Their students will take turns to clean it and test the water's quality
Tan Weizhen, Straits Times 22 Jun 09;
SINGAPORE'S newest reservoir - the Marina Reservoir - was adopted by 22 schools yesterday at the inaugural Singapore International Water Festival, as part of a drive to maintain the cleanliness and quality of Singapore's drinking water.
Students from 21 secondary schools and the Singapore Polytechnic (SP) will take turns to clean the reservoir, Singapore's 15th, which opened last November.
They will also test the quality of the water - for example, its acidity levels.
SP will provide the water test kits and training for the secondary school students. The younger students will each be paired with an older student from the polytechnic during the activities.
As water ambassadors of sorts, the students will also promote the water cause by being guides at the Sustainable Singapore gallery. This gallery at the Marina Barrage showcases how Singapore has been conserving and managing the island's limited natural water supply.
The students will take on these activities during the school holidays.
The event yesterday was a prelude to the Singapore International Water Week which begins today.
Guest of honour Teo Ho Pin, Mayor of North West District, said: 'We have to educate Singaporeans from young on the importance of sustainability development and the environmental impact of the choices they make. The Government's efforts alone are inadequate. We need a 'whole-of-nation' effort to make Singapore a more sustainable city.'
The adoption by the 22 schools also marks the first time a large group of schools have come together to care for the waters of Singapore's reservoirs.
To date, about 78 organisations - half of them schools - have adopted reservoirs and other waterways in Singapore.
SP hopes to rope in more secondary schools for this initiative in the future.
Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School, one of the schools involved, is no stranger to water projects. Principal James Ong said: 'Our students have been cleaning up rivers as part of our water waste projects for three years. We are delighted to be involved this time round as it is in line with what we have been doing.'
Mr Yap Kheng Guan, director of 3P network department at the PUB, said: 'Thirty years ago, the Singapore River was so dirty, we had to conduct a major cleanup. Now we have clean waterways, and we hope this generation won't take them for granted.'
Yesterday's festival was attended by about 10,000 people who took part in races on dragon boats, rafts and solar-energy boats. They also walked on water using footwear made of special foam. American, Australian, Japanese and German international school students also attended.
