Distribution of freshwater resources by type
118-764: PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency , commonly known as PUB , an acronym for Public Utilities Board , is a statutory board under the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment of the Government of Singapore responsible for ensuring a sustainable and efficient water supply in Singapore . PUB regulates and oversees the country's entire water supply system, which comprises the water catchment systems, drainage systems, water works, pipeline network, water reclamation plants and sewage systems. In April 2020, PUB
236-428: A numeronym . For example, "i18n" abbreviates " internationalization ", a computer-science term for adapting software for worldwide use; the "18" represents the 18 letters that come between the first and the last in "internationalization". Similarly, "localization" can be abbreviated "l10n"; " multilingualization " "m17n"; and " accessibility " "a11y". In addition to the use of a specific number replacing that many letters,
354-645: A single word ("television" or "transvestite", for instance), and is in general spelled without punctuation (except in the plural). Although "PS" stands for the single English word " postscript " or the Latin postscriptum , it is often spelled with periods ("P.S.") as if parsed as Latin post scriptum instead. The slash ('/', or solidus ) is sometimes used to separate the letters in an acronym, as in "N/A" ("not applicable, not available") and "c/o" ("care of"). Inconveniently long words used frequently in related contexts can be represented according to their letter count as
472-452: A basic drinking water service in 2017. Of those, 159 million people worldwide drink water directly from surface water sources, such as lakes and streams. One in eight people in the world do not have access to safe water. The world's supply of groundwater is steadily decreasing. Groundwater depletion (or overdrafting ) is occurring for example in Asia, South America and North America. It
590-494: A continuous supply of clean and quality water for Singaporeans over the last four decades. The nation's clean and drinkable 'tap water' across the island exceeds the drinking water standards set by the World Health Organization . Singapore is named the top Asian city in water sustainability development in 2015, with the nation boasting the highest drinking water and sanitation standards in the region. The PUB
708-401: A day (136,000 cubic meters) and is one of the region's largest seawater reverse-osmosis plants. During the pretreatment process, suspended particles in the sea water are removed. The water then undergoes reverse osmosis ; the same technology used in the production of NEWater . The pure desalinated water is then blended with treated water before it is supplied to homes and industries. Today, with
826-680: A different meaning. Medical literature has been struggling to control the proliferation of acronyms, including efforts by the American Academy of Dermatology. Acronyms are often taught as mnemonic devices: for example the colors of the rainbow are ROY G. BIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). They are also used as mental checklists: in aviation GUMPS stands for gas-undercarriage-mixture-propeller-seat belts. Other mnemonic acronyms include CAN SLIM in finance, PAVPANIC in English grammar, and PEMDAS in mathematics. It
944-426: A dynamic interface between surface water and groundwater from aquifers, exchanging flow between rivers and aquifers that may be fully charged or depleted. This is especially significant in karst areas where pot-holes and underground rivers are common. There are several artificial sources of fresh water. One is treated wastewater ( reclaimed water ). Another is atmospheric water generators . Desalinated seawater
1062-594: A holistic way of managing water resources began already in the 1950s leading up to the 1977 United Nations Water Conference. The development of IWRM was particularly recommended in the final statement of the ministers at the International Conference on Water and the Environment in 1992, known as the Dublin Statement . This concept aims to promote changes in practices which are considered fundamental to improved water resource management . IWRM
1180-781: A medial decimal point . Particularly in British and Commonwealth English , all such punctuation marking acronyms and other capitalized abbreviations is now uncommon and considered either unnecessary or incorrect. The presence of all-capital letters is now thought sufficient to indicate the nature of the UK , the EU , and the UN . Forms such as the U.S.A. for "the United States of America " are now considered to indicate American or North American English . Even within those dialects, such punctuation
1298-407: A period when the letters are pronounced individually, as in " K.G.B. ", but not when pronounced as a word, as in " NATO ". The logic of this style is that the pronunciation is reflected graphically by the punctuation scheme. When a multiple-letter abbreviation is formed from a single word, periods are in general not used, although they may be common in informal usage. "TV", for example, may stand for
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#17327809371641416-509: A robust water system. NEWater is a term invented by PUB. It is a high-quality reclaimed water which is purified using advanced membrane and ultraviolet germicidal irradiation . It is scientifically tested to have surpassed the World Health Organization 's requirements for safe drinking water. In 2021, NEWater was able to meet 40% of Singapore's need and demand for water. Despite NEWater being tested safe for potable use, PUB blends NEWater with raw reservoir water so that it will undergo
1534-436: A single word, such as NATO (as distinct from B-B-C )" but adds later "In everyday use, acronym is often applied to abbreviations that are technically initialisms, since they are pronounced as separate letters." The Chicago Manual of Style acknowledges the complexity ("Furthermore, an acronym and initialism are occasionally combined (JPEG), and the line between initialism and acronym is not always clear") but still defines
1652-419: A small discharge to each plant. Micro-irrigation uses less pressure and water flow than sprinkler irrigation. Drip irrigation delivers water directly to the root zone of plants. Subirrigation has been used in field crops in areas with high water tables for many years. It involves artificially raising the water table to moisten the soil below the root zone of plants. It is estimated that 22% of worldwide water
