Water

Hu Yi (FOE), Liew Tse Chuan Joseph (SDE), Sun Jiawei (FOE), Zhang Bo Ya Grace (SDE)

Academic Advisor: Ms. Wong Kah Wei

Water supply in Singapore is limited and PUB aims to lower water consumption, and an understanding of water use habits would be useful to implement conservation measures. Our objectives were to evaluate the effectiveness of water thimbles and posters in helping residents save water. We carried out our implementation at two floors by: i) installing thimbles and water meters in their pantry taps ii) pasting water conservation posters informing residents that thimbles were installed iii) conducting surveys to understand residents’ tap usage iv) conducting observations and interviews regarding differences in tap usage.

Thimbles reduced flow rate by ~50%, but total water consumption was hardly reduced despite their installation. Interviews revealed that perceived time spent using the tap was unchanged, though data and observations said otherwise. Thimbles and posters were not proven to be effective in saving water. Residents likely required more direct changes in their water usage habits to save any meaningful amount of water.

Wendalyna Lye Liyi (FOE), Ernest Tock Jia En (FOE), Lee Shao Zheng (FOE), Ge Wen Xuan (SDE)

Academic Advisor: Ms. Wong Kah Wei

There is a need to address Singapore’s high levels of water consumption. While RVRC residents are cognizant of the impacts of water scarcity, they are unaware of how they can contribute to water conservation. Hence, our objective is to encourage collection of cold water which are wasted while waiting for the water to warm up before their shower. Firstly, we found out residents’ showering habits through focus group discussions and surveys. We then developed a prototype that provides the option to funnel cold water from the shower into a bucket. Lastly, we investigated their willingness to collect water through a focus group discussion. Our findings showed that a total of 464.96L of water was collected from approximately 207 showers during the 2 weeks of implementation. Hence, the prototype proved effective in encouraging the collection of unused water during showers, raised awareness about water conservation and made water available for reuse.

Elton Lim Jun Rui (FOE), Sivakumar Yogarajan (FOE), Tham Zi Xuan (SDE), Xiao Yue (FOE)

Academic Advisor: Dr. Corinne Ong

Laundry contributes to a huge amount of water usage globally, yet many Singaporeans (RVRC residents included) do not do their laundry on full load. Our objectives were to analyse laundry habits and behaviours of RVRC residents, raise awareness about the importance of full loading their laundry, and examine changes in laundry habits of RVRC residents after our intervention. In order to fulfill the objectives of raising awareness and analysing laundry habits, our approach comprises i) a pre- and post-survey; ii) an educational poster; iii) a weighing scale for residents to assess and increase laundry loads over time, and iv) a focus group discussion. We found out that many residents were aware of the importance of washing on a full load. However, many do not practice washing on a full load due to personal reasons. Overall, our intervention was effective in raising awareness and helping us better understand the laundry habits of residents.

Goh Kang Sheng (SDE), Kunal Khanijau (FOE), Teng Yi Shiong (FOE) & Trystan Timothy (FOE)

Academic Advisor: Mr. Lim Cheng Puay

Showering contributes to the highest water consumption out of all daily activities in Singapore. Thus, strategically targeting to reduce water consumption via showers will aid water conservation immensely. Realizing that simply raising awareness is ineffectual in enacting changes in showering habits of RVRC residents, our objective was to develop an audio-visual reminder that actively alerts users to stop showering within a stipulated time. We installed a shower-alarm device that activates a combination of flashing LEDs and an alarm buzzer to serve as the audio-visual reminder. This was accompanied by i) pre- and post- implementation surveys; ii) Posters to raise awareness; iii) DIY Kit for users to build their own shower-alarm device. Within the 2 weeks of device implementation, the average shower duration of participating RVRC residents was reduced by 27.3%. Hence, utilising our device along with the physical/digital posters successfully influenced RVRC residents to reduce their shower duration.

Derek Ong Boon Hong (FOS), Leonard Fang Wei Jie (FOS), Qiu Qishuo (FOS), Zhang Chenxiao (FOS), Zhang Xiangyu (FOS)

Academic Advisor: Dr. Chua Siew Chin

Water security is an essential issue in Singapore due to the energy-intensive desalination process, limited water resources and increasing demand. Given that rainwater is highly accessible in Singapore, our objective was to use rainwater as an alternative water source, specifically to mopping, thereby conserving and reducing consumption of potable water and energy in cleaning activities.

