ABC award for creative water features

Admiralty park one of 14 projects that get Active, Beautiful, Clean certificate
Victoria Vaughan Straits Times 2 Jul 10;

PROPERTY developers who incorporate attractive and functional water features in their designs can now apply for an award from Singapore's water authority PUB.

The Active, Beautiful, Clean (ABC) certificate - the first 14 of which were handed out yesterday during Singapore International Water Week - is the next step in efforts to change the scape of canals and drains.

The aim is to encourage cleansing of rainwater as well as support human interaction with the waterways.

Ideas such as rain gardens and bioswales, which use vegetation and soil rather than concrete to catch and channel rainwater, filtering it before it hits the canal, are design features recognised by the award.

Greenwood Sanctuary @ Admiralty, a new park located in Woodlands, was one of five projects from the Housing Board (HDB) to be given the certificate.

The 1.5ha park, which was completed in December, uses grass depressions - bioswales - and dry ponds to collect rainwater which then filters through a sand bed to tanks beneath where it is slowly released back into the ground to water plants and trees.

It cost $1.2 million to create but would have cost $1.6 million if concrete drains had been used, said Ms Tay Bee Choo, head of the landscape unit at HDB.

Mr Yap Kheng Guan, director of PUB's 3P (People, Public and Private) Network, said that such concepts also help to slow down the flow of water which can alleviate flooding, as well as add value to properties.

'I think with the focus on making water sustainable when we develop, there is so much we can do to make sure water is cleaned up before it hits our rivers and canals which supply our drinking water,' he added.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Amy Khor, who presented the certificates, said: 'The continued increase in urbanisation calls for a paradigm shift in the way we manage storm water.

'Detaining and treating run-off water before it flows into our waterways, using natural elements - ABC water design features - is one example of how this can be done.'

The certificates will be awarded annually and there are no plans to make it a compulsory requirement for new developments yet.

Lower Seletar Reservoir's family and rower's bays, which feature a children's playground and a stage, are the latest of four ABC projects to be completed and 11 more will be ready by the end of next year.

PUB launches Active, Beautiful & Clean Waters certification scheme
Mustafa Shafawi and Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid Channel NewsAsia 1 Jul 10;

SINGAPORE: National water agency, PUB, has introduced the Active, Beautiful, Clean or ABC Waters certification scheme.

Launching the scheme, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor says it will further encourage the proliferation of ABC Waters designs throughout Singapore, even in areas not alongside a reservoir, river or canal.

The certification will provide recognition to public agencies and private developers who embrace ABC Waters designs in their developments.

Twelve projects by public agencies and two by private developers have been identified as the pioneers of the ABC Waters Certification scheme.

These projects showcase sustainable ABC Waters designs which integrate well with the surroundings.

The projects range from residential to industrial developments, parks and educational institutions, to commercial and recreational developments.

One project is the Greenwood Sanctuary@Admiralty, located in Woodlands.

Built at the cost of S$2.1 million, an interesting feature of this ecological park is in the way it drains rainwater. The rainwater will go into tanks hidden underground. Once the tanks are full, the excess rainwater will overflow to the roadside drains.

The park's jogging track is also made of recycled rubber mulch that allows rainwater to permeate through.

The HDB said it saved about $500,000 incorporating such natural features, compared to building concrete canals that are aesthetically less appealing.

The park is one of the five developments by HDB that has been awarded the ABC water certification.

The plan is to incorporate similar features in future estates.

Sng Cheng Keh, deputy CEO (Building), HDB said: "HDB houses more than 80 per cent of Singaporeans, so our development definitely plays a very important role.

"This award is a recognition of the efforts that we have put in so far, and will definitely spur us more into delivering more eco-friendly kind of development into our projects."

The two private developers who also obtained the ABC waters certification are City Developments/Hong Realty and Goodwood Residence.

Public agencies include the National Parks Board, National Environment Agency and JTC corporation.

On its part, PUB hopes to see more coming on board the certification scheme.

Yap Kheng Guan, director, 3P Network at PUB said: "We look at features in which they can help to treat the water, make it clean, so that by the time it reaches the reservoir, we would have clean water. That's why we are expanding the ABC Waters programme."

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor elaborates.

"With advances in technology, we hope that 90 per cent of Singapore's land use will one day become water catchment. This continued increase in urbanisation calls for a paradigm shift in the way we manage storm water."

PUB said organisations that make the cut would be able to market their developments as "ABC Waters Certified."

In the next two to three years, PUB said there will be over 20 similar projects around the island. - CNA/jy/ls