1770-593: A strategy to improve business operational processes. From 2015, bulk consumers of water, with businesses using more than 60,000 cubic metres of water in the previous year will be required to install water meters to monitor water usage. These businesses will also have to submit their WEMP to PUB annually for the next 3 years to ensure adherence to the requirement. PUB has been awarded the Pinnacle Award in 2007 in recognition for its loyal and continued commitment to Community Chest. PUB's employees have been supporting
1888-515: A twentieth-century phenomenon. Linguist David Wilton in Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends claims that "forming words from acronyms is a distinctly twentieth- (and now twenty-first-) century phenomenon. There is only one known pre-twentieth-century [English] word with an acronymic origin and it was in vogue for only a short time in 1886. The word is colinderies or colinda , an acronym for
2006-471: A word, an abbreviation is not an acronym." In contrast, some style guides do support it, whether explicitly or implicitly. The 1994 edition of Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage defends the usage on the basis of a claim that dictionaries do not make a distinction. The BuzzFeed style guide describes CBS and PBS as "acronyms ending in S". Acronymy, like retronymy , is a linguistic process that has existed throughout history but for which there
2124-450: Is pollution . Pollution includes discharged solutes and increased water temperature ( thermal pollution ). It is estimated that 8% of worldwide water use is for domestic purposes. These include drinking water , bathing , cooking , toilet flushing , cleaning, laundry and gardening . Basic domestic water requirements have been estimated by Peter Gleick at around 50 liters per person per day, excluding water for gardens. Drinking water
2242-437: Is water scarcity , water pollution , water conflict and climate change . Fresh water is in principle a renewable resource . However, the world's supply of groundwater is steadily decreasing. Groundwater depletion (or overdrafting ) is occurring for example in Asia, South America and North America. Natural sources of fresh water include surface water , under river flow, groundwater and frozen water . Surface water
2360-403: Is a comprehensive, participatory planning and implementation tool for managing and developing water resources in a way that balances social and economic needs, and that ensures the protection of ecosystems for future generations. In addition, in light of contributing the achievement of Sustainable Development goals (SDGs) , IWRM has been evolving into more sustainable approach as it considers
2478-420: Is a long-established practice. This is especially so in arid countries. Reusing wastewater as part of sustainable water management allows water to remain an alternative water source for human activities. This can reduce scarcity . It also eases pressures on groundwater and other natural water bodies. Desalination is a process that removes mineral components from saline water . More generally, desalination
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#17327809371642596-488: Is a question about how to pluralize acronyms. Often a writer will add an 's' following an apostrophe, as in "PC's". However, Kate L. Turabian 's A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations , writing about style in academic writings, allows for an apostrophe to form plural acronyms "only when an abbreviation contains internal periods or both capital and lowercase letters". Turabian would therefore prefer "DVDs" and "URLs" but "Ph.D.'s". The style guides of
2714-441: Is also employed to protect crops from frost , suppress weed growth in grain fields, and prevent soil consolidation . It is also used to cool livestock , reduce dust , dispose of sewage , and support mining operations. Drainage , which involves the removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given location, is often studied in conjunction with irrigation. There are several methods of irrigation that differ in how water
2832-413: Is also known as groundwater recharge . Reused water also serve various needs in residences such as toilet flushing , businesses, and industry. It is possible to treat wastewater to reach drinking water standards. Injecting reclaimed water into the water supply distribution system is known as direct potable reuse. Drinking reclaimed water is not typical. Reusing treated municipal wastewater for irrigation
2950-520: Is an important consideration. Some human water users have an intermittent need for water. For example, many farms require large quantities of water in the spring, and no water at all in the winter. Other users have a continuous need for water, such as a power plant that requires water for cooling. Over the long term the average rate of precipitation within a watershed is the upper bound for average consumption of natural surface water from that watershed. Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants)
3068-728: Is another important source. It is important to consider the economic and environmental side effects of these technologies. Water reclamation is the process of converting municipal wastewater or sewage and industrial wastewater into water that can be reused for a variety of purposes . It is also called wastewater reuse, water reuse or water recycling. There are many types of reuse. It is possible to reuse water in this way in cities or for irrigation in agriculture. Other types of reuse are environmental reuse, industrial reuse, and reuse for drinking water, whether planned or not. Reuse may include irrigation of gardens and agricultural fields or replenishing surface water and groundwater . This latter
3186-721: Is becoming increasingly uncommon. Some style guides , such as that of the BBC , no longer require punctuation to show ellipsis ; some even proscribe it. Larry Trask , American author of The Penguin Guide to Punctuation , states categorically that, in British English , "this tiresome and unnecessary practice is now obsolete." Nevertheless, some influential style guides , many of them American , still require periods in certain instances. For example, The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage recommends following each segment with
