Page 52 - Towards A Sustainable Future 2024

The ESI team procured and installed a basic automatic drip The team began logging the drip irrigation water usage with
irrigation system (Figures 7 and 8). The installation was the installation completed, as shown in Table 4.
straightforward and was completed by our team within
a few hours. Once installed, configuring the system took
approximately 10 minutes to program.

Table 4: Water consumption and associated CO2 emissions after
installation of drip Irrigation system

Table 4 shows a 66% reduction in associated annual CO2
emissions is possible for a single garden bed by incorporating
rainwater collection and implementing drip irrigation
instead of manual watering.

Conclusion

Figure 7: Students in- Figure 8: Drip Irrigation
stalling the system The project incurred a total cost of $352, with a potential
annual reduction in utility bills (water) estimated to be
approximately $150 for a single garden bed, based on
The ESI team also installed a soil moisture level meter to existing water tariffs, or $1,200 for all eight garden beds at the
address the concerns of the volunteer gardeners and the mosque. Significant benefits were realised by implementing
client (Figure 11). This device monitors soil moisture levels, the eco-solution, which included rainwater collection and
ensuring that the system provides enough water for healthy drip irrigation. Not only did the team achieve a notable
plant growth (Figure 12). reduction in associated CO2 emissions, but there were also
savings in labour costs as volunteers could be redeployed for
other tasks within the mosque.

Furthermore, the simplicity of the eco-solutions
demonstrated the feasibility of adopting drip irrigation
systems at other mosques in Singapore. This initiative is easily
scalable, with approximately 50% of Singapore’s 69 mosques
potentially able to undertake similar initiatives. Such
widespread adoption could lead to a substantial reduction
in associated CO2 emissions. Moreover, this project raises
awareness of conservation practices, potentially inspiring
further projects and ideas to foster positive environmental
Figure 11: Moisture Level Figure 12: The Drip action.
meter irrigation in action
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