Bird park sets up plant to recycle water
Water in enclosure at Jurong park will be treated using eco-friendly and cost-saving filtration system
PINK flamingos at Jurong BirdPark have gone green.
Not their plumes, of course, but their environment thanks to the installation of a new cost-saving water-recycling system.
The beneficiaries are not just the flamingos but all the park’s feathered denizens which need water in their enclosures, such as the penguins and storks.
According to the company that developed the treatment plant, the park is the first in the world to purify sewage water.
The system, developed by Hydrochem, an environmental-engineering company here, uses a filtration system rather than chemicals to purify the water.
Speaking yesterday at the launch of the plant, Ms Olivia Lum, managing director of Hyflux, Hydrochem’s parent company, said: "What we have here is a highly-efficient and very eco-friendly water-recycling plant that not only delivers quality purified water, but also reaps significant cost savings on the park’s water bill."
At $1.22 per cubic metre, the treated water costs about 40 per cent less than Public Utilities Board water, which is $2.12 per cubic metre.
Ms Lum estimated that in about three years, the park would recover the money invested in the system.
She said: "Jurong Bird-Park, being the first zoological institution in the world to utilise a water-recycling system, marks an important step forward to establish the ‘Made in Singapore’ brand name on the global technology map."
The system features fine membranes which filter out solids, bacteria and microscopic viruses.
The water is then sterilised with ultra-violet rays and passed through a carbon filter to remove leftover organic matter and chlorine. Finally, it undergoes a reverse-osmosis procedure to remove dissolved salts.
Dr Wong Hon Mun, the park’s executive director, said nearly half the 500 cubic metres of PUB water now used daily by the park will be replaced with recycled water.
Dr Wong said: "Soon, we hope to use this treated water for most of our water needs, such as the washin and cleaning of exhibits an flushing toilets."
Although the birds will drink the recycled water, featherless visitors will still be served only PUB water.
"There is still a psychological barrier as people do not want to drink purified sewage water," Dr Wong said.
-By Magaret Perry
Source : The Straits Times, Oct 19, 2000
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