3304-446: Is called the water table . Groundwater is recharged from the surface; it may discharge from the surface naturally at springs and seeps , and can form oases or wetlands . Groundwater is also often withdrawn for agricultural , municipal , and industrial use by constructing and operating extraction wells . The study of the distribution and movement of groundwater is hydrogeology , also called groundwater hydrology . Throughout
3422-411: Is common for grammatical contractions (e.g. don't , y'all , and ain't ) and for contractions marking unusual pronunciations (e.g. a'ight , cap'n , and fo'c'sle for "all right", "captain", and "forecastle"). By the early twentieth century, it was standard to use a full stop/period/point , especially in the cases of initialisms and acronyms. Previously, especially for Latin abbreviations , this
3540-631: Is especially important for paper media, where no search utility is available to find the first use.) It also gives students a convenient review list to memorize the important acronyms introduced in a textbook chapter. Expansion at first use and abbreviation keys originated in the print era, but they are equally useful for electronic text . While acronyms provide convenience and succinctness for specialists, they often degenerate into confusing jargon . This may be intentional, to exclude readers without domain-specific knowledge. New acronyms may also confuse when they coincide with an already existing acronym having
3658-469: Is ever-increasing demand for drinking , manufacturing , leisure and agriculture . Due to the small percentage of water available, optimizing the fresh water we have left from natural resources has been a growing challenge around the world. Much effort in water resource management is directed at optimizing the use of water and in minimizing the environmental impact of water use on the natural environment. The observation of water as an integral part of
Public Utilities Board (Singapore) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3776-596: Is formed from the Greek roots akro- , meaning 'height, summit, or tip', and -nym , 'name'. This neoclassical compound appears to have originated in German , with attestations for the German form Akronym appearing as early as 1921. Citations in English date to a 1940 translation of a novel by the German writer Lion Feuchtwanger . It is an unsettled question in English lexicography and style guides whether it
3894-464: Is generally said as two letters, but IPsec for Internet Protocol Security is usually pronounced as / ˌ aɪ ˈ p iː s ɛ k / or / ˈ ɪ p s ɛ k / , along with variant capitalization like "IPSEC" and "Ipsec". Pronunciation may even vary within a single speaker's vocabulary, depending on narrow contexts. As an example, the database programming language SQL is usually said as three letters, but in reference to Microsoft's implementation
4012-446: Is its original meaning and in common use. Dictionary and style-guide editors dispute whether the term acronym can be legitimately applied to abbreviations which are not pronounced as words, and they do not agree on acronym spacing , casing , and punctuation . The phrase that the acronym stands for is called its expansion . The meaning of an acronym includes both its expansion and the meaning of its expansion. The word acronym
4130-550: Is legitimate to use the word acronym to describe forms that use initials but are not pronounced as a word. While there is plenty of evidence that acronym is used widely in this way, some sources do not acknowledge this usage, reserving the term acronym only for forms pronounced as a word, and using initialism or abbreviation for those that are not. Some sources acknowledge the usage, but vary in whether they criticize or forbid it, allow it without comment, or explicitly advocate it. Some mainstream English dictionaries from across
4248-609: Is low, and use the stored water to produce electricity when demand is high. Thermoelectric power plants using cooling towers have high consumption, nearly equal to their withdrawal, as most of the withdrawn water is evaporated as part of the cooling process. The withdrawal, however, is lower than in once-through cooling systems. Water is also used in many large scale industrial processes, such as thermoelectric power production, oil refining, fertilizer production and other chemical plant use, and natural gas extraction from shale rock . Discharge of untreated water from industrial uses
4366-459: Is not uncommon for acronyms to be cited in a kind of false etymology , called a folk etymology , for a word. Such etymologies persist in popular culture but have no factual basis in historical linguistics , and are examples of language-related urban legends . For example, " cop " is commonly cited as being derived, it is presumed, from "constable on patrol", and " posh " from " port outward, starboard home ". With some of these specious expansions,
4484-576: Is one of the few water resources independent of rainfall. Researchers proposed air capture over oceans which would "significantly increasing freshwater through the capture of humid air over oceans" to address present and, especially, future water scarcity/insecurity. A 2021 study proposed hypothetical portable solar-powered atmospheric water harvesting devices . However, such off-the-grid generation may sometimes "undermine efforts to develop permanent piped infrastructure " among other problems. The total quantity of water available at any given time
4602-423: Is still unclear how much natural renewal balances this usage, and whether ecosystems are threatened. Water resource management is the activity of planning, developing, distributing and managing the optimum use of water resources. It is an aspect of water cycle management . The field of water resources management will have to continue to adapt to the current and future issues facing the allocation of water. With
4720-419: Is supplied to plants. Surface irrigation , also known as gravity irrigation, is the oldest form of irrigation and has been in use for thousands of years. In sprinkler irrigation , water is piped to one or more central locations within the field and distributed by overhead high-pressure water devices. Micro-irrigation is a system that distributes water under low pressure through a piped network and applies it as
4838-432: Is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops , landscape plants , and lawns . Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been developed by many cultures around the world. Irrigation helps to grow crops, maintain landscapes, and revegetate disturbed soils in dry areas and during times of below-average rainfall. In addition to these uses, irrigation
