provides commuters with more choices of travel routes to their destinations which will encourage them to switch from private transport to public transport. it allows commuters to take the same mode of transport to the same destination instead of taking the different mode of transport to the same destination which will reduce the traffic congestion on the road. With CRL, it will be more convenient for commuters to travel around and be less reliant on private transport.

Furthermore, with the new implementation for bus service, it improves commuters' travel experience. LTA introduced dedicated bus lanes for buses to improve bus travel speeds which enhances the reliability of bus services and commuters will spend lesser time to reach the destination. According to the Ministry of Transport (MOT) website (2019), on a single full capacity trip, a single-deck bus can carry up to 90 commuters while a car can only carry up to 5 passengers to a destination. Based on LTA’s website(2016), LTA worked with SMRT and SBS Transit to enhance bus services by installing the centralized system to determine the real-time bus location to provide commuters with accurate bus arrival information. It will encourage commuters to take the bus instead of private transport to increase traffic efficiency.

Lastly, to reduce the number of vehicles on the road, Grab that was licensed by LTA introduced carpooling service Grab share service where users can share their ride with someone who is heading along with the same destination which can reduce the traffic congestion on the road. Another example of a shared vehicle service is BlueSG. BlueSG is an electric car-sharing service where the user can go to the nearest charging point to drive the vehicle when they need to travel by car. Based on the BlueSG website (2018), with the implementation of BlueSG, it reduces the number of private cars on the road and provides another mode of transportation for the user.

In conclusion, most people spend their time traveling by public transport.Therefore it is important to implement new systems to smoother the traffic. The use of technology in different aspects has greatly helped to improve traffic efficiency and ease traffic congestion. However,Tay did not mention how public transport will smoother traffic where there are evidence showing that LTA is committed to improve public transport services and promote it as Singaporeans’ choice for traveling to help smoother traffic.


References

BlueSG. (2018). A successful first year for BlueSG. Retrieved October 1, 2019, from https://www.bluesg.com.sg/news/successful-first-year-bluesg

Land Transport Authority. (2019). Cross island line. Retrieved October 1, 2019, from https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltaweb/en/public-transport/projects/cross-island-line.html

Land Transport Authority. (2016). Enhanced real-time bus information at your fingertips. Retrieved October 3, 2019, from https://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=f8e78c77-b89b-4c88-9f1d-c4b0ce4dcfea

Ministry of Transport. (2019). Enhancing public transport. Retrieved October 1, 2019, from https://www.mot.gov.sg/About-MOT/Land-Transport/Sustainable-Transport/Enhancing-Public-Transport/

Tay, Q.W. (2018, July). Tapping tech for smooth traffic. Urban Solution, Issue 13, Retrieved from https://www.clc.gov.sg/docs/default-source/urban-solutions/urb-sol-iss-13-pdfs/11_case_study-singapore-intelligent-transport-systems.pdf

Draft 2 Summary_Reader Response ; Tapping Tech for Smoother Traffic

In the article from Urban Solutions “Tapping Tech for Smooth Traffic”, Tay (2018) mentioned that although there are existing improvements of technological advancements, Singapore requires more advanced traffic management measures to counter with the increasing number of vehicles on the road and a more complicated road system in the 21st century. Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) introduced the Area Licensing Scheme (ALS) to ease traffic congestion. However, Tay state that with the current implementation it is still inadequate to solve with the rising of vehicle population and road system. Hence, LTA introduced the Intelligent Transport System (ITS). An example of ITS is the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system which replaced ALS. It reduces traffic volume and travel time for road users. Tay concludes that with the implementation of ITS, Singapore has improved in both traffic safety and efficiency and Singapore will continue to push boundaries to improve urban mobility.

While the article focuses on the implementation for private transport that improves traffic safety and efficiency, it fails to discuss in-depth on other modes of transport such as trains, bus and shared vehicle services.

Firstly, with the implementation of new lines for rail-network, it will improve the accessibility for commuters. LTA is introducing Cross Island Line (CRL) in the near future. Based on LTA’s website, CRL provides commuters with more choices of travel routes to their destinations which will encourage them to switch from private transport to public transport. it allows commuters to take the same mode of transport to the same destination instead of taking the different mode of transport to the same destination which will reduce the traffic congestion on road. With CRL, it will be more convenient for commuters to travel around and be less reliant on private transport. 

Secondly, with the new implementation for bus service, it improves commuters' travel experience. LTA introduced dedicated bus lanes for buses to improve bus travel speeds which enhances the reliability of bus services and commuters will spend lesser time to reach the destination. According to the Ministry of Transport (MOT) website, on a single full capacity trip, a single-deck bus can carry up to 90 commuters while a car can only carry up to 5 passengers to a destination. Based on LTA’s website, LTA worked with SMRT and SBS Transit to enhance bus services by installing the centralized system to determine the real-time bus location to provide commuter with accurate bus arrival information. It will encourage commuters to take bus instead of private transport to increase traffic efficiency.

Lastly, to reduce the number of vehicles on the road, Grab that was licensed by LTA introduced carpooling service Grab share service where users can share their ride with someone who is heading along with the same destination which can reduce the traffic congestion on the road. Another example of a shared vehicle service is BlueSG. BlueSG is an electric carsharing service where the user can go to the nearest charging point to drive the vehicle when they need to travel by car. Based on the BlueSG website, with the implementation of BlueSG, it reduces the number of private cars on the road and provides another mode of transportation for the user.

In conclusion, the use of technology in different aspects has greatly helped to improve traffic efficiency and ease traffic congestion which Tay did not mention. LTA is committed to improve public transport services and promote it as Singaporeans’ choice for traveling.


References: 

Tay, Q W. (2018,July). Tapping Tech for Smooth Traffic. Retrieved from https://www.clc.gov.sg/docs/default-source/urban-solutions/urb-sol-iss-13-pdfs/11_case_study-singapore-intelligent-transport-systems.pdf

Land Transport Authority. (2019). Cross Island Line. Retrieved October 1,2019, from https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltaweb/en/public-transport/projects/cross-island-line.html

Land Transport Authority. (2016). Enhanced Real-Time Bus Information At Your Fingertips. Retrieved October 3, 2019, from https://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=f8e78c77-b89b-4c88-9f1d-c4b0ce4dcfea

Ministry of Transport.(2019).Enhancing Public Transport. Retrieved October 1,2019, from https://www.mot.gov.sg/About-MOT/Land-Transport/Sustainable-Transport/Enhancing-Public-Transport/

Lim, J.(2018, December 11).A Successful First Year For BlueSG.Retrieved from https://www.bluesg.com.sg/news/successful-first-year-bluesg