Jurong Lake Park

Jurong Lake Park

There will be four questions about JLP

-Suggest what we can do to make JLP more eco-friendly and at the same time,

-Improve the water quality in the lake

-Make reference to the various seperation techniques we have learnt in class or researched on our own

-Suggest how water quality in the lake can be monitored

-Suggest what we can do to make JLP more eco-friendly?

We could make JLP a more eco-friendly environment by reducing the amount of toilet flushing. We could also increase the amount of rubbish bins around the park so users will not litter in the park.

-Improve the water quality in the lake

Park rangers could ask user's to reduce the amount of littering in the lake. They could also prevent users from feeding marine animals in the lake.

-Make reference to the various seperation techniques we have learnt in class or researched on our own

We can use filtration, distilisation, and crystallisation.

-Suggest how water quality in the lake can be monitered

Water in the lake can be monitored through water testing. Water could also be monitored by calculating how much living organisms can live in that water.

JEG - CleanTech Park

JEG - CleanTech Park

Main separation technique utilised in JEG?

Cleansing biotopes

What is that technique?

It is a way to filter and clean water naturally without the use of any chemicals. Cleansing biotopes offer effective water treatment while maintaining a natural and beautiful environment. They consist of carefully selected plants in a filter medium which helps to cleanse the water by filtering pollutants and absorbing nutrients.

 

How is it used in Jurong Eco Garden?

The technique is a form of artificially constructed vertical flow wetland, typically with recirculation. The cleansing biotopes consist of nutrient-poor underlying layer (substrates) that are planted with wetland plants, which are known for their water cleaning capacity. 

It ties in with the 'eco-friendly' theme at JEG, why and how?

Benefits
 • Filters and cleans water naturally without the use of any chemicals
• Encourages habitat creation and promotes biodiversity
 • Beautifies surrounding landscape 

Maintenance
 • Maintain healthy vegetation growth, as it plays a key role in porosity of the soil, taking up of nutrients and promoting the growth of microorganisms that degrade pollutants from the percolating surface runoff.
• Cleansing biotopes can be divided into several areas that are alternately activated. This allows each section to be deactivated for a few days for regeneration. 
• Under extreme conditions, the filter media may become clogged at the surface by organic matter. When this happens, the water feed is switched off or diverted to allow the substrates and organic matter to dry for several days and the biotopes surface to be mineralised. The top layer of the filter media should also be raked to loosen it. The cleansing biotope system can then be turned on again.

WATER QUALITY IN JEG

Water Quality in JEG

There will be three question on the water quality in JEG:

-What is water quality?

-How can water quality be tested?

-Why is good water quality important in an ecosystem?

What is water quality?

Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, biological, and radiological characteristics of water. It is a measure of the condition of water relative to the requirement of one or ore biotic species and/or to any human need or purpose.

How can water quality be tested?

Water quality can be tested in three ways:

-Testing for TURBIDITY

-Testing for DISSOLVED OXYGEN

-Testing for ACIDITY

Testing for TURBIDITY refers to the level of murkiness of the water, caused by the amount of particles such as soil, sediments, algae or organic matter suspended in water.

Testing for DISSOLVED OXYGEN refers to the amount of oxygen dissolved in a given volume of water, as a given temperature and atmospheric pressure. It can be measured in milligrams per liter(mg/l) or parts per million(ppm).

Testing for ACIDITY refers to how acidic or basic a particular solution is.

Why is good water quality important to an ecosystem?

Good water quality is important to an ecosystem so no living organism in that ecosystem dies of dehydration. The ecosystem needs water so that soil fertility has enough moisture for all plants have water to drink and photosynthesize. As animals need water to keep themselves hydrated and to help in the flow of blood in body, animals  need water to move around to hunt for food and to find shelter to live.

CONSERVATION EFFORTS AT JEG

CONSERVATION EFFORTS

Since Jurong Eco Garden (JEG) is the "green lungs" of CleanTech Park, it is no surprise that there were many conservation efforts made by the authorities and park management officials at JEG. One such example is the creation of green corridors for animal movement. This is typically 30 metres in width, but due to space constraint, it was restricted to 15 metres. So the park officials deepened the corridor and planted it heavily to heighten the sense of privacy and security for animals using the corridors. JTC Corporation has included a composting station to educate visitors about the composting process and also to conserve resources, where horticulture waste generated in the garden is converted into organic resources. The composting station is located in the Stream Ravine sector, near the butterfly garden. The composting barrels are separated into different hand tumblers based on a time period of 12 weeks. The barrels can be opened to view the soil, leaves and dead materials inside. Wet material made of vegetables, fruits and garden waste and dry material made of dry leaves, weeds and twigs are added to the barrels to start the composting process.The 5ha Jurong Eco-Garden also features a freshwater swamp forest, which serves as a central retention pond for storm water. About 65 per cent of the storm water run-off collected will be filtered for toilet-flushing and watering plants, among other purposes. In my personal opinion, i feel that the government is doing their part in safeguarding the environment. This is because just recently, the government has paved the way for many policies and plans, such as the Singapore Green Plan (SGP). Its objective is to ensure that Singapore, through sound environmental management, achieves economic development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations. The first Singapore Green Plan was released in 1992 by the then Ministry of the Environment, now known as the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR). MEWR has since updated it and the current plan is called the Singapore Green Plan 2012 or, simply, SGP 2012. MEWR did a review of the SGP 2012 in 2005 and released a revised edition of the plan in 2006. I feel like the government is doing very well in conserving the environment, but I feel that more things can be done, such as reinforcing the laws. For example, they can increase the severity of the punishments when one does things such as illegal logging. In conclusion, I think that the government is doing very well in conserving the environment, especially in JEG.