Public Utilities Board (Singapore) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4956-499: Is the removal of salts and minerals from a substance. One example is soil desalination . This is important for agriculture. It is possible to desalinate saltwater, especially sea water , to produce water for human consumption or irrigation. The by-product of the desalination process is brine . Many seagoing ships and submarines use desalination. Modern interest in desalination mostly focuses on cost-effective provision of fresh water for human use. Along with recycled wastewater , it
5074-543: Is the statutory board of then Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources responsible for acquiring, producing, disseminating and reclaiming water to ensure a sustainable and efficient water supply for Singapore. It has also been known as the National Water Agency, after it stopped facilitating the supply of electricity and gas. During the colonial period and up to 1961, the supply of water in Singapore
5192-443: Is to establish an inner, urban, water cycle loop through the implementation of reuse strategies. Developing this urban water cycle loop requires an understanding both of the natural, pre-development, water balance and the post-development water balance. Accounting for flows in the pre- and post-development systems is an important step toward limiting urban impacts on the natural water cycle. Water resource management and governance
5310-415: Is traditionally pronounced like the word sequel . In writing for a broad audience, the words of an acronym are typically written out in full at its first occurrence within a given text. Expansion At First Use (EAFU) benefits readers unfamiliar with the acronym. Another text aid is an abbreviation key which lists and expands all acronyms used, a reference for readers who skipped past the first use. (This
5428-481: Is used in industry . Major industrial users include hydroelectric dams, thermoelectric power plants , which use water for cooling , ore and oil refineries , which use water in chemical processes , and manufacturing plants, which use water as a solvent . Water withdrawal can be very high for certain industries, but consumption is generally much lower than that of agriculture. Water is used in renewable power generation. Hydroelectric power derives energy from
5546-510: Is water in a river, lake or fresh water wetland . Surface water is naturally replenished by precipitation and naturally lost through discharge to the oceans , evaporation , evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge . The only natural input to any surface water system is precipitation within its watershed . The total quantity of water in that system at any given time is also dependent on many other factors. These factors include storage capacity in lakes, wetlands and artificial reservoirs ,
5664-417: Is water that is of sufficiently high quality so that it can be consumed or used without risk of immediate or long term harm. Such water is commonly called potable water. In most developed countries, the water supplied to domestic, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard even though only a very small proportion is actually consumed or used in food preparation. 844 million people still lacked even
5782-516: The Colonial and Indian Exposition held in London in that year." However, although acronymic words seem not to have been employed in general vocabulary before the twentieth century (as Wilton points out), the concept of their formation is treated as effortlessly understood (and evidently not novel) in an Edgar Allan Poe story of the 1830s, " How to Write a Blackwood Article ", which includes
5900-623: The Modern Language Association and American Psychological Association prohibit apostrophes from being used to pluralize acronyms regardless of periods (so "compact discs" would be "CDs" or "C.D.s"), whereas The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage requires an apostrophe when pluralizing all abbreviations regardless of periods (preferring "PC's, TV's and VCR's"). Possessive plurals that also include apostrophes for mere pluralization and periods appear especially complex: for example, "the C.D.'s' labels" (the labels of
6018-539: The Restoration witticism arranging the names of some members of Charles II 's Committee for Foreign Affairs to produce the "CABAL" ministry . OK , a term of disputed origin, dates back at least to the early nineteenth century and is now used around the world. Acronyms are used most often to abbreviate names of organizations and long or frequently referenced terms. The armed forces and government agencies frequently employ acronyms; some well-known examples from
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#17327809371646136-607: The ecosystem is based on integrated water resources management , based on the 1992 Dublin Principles (see below). Sustainable water management requires a holistic approach based on the principles of Integrated Water Resource Management , originally articulated in 1992 at the Dublin (January) and Rio (July) conferences. The four Dublin Principles, promulgated in the Dublin Statement are: Implementation of these principles has guided reform of national water management law around
6254-402: The sustainability of the current and future water resource allocation. Sustainable Development Goal 6 has a target related to water resources management: "Target 6.5: By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate." At present, only about 0.08 percent of all the world's fresh water is accessible. And there
6372-480: The "belief" that the etymology is acronymic has clearly been tongue-in-cheek among many citers, as with "gentlemen only, ladies forbidden" for " golf ", although many other (more credulous ) people have uncritically taken it for fact. Taboo words in particular commonly have such false etymologies: " shit " from "ship/store high in transit" or "special high-intensity training" and " fuck " from "for unlawful carnal knowledge", or "fornication under consent/command of
6490-463: The 160-character SMS limit, and to save time, acronyms such as "GF" ("girlfriend"), "LOL" ("laughing out loud"), and "DL" ("download" or "down low") have become popular. Some prescriptivists disdain texting acronyms and abbreviations as decreasing clarity, or as failure to use "pure" or "proper" English. Others point out that languages have always continually changed , and argue that acronyms should be embraced as inevitable, or as innovation that adapts
