The United Water Conference: Water you waiting for?

“Less than 1% of the world’s water is fresh, accessible, and usable for human life. Every year, that fraction grows smaller.”

This sobering reminder comes from Belle Zhou, the president of EnviroX. Together with United World College, EnviroX was responsible for organising the United Water Conference on the 31st of May, Saturday, under the guidance of teacher-mentor Ms Zoe Perry. The conference brought together esteemed guests Ms Daniella Bostrom Couffe (former Head of Communications for UN Water), Ms Hannah Oh and Ms Dawn McGregor, alongside student observers as well as 3 student research groups .

What happened?

Opening up the conference, Belle spoke about how precious water is: a limited but also invaluable resource that sustains mankind along with thousands of marine species worldwide. She also called passionately for young people to remain communicative and open to ideas, emphasising the power of change that is in the hands of the youth. Through the course of the conference, this theme was brought home time and again as students shared the unique research they had done on the various problems facing water supplies today as well as the innovative solutions proposed.

After Belle’s sharing, vice-president of EnviroX Ray Nandini reiterated the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including universal access to clean water and protection of marine species. With that being said, she then invited the two in-person guests to discuss in a  panel dialogue.

Bringing years of experience in corporate and non-profit environments, Ms Oh and Ms McGregor gave a unique perspective on water that is hard to find among civil servants or scientists. Ms Oh stood as a global leader on water solutions who has worked with numerous large private entities such as Bayer, engaging international stakeholders to advance water action. Ms McGregor started out in the world of finance, eventually transitioning to become a risks strategic advisor on water.

Indeed, Ms McGregor highlighted one big issue that’s often overlooked: water is a big business risk. Water remains fundamental to the business process irregardless of sector — be it the irreplaceable role played in F&B and hospitality or as a factor of production in clothing and electronics. No less, failing to manage water sustainably becomes a threat looming over the global economy, and unless companies recognise this and act to safeguard their long-term water supply, they will face an impending supply chain collapse.

One thing that both speakers echoed throughout the panel discussion and the QnA was the responsibility of the private sector, hand-in-hand with the public and the government, when it came to managing water well.

Following which, audience members watched presentations on and gave feedback for various solution proposals by the 3 student research teams.

Starting with the five-membered team known as the Jetrays, who focused on the sustainable use of potassium alum. Alum is often used to treat water by trapping impurities, but it is difficult to assess the correct amount of it to use without overdosing, which is wasteful and unsustainable in the long-term. The Jetrays stepped in here, using machine learning to create a helpful device that could assess the approximate amount of potassium alum that would need to be added, subject to fine-tuning by a professional. This coexistence of machine and human expertise casts a hopeful potential for the use of new technologies, and through accurate prescription of alum use, makes potassium alum a much more viable water treatment option.

The next project was by Ava Akbarian, who proposed a new prototype idea that could help save 30L a household every single day. By attaching a 3-layer biodegradable activated carbon filter to existing drainage systems in HDB blocks, a massive amount of water could be produced for daily household tasks through this affordable system that took advantage of the vertical housing most Singaporeans live in. In testing this over the course of the next few months, she hopes to bring this idea to reality and help increase Singapore’s water resilience in the long run.

As for myself? I had gone as a student presenter as well, on the toxicity of emerging PFAS (a new form of the pollutant called “forever chemicals” in the media) as compared to the legacy forms of it. In addition to presenting research findings, I had also suggested a new global policy framework that would allow governments to tackle emerging PFAS pollution.

After the presentations, the audience settled down to listen to Ms Couffe, who was calling in from Europe to share her years of experience working with water. Speaking both of the importance of science communication (especially with youths, who she targeted her work towards), as well as the impact and limits of the public sector on the global water supply, she urged youths to take action and gave an inspiring conclusion to the various sharings throughout the conference.

Two workshops followed, both of which reflected different aspects of water resilience and sustainability. The first was a simulated dialogue between a government, a farmers’ union and a tech MNC, giving participants a taste of real-life decision-making when it came to implementing new solutions for water. The second was an upcycling workshop with used plastic bottles to create charger holders and self-watering plants, demonstrating how the individual can reduce their water waste by reusing water-intensive products for other purposes.

Reflections

What made the United Water Conference so special?

When it comes to STEM topics, especially ideas like conservation and sustainability, the need for dialogue amongst youths to share ideas is becoming increasingly pressing. We will inherit an Earth that needs these solutions to survive. But for a conference like this to be entirely conceptualised and executed by students, for students is a rare gift.

So, what are you waiting for? Why not go find an opportunity to make your voice heard? Or better yet, come up with one yourself?

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