Pollution Engineering - November 2008 - (Page 28)

ISLAND Landfill habitats on the island are flourishing. Birds nest on the closed cells, which are covered with a layer of soil, oblivious of the fact that it is made of rubbish. Fish can be seen swimming in and out of the lagoons, and marine life continues to thrive in the island’s mangrove mudflats and western shorelines. Recently, as many as 66 bird species have been recorded there, including great-billed herons and Pacific reef egrets. Semakau’s natural habitats have been so well preserved that it is now the only known location in Singapore where the seagrass, Syringodium isoetifolium, can be found. What’s 15 years to one of our regen blowers? Map of the island shown on an information board on the island itself. A warm-up. Nothing moves air with more rock solid reliability than AMETEK®/Rotron regenerative blowers. Fifteen years’ service life is not unusual. These lowpressure high-volume blowers feature rugged, compact construction and quiet operation. Their proven design makes them ideal in applications from chemicals, wastewater and furnaces to pick ’n place, pneumatic conveyers, vapor recovery and more. Plus, they’re backed by the industry’s most knowledgeable engineering experts. AMETEK can customize your blower for harsh environments, high voltage and specialized applications, too. So make your next air-moving challenge a breeze. To honor Semakau’s reincarnation as a sanctuary of biodiversity, the government gave its backing for the island to become a center for recreational nature studies and biodiversity research. The landfill has since become an ecotourism destination, having received over a thousand visitors. The eco-friendly landfill island of Semakau is but one in a list of environmental efforts by the Republic of Singapore, a country renowned for its fastidious cleanliness. Its efforts have encouraged neighboring countries like the Philippines to explore similar waste disposal solutions. Though economically less developed than Singapore, the Philippine Islands have implemented their own solutions. Southeast Asia’s first biogas plant now stands at the Filipino Payatas dump at Quezon City, while the use of floating garbage landfills, like the ones used in Singapore, are also being considered for areas like Metro Manila. These developments not only point toward a possible trend of governmentmandate environmental action in Southeast Asia, but demonstrate that progress is not always a one-way process of environmental destruction. Therefore, environmental solutions can effectively be implemented by governments, in an environmentally-friendly and economically-viable way, be it in a developed or developing nation. PE Augustine Quek is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the National University of Singapore. He has previously worked at Natsteel EnvrioTech Pte. Ltd. in the air and waste management field. He has authored over five dozen magazine www.rotronindustrial.com articles on science and technology. He can be reached at: augustine_quek@nus.edu.sg 28 Pollution Engineering NOVEMBER2008 http://www.rotronindustrial.com http://www.rotronindustrial.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Pollution Engineering - November 2008

Pollution Engineering - November 2008 Contents The Editor's Desk EnviroNews PE Events Legal Lookout Casebook Canada Environment Management The Green Files Waste Island Phase I ESAs and Vapor Intrusion Meeting the Mercury Target Wet ESPs - The Sky's the Limit Most Successful IFAT China Ever Thermoplastic to the Rescue Install a Trench Without Open Excavations Remediate Impacted Soils Without Accumulation of Metabolites Apply an Alternative to Wet ESP Solve These Common Pump Problems Minimize Risks Handling Ammonia Monitor International Regulatory Developments for Audits Skim Oil and Save Prevent Chemical Vapor Intrusion Spill Control and Containment Products Pumps and Systems Equipment PE Products Classified Marketplace Advertisers Index State Rules

Pollution Engineering - November 2008

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