6608-461: The 18 letters between the initial "i" and the final "n"). Authors of expository writing will sometimes capitalize or otherwise distinctively format the initials of the expansion for pedagogical emphasis (for example, writing: "the onset of Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)" or "the onset of c ongestive h eart f ailure (CHF)"). Capitalization like this, however, conflicts with the convention of English orthography, which generally reserves capitals in
6726-493: The 3P sectors of public, private and people to help them in building a firm relationship with water and develop a joint responsibility for it. PUB also plans to utilize this channel to create awareness of the concept and application of its programmes amongst industry experts in hopes to attract and train professionals to design and implement this project. Thus far, PUB has identified more than 100 potential development regions with 27 already in progress. PUB's proposal has won Singapore
6844-466: The British press may render it "Nato"), but uses lower case in " Unicef " (from "United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund") because it is more than four letters, and to style it in caps might look ungainly (flirting with the appearance of "shouting capitals"). While abbreviations typically exclude the initials of short function words (such as "and", "or", "of", or "to"), this is not always
6962-844: The English-speaking world affirm a sense of acronym which does not require being pronounced as a word. American English dictionaries such as Merriam-Webster , Dictionary.com's Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary and the American Heritage Dictionary as well as the British Oxford English Dictionary and the Australian Macquarie Dictionary all include a sense in their entries for acronym equating it with initialism , although The American Heritage Dictionary criticizes it with
7080-491: The Nexus approach, which is a cross-sectoral water resource management. The Nexus approach is based on the recognition that "water, energy and food are closely linked through global and local water, carbon and energy cycles or chains." An IWRM approach aims at avoiding a fragmented approach of water resources management by considering the following aspects: Enabling environment, roles of Institutions, management Instruments. Some of
7198-531: The PUB launched the first NEWater project and the first desalinated water treatment project respectively. This further diversified water supply in Singapore to four main sources: local catchment water, imported water, NEWater and desalinated water. They are also known as the Four National Taps. Singapore faces a problem of water shortage with its limited land area. Long-term water security has been one of
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#17327809371647316-564: The U.S. Navy, is "COMCRUDESPAC", which stands for "commander, cruisers destroyers Pacific"; it is also seen as "ComCruDesPac". Inventors are encouraged to anticipate the formation of acronyms by making new terms "YABA-compatible" ("yet another bloody acronym"), meaning the term's acronym can be pronounced and is not an offensive word: "When choosing a new name, be sure it is 'YABA-compatible'." Acronym use has been further popularized by text messaging on mobile phones with short message service (SMS), and instant messenger (IM). To fit messages into
7434-560: The United States are among the " alphabet agencies " (jokingly referred to as " alphabet soup ") created under the New Deal by Franklin D. Roosevelt (himself known as "FDR"). Business and industry also coin acronyms prolifically. The rapid advance of science and technology also drives the usage, as new inventions and concepts with multiword names create a demand for shorter, more pronounceable names. One representative example, from
7552-835: The Utility Performance Initiative of the Year at the Global Water Awards 2013 presented at the Global Water Summit in Seville , Spain. Introduced in 2010, the Water Efficiency Management Plan (WEMP) is an initiative introduced by PUB to aid businesses in the efficient management of water usage. It primarily serves to provide a clear breakdown of water usage, identify potential areas for improvement and draft
7670-411: The acronym may use normal case rules, e.g. it would appear generally in lower case, but with an initial capital when starting a sentence or when in a title. Once knowledge of the words underlying such an acronym has faded from common recall, the acronym may be termed an anacronym . Examples of anacronyms are the words " scuba ", " radar ", and " laser ". The word "an acro nym" should not be confused with
7788-486: The addition of four other desalination plants, namely the Tuas South Desalination Plant, Marina East Desalination Plant, Tuas Desalination Plant, and Jurong Island Desalination Plant, desalinated water can meet up to 25% of Singapore's current water demand. The ABC programme is a long term initiative that started in 2006. In developing this programme, PUB seeks the collaboration and advice from
7906-590: The adoption of acronyms was modern warfare, with its many highly technical terms. While there is no recorded use of military acronyms dating from the American Civil War (acronyms such as "ANV" for " Army of Northern Virginia " post-date the war itself), they became somewhat common in World War I , and by World War II they were widespread even in the slang of soldiers, who referred to themselves as G.I.s . The widespread, frequent use of acronyms across
8024-506: The apostrophe should be reserved for the possessive ("the TV's antenna"). In some languages, the convention of doubling the letters in the acronym is used to indicate plural words: for example, the Spanish EE.UU. , for Estados Unidos ('United States'). This old convention is still sometimes followed for a limited number of English abbreviations, such as SS. for Saints , pp. for
