International water pioneer’s achievements celebrated
A former Singapore Prime Minister and champion of water sustainability has been remembered for his legacy projects to clean up Singapore waterways and inspire wastewater recycling, stormwater harvesting and countless Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) initiatives in Singapore.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew, who sadly passed away on March 23, was Prime Minister of Singapore at the time of independence, championed Singapore’s journey towards water sustainability by making water a top priority in government policies.
In 1971, Mr Lee set up the Water Planning Unit in the Prime Minister’s Office with the aim of studying the scope and feasibility of new conventional sources such as unprotected catchments, as well as unconventional sources like water reclamation, desalination and more recently stormwater harvesting.
Mr Lee challenged the Environment Ministry to clean up the Singapore River in 1977 – at the time the river was heavily polluted, which kickstarted a massive ten-year clean-up effort. The success of this program inspired further improvements to Singapore waterways such as the use of membrane technology to transform Marine Barrage into an expansive freshwater reservoir, meeting 10% of Singapore’s water needs today. This engineering marvel was the actualisation of Mr Lee’s vision.
CRC for Water Sensitive Cities CEO Prof Tony Wong, who has for the past 10 years been advising Singapore on the implementation framework for Singapore’s WSUD initiative known as the Active Beautiful and Clean Waters Program, said that this initiative was part of the ongoing legacy from Mr Lee’s visionary approach to urban water management.
“He pioneered the idea that stormwater can be a drinking water resource and helped make Singapore a world leader in integrating urban planning with water supply and management,” Prof Wong said.
PUB, Singapore national water agency and the National University of Singapore are partners of the CRCWSC, working together to further advance Singapore’s transition into a water sensitive city. “The receptive attitude from Singapore water officials to implementing CRCWSC research is part of Mr Lee’s legacy,” Prof Wong said.
As a tribute to Mr Lee‘s leadership and foresight in charting the development of Singapore’s water sustainability, the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize was set up to honour outstanding contributions by individuals or organisations towards solving the world’s water challenges by applying innovative technologies, policies or programmes which benefit humanity. Nominations for the 2016 Prize are open until 1 June: