Day 4

This morning, we went to the National University of Singapore (NUS) for the signing of an MOU between Duke and NUS that will establish collaboration between the MEM program at Duke and the equivalent program at NUS. Several faculty members from the School of Design and Environment at NUS as well as Prof. Orbach from Duke spoke about the goals of the partnership and the possibilities that it will create for students and faculty at both universities.

In the afternoon, we visited a water treatment plant where “NEWater” is manufactured. Singapore has four national taps: water collected in reservoirs, water imported from Malaysia, water produced from desalination, and NEWater. Because Singapore is a small island that has historically been dependent on Malaysia for water, the government has begun a program that introduces reclaimed water into the water supply. To produce NEWater, wastewater is treated via reverse osmosis, microfiltration and UV disinfection to ensure the death of harmful microorganisms. NEWater meets WHO guidelines for safe drinking water. I thought it was interesting how

Singapore has marketed the NEWater. For example, at the 2002 National Day Parade, all visitors were given bottles of NEWater to drink.

Reverse Osmosis System:

UV Disinfection (model):