8142-1163: The case. Sometimes function words are included to make a pronounceable acronym, such as CORE ( Congress of Racial Equality ). Sometimes the letters representing these words are written in lower case, such as in the cases of "TfL" (" Transport for London ") and LotR ( The Lord of the Rings ); this usually occurs when the acronym represents a multi-word proper noun. Numbers (both cardinal and ordinal ) in names are often represented by digits rather than initial letters, as in "4GL" (" fourth generation language ") or "G77" (" Group of 77 "). Large numbers may use metric prefixes , as with " Y2K " for "Year 2000". Exceptions using initials for numbers include " TLA " ("three-letter acronym/abbreviation") and "GoF" (" Gang of Four "). Abbreviations using numbers for other purposes include repetitions, such as " A2DP " ("Advanced Audio Distribution Profile"), " W3C " ("World Wide Web Consortium"), and T3 ( Trends, Tips & Tools for Everyday Living ); pronunciation, such as " B2B " ("business to business"); and numeronyms , such as "i18n" ("internationalization"; "18" represents
8260-458: The collection ponds to manage excess water by controlling the water level in each reservoir. In 2011, rainwater collected on two-thirds of Singapore's land surface is channeled into reservoirs. In the production process, raw water from the reservoirs is piped to the waterworks to be treated with chemical coagulation, rapid gravity filtration and chlorine disinfection . These procedures remove harmful particles and suspended particulate matters from
8378-413: The compact discs). In some instances, however, an apostrophe may increase clarity: for example, if the final letter of an abbreviation is "S", as in "SOS's" (although abbreviations ending with S can also take "-es", e.g. "SOSes"), or when pluralizing an abbreviation that has periods. A particularly rich source of options arises when the plural of an acronym would normally be indicated in a word other than
8496-401: The competing demands for water and seeks to allocate water on an equitable basis to satisfy all uses and demands. As with other resource management , this is rarely possible in practice so decision-makers must prioritise issues of sustainability, equity and factor optimisation (in that order!) to achieve acceptable outcomes. One of the biggest concerns for water-based resources in the future is
8614-564: The contrived acronym "P.R.E.T.T.Y.B.L.U.E.B.A.T.C.H." The use of Latin and Neo-Latin terms in vernaculars has been pan-European and pre-dates modern English. Some examples of acronyms in this class are: The earliest example of a word derived from an acronym listed by the OED is "abjud" (now " abjad "), formed from the original first four letters of the Arabic alphabet in the late eighteenth century. Some acrostics pre-date this, however, such as
8732-411: The course of a river, the total volume of water transported downstream will often be a combination of the visible free water flow together with a substantial contribution flowing through rocks and sediments that underlie the river and its floodplain called the hyporheic zone . For many rivers in large valleys, this unseen component of flow may greatly exceed the visible flow. The hyporheic zone often forms
8850-440: The cross-cutting conditions that are also important to consider when implementing IWRM are: Political will and commitment, capacity development, adequate investment, financial stability and sustainable cost recovery, monitoring and evaluation. There is not one correct administrative model. The art of IWRM lies in selecting, adjusting and applying the right mix of these tools for a given situation. IWRM practices depend on context; at
8968-438: The dictionary entries and style guide recommendations regarding the term acronym through the twentieth century did not explicitly acknowledge or support the expansive sense. The Merriam–Webster's Dictionary of English Usage from 1994 is one of the earliest publications to advocate for the expansive sense, and all the major dictionary editions that include a sense of acronym equating it with initialism were first published in
9086-664: The exclusive sense for acronym and its earliest citation was from 1943. In early December 2010, Duke University researcher Stephen Goranson published a citation for acronym to the American Dialect Society e-mail discussion list which refers to PGN being pronounced "pee-gee-enn", antedating English language usage of the word to 1940. Linguist Ben Zimmer then mentioned this citation in his December 16, 2010 " On Language " column about acronyms in The New York Times Magazine . By 2011,
9204-763: The final word if spelled out in full. A classic example is "Member of Parliament", which in plural is "Members of Parliament". It is possible then to abbreviate this as "M's P", which was fairly common in mid-twentieth-century Australian news writing (or similar ), and used by former Australian Prime Minister Ben Chifley . This usage is less common than forms with "s" at the end, such as "MPs", and may appear dated or pedantic. In common usage, therefore, "weapons of mass destruction" becomes "WMDs", "prisoners of war" becomes "POWs", and "runs batted in" becomes "RBIs". Abbreviations that come from single, rather than multiple, words – such as "TV" ("television") – are usually pluralized without apostrophes ("two TVs"); most writers feel that
9322-464: The first letter of acronyms, reserving all-caps styling for initialisms, writing the pronounced acronyms "Nato" and "Aids" in mixed case, but the initialisms "USA" and "FBI" in all caps. For example, this is the style used in The Guardian , and BBC News typically edits to this style (though its official style guide, dating from 2003, still recommends all-caps ). The logic of this style is that
9440-583: The force of water flowing downhill, driving a turbine connected to a generator. This hydroelectricity is a low-cost, non-polluting, renewable energy source. Significantly, hydroelectric power can also be used for load following unlike most renewable energy sources which are intermittent . Ultimately, the energy in a hydroelectric power plant is supplied by the sun. Heat from the sun evaporates water, which condenses as rain in higher altitudes and flows downhill. Pumped-storage hydroelectric plants also exist, which use grid electricity to pump water uphill when demand
9558-475: The greatest area of glaciers and permafrost outside of the poles. Ten of Asia's largest rivers flow from there, and more than a billion people's livelihoods depend on them. To complicate matters, temperatures there are rising more rapidly than the global average. In Nepal, the temperature has risen by 0.6 degrees Celsius over the last decade, whereas globally, the Earth has warmed approximately 0.7 degrees Celsius over