After identifying the most efficient location for rainwater harvesting, we designed and installed a rainwater harvester that filters, stores and dispenses rainwater. We executed a trial where cleaners would dispense the collected rainwater for mopping Block C’s ground floor. We interviewed the cleaners and OHS, and obtained positive responses. We found that the collected rainwater is of sufficient quality to ensure the cleanliness of the floor and conserves tap water simultaneously. Hence, we believe that using filtered rainwater is an effective and sustainable way for cleaning in the long run.

Zou Run Zhong (FOS), Tan Chong Kai (FOE), Anurag Chatterjee (FOE), Chen Siyi (SOC), Lu Yixuan (FOS)

Academic Advisor: Dr. Florence Ng

Singapore has high water consumption per capita and 45% of it comes from usage. 10% is from the water basins and 16% is from flushing toilets by volume. We aim to reduce the water usage in flushing toilets. Our objective was to make an effective product that recycles water basin greywater to flush toilets, with no changes to their toilet usage. We measured the ability of our product to save water by measuring the amount of time it took to empty our greywater tank and conducted a survey on the receptiveness of our product and supplemented it with a focus group discussion to obtain details on their opinions on our product. 95% of people were satisfied with the ability of our product to save water, 77% reported no changes to their toilet use and our product can save 32L per day. Thus, our product recycles greywater effectly and is convenient for the user.

Chen Jia Xuan Helen (FOS), Lee Chia Rei (FOE), Matsutake Teppei (FOE), Tan Zi Bin (FOE), Wong Wen Wei Esmanda (SOC)

Academic Advisor: Ms. Sadaf Ansari

Increasingly, countries around the world are experiencing water stress (UNDP, 2019). Despite this, the average Singaporean uses 50% more water than in most developed cities (Biswas, 2017). Our project focused on the water wasted at RVRC push-taps – we measured that push-taps in the old block toilets have a flow time of 6 seconds, compared to the PUB recommendation of 3 seconds, causing an estimated waste of 5500 litres water in Blocks A and B. We tried to reduce the flow time by placing zip-ties at the circumference of the push-taps, limiting the taps’ depression. We measured the amount of water wasted at two toilets for one week without zip-ties and three weeks with zip-ties, and compared the data. Our findings indicate a saving of 2.7 litres of water per tap, proving the efficacy of the zip-ties in reducing water wastage. We have contacted NUS OES to consider this implementation for other locations on campus.

Chloe Goh Qinyi (FASS), Evan Ang Jia-Jun (FOS), Hari Nandini D/O Manivannan (FASS), Lee Wei Heng (SOC)

Academic Advisor: Dr. Florence Ng

Due to climate change, water resources are increasingly becoming scarce. In RVRC, where the concept of water sustainability is emphasized upon students. As such, the habit of conserving water must be cultivated within RVRC. With this in mind, we can reduce our water wastage in daily lives through the usage of the ShoWash Machine. Through our ShoWash Machine, water usage can be tracked and reduced accordingly. It also provides a more convenient way as compared to the manual shoe washing that requires people to bend down to scrub their shoes. With this in place, 66% of the water used in regular shoe washing can be saved and 74% of our respondents agreed that our project could save a lot of water. Hence, the ShoWash Machine is shown to help reduce water wastage.

Chuang Xi Er, Beatriz (FASS), Ho Jian Hui (FASS), Koh Tze Yee (FOE), Sarthak Bhatnagar (FOE), Xia Yaxin (FOS)

Academic Advisor: Dr. Florence Ng

The excessive usage of treated tap water in community gardens is not ideal since tap water treatment in Singapore is energy-intensive and consumes large quantities of chemicals and materials. The objective of the project is to provide community gardeners with a reliable, low cost and water-conservative rainwater harvesting system to complement or replace their existing water source. Our designed system could 1) integrate with the current roof drainage systems; 2) provide gardeners with easy access to high capacity water tanks; 3) filter collected water to allow usage in current irrigation systems. Our focus group, comprising community gardeners from Bukit Batok Cosy Garden, is receptive to the idea as our water collection system could sustain gardens for up to 1 week per full high capacity tank. Hence, we conclude that the construction of this system would act as a useful alternative water source for community gardens.

