DESPITE harsher penalties and numerous anti-littering campaigns, 14 tonnes of rubbish - equal to the weight of 10 cars - ends up in Singapore's drains every day.
A cigarette butt thrown into a drain in Bishan, for example, can travel 10km to the Marina Bay reservoir, which, by the end of the year, will provide 10 per cent of the Republic's water.
This is the message that colourful campaign stickers placed on 49 drains across Singapore hope to spread - the drains beneath your feet lead to reservoirs, so don't use them as bins.
PUB, the national water agency, launched the Wonderful World of Water yesterday, with stickers being placed on and around drains in Tampines, Bishan, Jurong and the Environment Building at Newton, as a pilot project to get reactions from the public prior to launching an art competition for drain covers on May 21.
Every year, more than 5,000 tonnes of rubbish are collected from the 32 rivers and 7,000km of drains in Singapore. It costs the PUB $4.5 million a year to clean up the Marina catchment area, which is the largest and most urbanised, covering approximately one-sixth of Singapore's land area.
This amount of litter, however, went down by a tonne last year compared with the previous year, and PUB believes it is due to the enforcement efforts of the National Environment Agency (NEA).
Mr Yap Kheng Guan, the director of the PUB's 3P network department, said: 'We are trying to emphasise the importance of keeping drains clean. We are really going inland to the source of our water to spread the message.
'A drain is something you walk past hundreds of times not realising it's there, and leads to the reservoirs.'
This was certainly the case for people at the bus stop near Bishan MRT station, where several of the colourful drain covers are located.
Miss Ting Sui Fan, 21, said: 'I had no idea that these drains lead all the way to Marina Bay.'
'I think the stickers are wonderful, I just took a picture of it,' said the Singapore Institute of Management student.
Mr Eugene Heng, the founder of Waterways Watch Society, a volunteer group which helps clean up Singapore's canal and reservoir network, said: 'We think such campaigns should be down to earth and in the everyday environment, so we have always been in support of drain cover messages that remind people day to day.'
He added that cigarette butts, plastic bags and bottles top the charts when it comes to litter in the Marina Bay Reservoir.
From September, the PUB will begin replacing damaged drain covers with new ones, which will bear a message stating which reservoir it leads to and the words 'Let's keep it clean.' Such a method has been used in Australia, the United States and Japan.
The campaign is linked with the Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters programme, also by the PUB, which is remodelling Singapore's storm drains into riverside community beauty spots.
It coincides with the Love Green: Just Bin It! campaign by the National Parks Board and a nationwide campaign from the NEA, set to start next month. The NEA will also be releasing a study which looks at the psychology of littering.
For more information, visit www.wonderfulworldofwater.sg
Embossed & colourful drain covers to spread message of clean waterways
Dylan Loh Channel NewsAsia 10 May 10;
SINGAPORE: From September, new drain covers will have an embossed message saying which reservoir water underneath is headed.
It's one way of encouraging people to keep drains free of litter for the sake of clean waterways.
A piece of discarded tissue on the ground may get washed into a drain during rainy days. The rainwater then gets channelled towards reservoirs.
If hundreds of pieces of litter get washed into Singapore's water catchment areas, it could get quite messy."
To prevent the mess, national water agency PUB has splashed some drains with colour.
The artworks have a message - what's dumped here can end up polluting a waterway far away.
Yap Kheng Guan, director, 3P Network Department, PUB, said: "We should not be thinking that it is only in the Marina Reservoir that the water is collected from the rain around the Marina Barrage. It's collected from areas as far away as Ang Mo Kio which is 10 kilometres away."
On average, 14 tonnes of rubbish enter Singapore's reservoirs daily.
PUB hopes people will not just walk over the issue but learn about drains and their importance. - CNA/vm
PUB drains out message
Dylan Loh Today Online 11 May 10;
SINGAPORE - From September, new drain covers will feature an embossed message, telling you which reservoir the drains underneath are headed to.
National water agency PUB hopes this will give people a direct stake in not littering. An average of 14 tonnes of rubbish get into reservoirs daily, it noted.
PUB's director of stakeholder relations Yap Kheng Guan said rubbish may get channelled into water catchment areas through the drains. He said: "We should not be thinking that, well, the water in the Marina Reservoir is collected only from the rain around the Marina Barrage. No! It's collected from areas as far away as Ang Mo Kio - 10 km away."
PUB has also adorned drain covers around busy areas like Tampines Mall and Bishan Junction 8 with colourful artwork depicting people enjoying the benefits of clean waterways. There will be a competition for the best illustrations to support this cause, and winning entries could adorn drain covers in future. DYLAN LOH