9676-489: The growing uncertainties of global climate change and the long-term impacts of past management actions, this decision-making will be even more difficult. It is likely that ongoing climate change will lead to situations that have not been encountered. As a result, alternative management strategies, including participatory approaches and adaptive capacity are increasingly being used to strengthen water decision-making. Ideally, water resource management planning has regard to all
9794-442: The implementation of IWRM at a global level. The third World Water Forum recommended IWRM and discussed information sharing, stakeholder participation, and gender and class dynamics. Operationally, IWRM approaches involve applying knowledge from various disciplines as well as the insights from diverse stakeholders to devise and implement efficient, equitable and sustainable solutions to water and development problems. As such, IWRM
9912-456: The initial letter of each word in all caps with no punctuation . For some, an initialism or alphabetism , connotes this general meaning, and an acronym is a subset with a narrower definition: an initialism pronounced as a word rather than as a sequence of letters. In this sense, NASA / ˈ n æ s ə / is an acronym but USA / j uː ɛ s ˈ eɪ / is not. The broader sense of acronym , ignoring pronunciation,
10030-516: The key priorities of the government of Singapore . As the national water agency, PUB takes control of the entire water chain. From the collection of rainwater to water reclamation, the four main processes involved are collection, production, distribution and reclamation. In the collection process, rainwater is collected through a network of rivers, drains and canals and stored in the reservoirs before undergoing treatment for drinking water purposes. The reservoirs are equipped with pipelines that interlink
10148-435: The king". In English, abbreviations have previously been marked by a wide variety of punctuation . Obsolete forms include using an overbar or colon to show the ellipsis of letters following the initial part. The forward slash is still common in many dialects for some fixed expressions—such as in w/ for "with" or A/C for " air conditioning "—while only infrequently being used to abbreviate new terms. The apostrophe
10266-500: The label "usage problem". However, many English language dictionaries, such as the Collins COBUILD Advanced Dictionary , Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary , Macmillan Dictionary , Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English , New Oxford American Dictionary , Webster's New World Dictionary , and Lexico from Oxford University Press do not acknowledge such a sense. Most of
10384-836: The language to changing circumstances. In this view, the modern practice is just the "proper" English of the current generation of speakers, much like the earlier abbreviation of corporation names on ticker tape or newspapers. Exact pronunciation of "word acronyms" (those pronounced as words rather than sounded out as individual letters) often vary by speaker population. These may be regional, occupational, or generational differences, or simply personal preference. For instance, there have been decades of online debate about how to pronounce GIF ( / ɡ ɪ f / or / dʒ ɪ f / ) and BIOS ( / ˈ b aɪ oʊ s / , / ˈ b aɪ oʊ z / , or / ˈ b aɪ ɒ s / ). Similarly, some letter-by-letter initialisms may become word acronyms over time, especially in combining forms: IP for Internet Protocol
10502-474: The last hundred years. Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth 's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations . About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock become completely saturated with water
10620-633: The middle of sentences for proper nouns; when following the AMA Manual of Style , this would instead be rendered as "the onset of congestive heart failure (CHF)". Water resource management Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. These resources can be either freshwater from natural sources, or water produced artificially from other sources, such as from reclaimed water ( wastewater ) or desalinated water ( seawater ). 97% of
10738-466: The more general "x" can be used to replace an unspecified number of letters. Examples include "Crxn" for "crystallization" and the series familiar to physicians for history , diagnosis , and treatment ("hx", "dx", "tx"). Terms relating to a command structure may also sometimes use this formatting, for example gold, silver, and bronze levels of command in UK policing being referred to as Gx, Sx, and Bx. There
10856-930: The need for self-reliance and sustainability, PUB has invested in and developed a dynamic, efficient and sustainable water supply system stemming from four different sources, also known as the Four National Taps. The Four National Taps form the backbone of PUB's, and in turn Singapore's, water management strategy. Singapore's rainwater is collected and stored in 17 reservoirs using an extensive network of drains, rivers and canals. The 17 reservoirs for rainwater collection are Pandan Reservoir , Kranji Reservoir , Jurong Lake , MacRitchie Reservoir , Upper Peirce Reservoir , Lower Peirce Reservoir , Bedok Reservoir , Upper Seletar Reservoir , Lower Seletar Reservoir , Poyan Reservoir , Murai Reservoir , Tengeh Reservoir , Sarimbun Reservoir , Pulau Tekong Reservoir , Marina Reservoir , Serangoon Reservoir and Punggol Reservoir . PUB makes use of online sensors and sampling methods to monitor
10974-411: The operational level, the challenge is to translate the agreed principles into concrete action. Integrated urban water management (IUWM) is the practice of managing freshwater , wastewater , and storm water as components of a basin-wide management plan. It builds on existing water supply and sanitation considerations within an urban settlement by incorporating urban water management within
11092-438: The permeability of the soil beneath these storage bodies, the runoff characteristics of the land in the watershed, the timing of the precipitation and local evaporation rates. All of these factors also affect the proportions of water loss. Humans often increase storage capacity by constructing reservoirs and decrease it by draining wetlands. Humans often increase runoff quantities and velocities by paving areas and channelizing
11210-729: The plural of 'pages', or mss. for manuscripts . The most common capitalization scheme seen with acronyms is all-uppercase ( all caps ). Small caps are sometimes used to make the run of capital letters seem less jarring to the reader. For example, the style of some American publications, including the Atlantic Monthly and USA Today , is to use small caps for acronyms longer than three letters; thus "U.S." and " FDR " in normal caps, but " nato " in small caps. The acronyms " AD " and " BC " are often smallcapped as well, as in: "From 4004 bc to ad 525 ". Where an acronym has linguistically taken on an identity as regular word,