Christine Koh Hua Yue, Denise Chong Huimin, Ding Feng, Fauzan Adipratama Bin Yusman, Kieren Chua

Academic Advisor: Dr. Florence Ng

Reducing high domestic water consumption has been an important priority of Singapore’s water conservation efforts (Tortajada and Joshi, 2013). In a typical Singaporean household, showering, flushing, kitchen and laundry contributes to a significant proportion of water use (Tan, 2016). In particular, laundry contributes to 19% of domestic water consumption, and a significant proportion of it is due to water wastage from underloading the washing machine as more water is being used than needed (Kruschwitz, Karle & Schimtz, 2014). Our survey findings revealed that a significant number of RVRC residents wash laundry on a reduced load, resulting in significant water wastage. Thus, to address this problem, our group will develop a manual washing machine prototype, the Washing Cycle, that serves as an alternative to wash small laundry loads with less water. Our prototype adopts a top load design to avoid water leakage and is powered manually and thus does not use any electricity. We evaluated our prototype using 3 criteria: water efficiency, spin efficiency and stain removal (Alonso et al., 2017; Merediz, 2009). Focus groups were also conducted to assess the user’s experience for our prototype during our trial run. Finally, the results obtained were analysed to provide future recommendations for further expansion of the project.

Keywords: Water, Manual Washing Machine, Washing Machine

Agnes Natasya, Hans Sebastian Mulyawan, Kwan Chen Sheng, Wang Xueman

Academic Advisor: Dr. Florence Ng

RVRC as an environmentally friendly college has many greeneries in the college. To maintain the lawn and the plants, gardeners need to use a manual watering system, watering them manually on a regular basis using a water pipe. According to Kodukula, Prasad & Charles (2005), the manual watering method may cause inefficient water usage. Water is a scarce natural resource, especially in Singapore. Our project aims to introduce a way to reduce water usage with a more efficient method, specifically on the RVRC lawn. After analysing the disadvantages of the existing method, we had created a new smart irrigation system, which can measure the moisture level in the soil and turns on the light indicator when the soil hits a certain humidity level. The amount of water used by the smart irrigation system is compared with the amount of water used by the manual watering system. The data collected from our observation has shown a significant decrease in the amount of water usage when the smart irrigation system is compared to our initial quantitative measurements of the manual irrigation system. However, this observation is limited to the RVRC lawn and is only representative for those particular biogeographical conditions. Hence, further improvements in the future in covering larger scope of area is highly suggested.

Keywords: Water, Water Consumption, auto irrigation

Chng Kai Yi Kimberly, Choo Run Kang Neville, Foo Chuan Yew, Jin Jin, Nicholas Lowie

Academic Advisor: Dr. Florence Ng

The need to conserve water rises as pressure on water supplies increase due to rising demand from population and economic growth (Grafton, et al., 2013). In particular, Singapore’s water demand of 430 million gallons per day, is expected to double by 2060. Hence, there is a need to manage water consumption to ensure supply meets demand (PUB, 2019). There have been many nationwide campaigns in place to reduce water consumption. Among them, are initiatives promoting the reuse of greywater from washing machines for non-potable purposes such as toilet flushing. Lack of widespread adoption however, may be due to perceptions of health effects or belief that using recycled water represents a decreased standard of living (Bakare, et al., 2015). Our project explores the possibility of reusing greywater by assessing the quality standard of greywater in RVRC before and after treatment by simple filtration. By collecting greywater from washing machines within RVRC and the use of a simple filter with activated carbon to remove undesirable physical and chemical substances, we aim to compare the contents of the filtered greywater with raw, untreated greywater using a complete water analysis test kit to evaluate its viability for reuse. This will be analysed through the greywater quality guidelines set by PUB and parameters such as pH and total residual chlorine. The effect of treated greywater on plant growth will then be quantified to certify that it is clean enough for non-potable reuse like irrigation. Our projected findings would be that plants will be able to successfully grow when watered with the treated greywater. Through greywater recycling, less water would be wasted, reducing total water consumption within the college.

