Sophia Jasper Crosby is often in my thoughts and prayers. As a close friend of my maternal grandparents, she was very much a part of my earlier life. A woman of rural manners, the daughter of Christian missionaries, and the widow of a soldier from The Great War, Sophia was the most assertively British Australian … Continue reading Thinking about Crossie on Remembrance Day
For a wide review of these themes lookout for my latest collection of short stories, Beyond Borders.For some, the notion of borders is that of a hard border, one clearly defined and assertively maintained. Certainly, in the Covid19 era borders reflect this standard, yet borders are by no means constant, or definite, whatever the political … Continue reading Reflections on Borders: Empire, Cold War and Covid19
This week a friend was driving south from Canberra and was surprised to see a dramatic increase in the level of Lake George. This short video is constructed from a collection of single shots.I last wrote about Lake George in 2012, when the shots comprising this video were taken. Since then it has been largely … Continue reading Revisiting Lake George
These days any events like the Beruit explosion trigger memories for the Bali Bombings for me. There were two explosions at Legian on the night of October 12, 2002. I heard them from Ubud yet through all the noise emanating from 26 kilometers away, I could only discern one continuous rumbling. Footage of the Beruit … Continue reading Beirut Explosion on the Eve of a Hiroshima Anniversary
The Geografi Australia project began during Suharto's New Order regime and the Keating era. Working on this project was both challenging and inspirational. The story of the beginnings of the project is called A Day of departures. It is published as part of Seen and unseen: a century of stories from Asia and the Pacific, … Continue reading The story behind ‘Geografi Australia’
In 1995 my old company Asian Field Study Centres Pty Ltd, tendered for a contract with the Australia Indonesia Institute to produce a resource about Australia. Effectively a Geography text, it was to have historical references as well, and was to be written in Bahasa Indonesia. The book was attuned to the curriculum for the … Continue reading Geografi Australia
I've recently finished a story, Peter's Reverie. This is a tale I began to write in a state of optimism, though this was quickly dispelled by events, by a rise of new fundamentalisms in the world. Now we have also seen the rise of the Erdogan regime in Turkey. So my optimism for interfaith … Continue reading Peter’s Reverie
Timor L'Este reveals tectonic forces operating between Australia and Asia Beyond borders, is now well advanced in the editorial phase. I've started work on the eBook and as soon as my final text is set I will begin recording stories for the audiobook. Links to draft audio versions of some stories can be found below. … Continue reading More about my book ‘Beyond Borders’
I’ve never reblogged someone’s work before but Associate Professor Susan Petterson raises an important consideration here. We need sound analytical thinking as we face the COVID-19 pandemic, she brings her academic skills into focus here with two important posts that explore what we currently know about fecal transmission via our sewage management system.
Here in Singapore where I am living we drink recycled water.
Water demand in Singapore is currently about 430 million gallons a day (mgd) that is enough to fill 782 Olympic-sized swimming pools, with homes consuming 45% and the non-domestic sector taking up the rest. By 2060, Singapore’s total water demand could almost double, with the non-domestic sector accounting for about 70%. By then, NEWater and desalination will meet up to 85% of Singapore’s future water demand. Singapore Water Story
I don’t think much about the water I drink. It comes both the Kallang and Singapore Rivers flow into the artificial water storage area know as Marina Bay. Water from here along with new supplies from Malaysia is what we drink.
Figure 1: Marina Bay Figure 2: Marina Bay
Here in Singapore the drinking water quality seems fine although I long for the days when I lived in Lithgow and the water we used was drawn from a dam on the edge of the Blue Mountains national park. Over the years I’ve become fairly astute about when and when I can drink water in the environment. It helps to have a background in fluvial morphology and geomorphology. When I was working in Ainaro, Timor L’Este in 2017 I had no hesitation in drinking tap water. I knew where the dam was and could follow the pies that served the homestay where I was living. Similarly, I’ve drunk water from various springs in Indonesia though I would never drink tap water there.
Last year an Indonesian friend visited me here in Singapore. He was thirsty and asked for a drink of water. I’ll never forget the shocked expression on his face when I simply filled his glass from the tap in my kitchen.
I place a lot of trust in the quality of the water available here.
There are plans to integrate the system even further. Singapore’s Water Agency explains:
Our holistic approach to water management can be distilled into three key strategies:
Collect every drop of water
Reuse water endlessly
Desalinate seawater
An important question is, can we continue to do this. Stuart Khan presents an important review of what we know of COVID-19 and the options for safe town water.
Susan Petterson’s Blog “OPINION: Faecal shedding of SARS-CoV-2, a snapshot of current data and implications for the water industry” follows
There has been quite some talk about SARS-CoV-2 shedding in faeces and what that might mean for the water industry. As I see it, there are two aspects to this conversation: the first is a concern that sewage may contain infectious SARS-CoV-2 viruses; and the second relates to the more theoretical potential of using SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration in sewage as a public health surveillance tool.
1. Is sewage contaminated with infectious SARS-CoV-2 viruses?
While COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory illness, the possibility of faecal-oral transmission was raised quite early (Yeo et al. 2020). From the information we have to date, it appears as though many people infected will excrete SARS-CoV-2 RNA in their faeces. A snapshot of reported presence in stool samples includes:
Six studies reported from China: 9 out of 17 patients were positive (Pan et al. 2020) ; 39 out of 73 patients positive (Xiao et al. 2020)…
Figure 1: Marina Bay
Figure 2: Marina Bay
