Pang Sua Pond in Bukit Panjang undergoes makeover

Sara Grosse Channel NewsAsia 20 Jul 14;

SINGAPORE: Pang Sua Pond in Bukit Panjang will be undergoing a S$6.8 million makeover under PUB's Active, Beautiful, Clean (ABC) Waters Programme.

A new boardwalk will be built by 2016, which will allow residents to have greater connectivity to several facilities in the vicinity. New technologies are also being tested which could result in improved water quality.

Pang Sua Pond helps collect rainwater from its surrounding residential estates before it is pumped to the Upper Seletar Reservoir for storage.

The boardwalk will connect residents to facilities such as the Senja-Cashew Community Club, Bukit Panjang Neighbourhood 5 Park and the future 3G Wellness Centre. Two viewing decks will allow residents to enjoy the scenery, and there will also be a stage for outdoor performances.

The residents are looking forward to the changes.

Bukit Panjang resident Shirley Yeo said: "Of course it helps a lot because I do brisk-walking. So I can bring a group of people for activities. I also think the scenery is very nice and cooling."

A ground-breaking ceremony for the upcoming ABC Waters project was held on Sunday morning.

At the event, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said the project is integrated with transport plans.

He said: "I want to have a way in which our children can walk, jog or cycle throughout the town without having to worry about vehicular traffic. So there again, the use of park connectors, the use of every water way, to build an integrated network that connects people at a human level is another key concept behind this plan."

Once the transformation of the pond is complete, the authorities are planning to do a test that could improve water quality in the pond. Plants that can remove unwanted nutrients in rainwater will be grown in one of the several canals connected to the pond.

Tan Nguan Sen, chief sustainability officer at PUB, said: "If it works, we want to do it in other parts of Singapore. The important thing is, we want to treat the water before it reaches the pond so the water in the pond will be cleaner."

To further improve water quality in Pang Sua Pond, aerators and a recirculation system will be installed.

The ABC Waters Programme was launched by PUB in 2006 to transform Singapore's water bodies beyond their utilitarian purpose into clean streams, rivers and lakes.

Over 100 potential locations have been identified for transformation over the next 20 years.

- CNA/fa/xq


$6.8million facelift for Bukit Panjang pond
Gurveen Kaur The Straits Times 21 Jul 14;

SINGAPORE - Normally considered an area out of reach for Bukit Panjang residents, Pang Sua pond will undergo a makeover so that residents can use it for physical and other recreational activities.

A new boardwalk around the 3ha storm-water collection pond will be constructed to connect residents to facilities such as the Senja-Cashew Community Club and Bukit Panjang Neighbourhood 5 Park.

Part of national water agency PUB's Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters Programme, the project will also include the building of two lookout decks and a multipurpose stage on the water for outdoor performances.

"Every pond, every waterway in Singapore is a potential community feature, and we will work with local communities to generate ideas so that there'll be facilities which families can use," said Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan, who unveiled the $6.8 million project at the Senja-Cashew community club yesterday. It is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2016.

Dr Balakrishnan, an adviser to Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, added that the project will be integrated with transport plans for the neighbourhood.

"I want to have a way in which our children can walk, jog or cycle throughout the town without having to worry about vehicular traffic," he said.

PUB and the National University of Singapore, together with Dutch applied-research institute Deltares, will be test-bedding in-stream wetlands using plants such as pandan to absorb unwanted nutrients such as phosphorus from storm-water run-off before it reaches the pond.

"We want to treat the water before it reaches the pond so that the water quality in the pond will be improved," said Tan Nguan Sen, PUB's chief sustainability officer.

Shirley Yeo, 68, a Bukit Panjang resident, who leads a group of over 100 for brisk walks twice a week, is looking forward to the enhancements.

"I can take the group to walk in this area. The scenery is very nice and it's cool there," said the billing assistant.

$6.8m makeover for Bukit Panjang pond
Joanna Seow The Straits Times AsiaOne 23 Jul 14;

Plants could play a bigger role in treating the water that flows through Singapore's waterways in future.

In-stream wetlands - plants in canals and drains that extract unwanted nutrients from runoff water flowing into reservoirs - will be tested in Pang Sua East Canal from 2016.

They will be added as part of enhancement works to Pang Sua Pond in Bukit Panjang which began yesterday.

The $6.8 million project, part of national water agency PUB's Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters programme, is expected to be completed by the middle of 2016.

PUB's chief sustainability officer Tan Nguan Sen said that the local plants, such as fragrant pandan, will remove nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen from the water.

"We want to treat the water before it reaches the pond so that the water quality in the pond will be improved," he said at a groundbreaking event at Senja-Cashew Community Club, which is next to the pond.

The research is being done by PUB and the National University of Singapore with Dutch applied research institute Deltares, and if successful, could be rolled out to other waterways.

Other new features for the pond, which is around the size of four football fields, include a boardwalk and a multi-purpose stage on the water itself.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said yesterday that the boardwalks will be integrated with transport networks in the neighbourhood.

"Every pond, every waterway in Singapore is a potential community feature, and we'll work with local communities to generate ideas so that there'll be facilities which families can use," he said.