Keywords: Water, Water Filter, Greywater

Benedict Tjoeng Ruiyan, Lam Sophie, Lim Hao Xiang Sean, Low Zhen Hao Jefferson, Samuel Choy Meng Soon

Academic Advisor: Ms. Sadaf Ansari

Water demand in Singapore has been projected to increase, up to double of the current amount of 430 million gallons a day by 2060 (PUB). With the domestic sector being responsible for 45% of current water consumption (PUB), a reduction in household consumption is paramount to maintain our water supply. Existing literature suggests children form habits more easily and are more impressionable at the young age of 6  (Eccles, J.S., 1999). Our group aims to challenge the effectiveness of the “individual” paradigm by focusing on collaborative learning among preschoolers. Collaborative learning has led to increased efficiency in learning and higher achievement among students (Laal, 2012). We hypothesise that collaborative learning is a better pedagogical approach compared to individual learning. This would be done by measuring the degree of knowledge-retention and behavioural improvements of water conservation habits in preschoolers for both teaching methods.

To test this hypothesis, we conducted an experiment in the form of a workshop. The workshop was split into a test group and control group, focusing on collaborative learning and individual learning respectively. Pre-workshop and post-workshop data was gathered to measure the effectiveness of collaborative learning and individual learning. Results indicate a general receptivity of the target group to the activities of collaborative learning. Our data also indicated that this increased engagement was associated with better knowledge retention and development of water conservation habits. Our recommendation is for more extensive testing of this model to ascertain if collaborative learning can be implemented on a national scale for water education.

Keywords: Water, Education

Ke Yi Min, Tan Liang Chieh, Benjamin, Tan Yoke Ting, Yang Xinyi, Yong Zi Ping

Academic Advisor: Mr. Lim Cheng Puay

The United Nations announces that the world is fast heading towards catastrophe on account of water scarcity due to insufficient water to satisfy growing water demands (United Nations, n.d.). In 2017, Singapore’s Public Utilities Board (PUB) reported that Singapore is expected to face tremendous water stress by 2040, with the current daily domestic consumption of 143 litres per capita. With the availability of potable water at a twist of a tap, it is no surprise that Singaporeans would hardly give any thought to conserve water. (Straits Times, 2016) Showering accounts for the biggest water guzzler in the household, accounting for 29% (MEWR, 2017), yet it is not notable that a minute less in the shower can save nine litres of water. (PUB, 2017). As such, the goal of the project is to reduce shower water consumption in Ridge View Residential College (RVRC) by incorporating audio cues placed in shower cubicle. It is hypothesized that audio cue is capable of inducing behavioural changes during showering which is similar to how background music affects shoppers’ behaviour. Water consumption is measured by means of a water meter and data will be collected over three weeks; a week with water meters only, a week with audio cues and water meter, and the third week without audio to investigate whether audio has indeed altered users’ behaviour at the shower.

Keywords: Water; Water saving’ Shower times

Pan Boyi, Tan Shuyao, Ye Chenchen, Zhang Xinran, Zhao Yiming

Academic Advisor: Mr. Lim Cheng Puay

The importance for Singapore to address the problem of water scarcity is hard to be overstated with Singapore’s restricted natural water sources and high-level water consumption, especially domestic water consumption during showering. An awareness survey within RVRC residents and experiments on water heaters in RVRC show that 722 liters of water were estimated to go down the drain without being used in RVRC every day. Our project aims to eliminate cold water waste while waiting for the water to get warm before showering. Our solution is to design an affordable and user-friendly water recirculation structure for the instant water heaters. Due to the lack of necessary certifications from PUB, only a prototype is built to test the theory. The result turns out that when the showering water is under 25℃, the water will be pumped back to the water heater to be reheated. When the water is above 45℃, the user can turn on the showering water-tap and hot water will flow out. Users can control the process with two switches. The whole cost for the system is 60 SGD. A post-survey investigating the public attitude towards the design shows that over 78.5% of respondents are willing to adopt this system. Overall, the system can eliminate cold water waiting time, and it is easy to use and affordable compared to existing households water circulating system.

Keywords: Water saving; water; showers