11328-483: The pronunciation is reflected graphically by the capitalization scheme. However, it conflicts with conventional English usage of first-letter upper-casing as a marker of proper names in many cases; e.g. AIDS stands for acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome which is not a proper name, while Aids is in the style of one. Some style manuals also base the letters' case on their number. The New York Times , for example, keeps "NATO" in all capitals (while several guides in
11446-451: The public in a lively and interactive way. PUB hopes that it will reach out to the masses, especially the young, and encourage everyone to play their part in water sustainability by conserving water and keeping the waterways clean. Acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with
11564-685: The publication of the 3rd edition of the Oxford English Dictionary added the expansive sense to its entry for acronym and included the 1940 citation. As the Oxford English Dictionary structures the senses in order of chronological development, it now gives the "initialism" sense first. English language usage and style guides which have entries for acronym generally criticize the usage that refers to forms that are not pronounceable words. Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage says that acronym "denotes abbreviations formed from initial letters of other words and pronounced as
11682-515: The quality of raw water it is treating. Under the 1962 Water Agreement, Singapore is entitled to draw up to 250 million gallons of water per day from the Johor River. In 2061, the remaining contract between Singapore and Johor will expire. To lessen its reliance on Malaysia, Singapore has introduced new ways of water sources to meet Singapore's demand for water. By diversifying Singapore' s water supply, Singapore has been successful in building up
11800-541: The raw water, making them safe for consumption. The filtered water is stored in water tanks for water quality checks before being distributed to the people. Used water is collected through a sewerage system and treated at water reclamation plants in the reclamation process. The water is purified using NEWater technology to produce NEWater. With the development of the deep tunnel sewerage system (DTSS) aimed for completion in 2022, sewage will be conveniently transported to three water reclamation plants for treatment. Compelled by
11918-506: The resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems ". Some scholars say that IWRM is complementary to water security because water security is a goal or destination, whilst IWRM is the process necessary to achieve that goal. IWRM is a paradigm that emerged at international conferences in the late 1900s and early 2000s, although participatory water management institutions have existed for centuries. Discussions on
12036-575: The same conventional water treatment process. The process re-introduces trace minerals that had been removed during the production of NEWater and provide additional safety precaution beyond the advanced technologies used to produce NEWater . Desalinated water is Singapore's fourth National Tap. It was first introduced in September 2005, with the first SingSpring Desalination Plant located in Tuas . The plant can produce up to 30 million gallons of water
12154-442: The scope of the entire river basin. IUWM is commonly seen as a strategy for achieving the goals of Water Sensitive Urban Design . IUWM seeks to change the impact of urban development on the natural water cycle , based on the premise that by managing the urban water cycle as a whole; a more efficient use of resources can be achieved providing not only economic benefits but also improved social and environmental outcomes. One approach
12272-470: The sides of railroad cars (e.g., "Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad" → "RF&P"); on the sides of barrels and crates; and on ticker tape and newspaper stock listings (e.g. American Telephone and Telegraph Company → AT&T). Some well-known commercial examples dating from the 1890s through 1920s include " Nabisco " ("National Biscuit Company"), " Esso " (from "S.O.", from " Standard Oil "), and " Sunoco " ("Sun Oil Company"). Another field for
12390-509: The statutory board came into force. Prior to its reconstitution as the National Water Agency on 1 April 2001, the PUB was previously under the Ministry of Trade and Industry where it facilitated the supply of electricity, water and gas in Singapore. Today, the PUB is solely in charge of water supplies with the management and control of electricity and gas transferred to the Energy Market Authority (EMA). In 2003 and 2005,
12508-510: The stream flow. Natural surface water can be augmented by importing surface water from another watershed through a canal or pipeline . Brazil is estimated to have the largest supply of fresh water in the world, followed by Russia and Canada . Glacier runoff is considered to be surface water. The Himalayas, which are often called "The Roof of the World", contain some of the most extensive and rough high altitude areas on Earth as well as
12626-502: The terms as mutually exclusive. Other guides outright deny any legitimacy to the usage: Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words says "Abbreviations that are not pronounced as words (IBM, ABC, NFL) are not acronyms; they are just abbreviations." Garner's Modern American Usage says "An acronym is made from the first letters or parts of a compound term. It's read or spoken as a single word, not letter by letter." The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage says "Unless pronounced as
12744-570: The twenty-first century. The trend among dictionary editors appears to be towards including a sense defining acronym as initialism : the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary added such a sense in its 11th edition in 2003, and both the Oxford English Dictionary and The American Heritage Dictionary added such senses in their 2011 editions. The 1989 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary only included
12862-794: The virtue of corporate philanthropy by consistently and steadily contributing to the Share Programme under the Community Chest since 1986. Employees of Public Utilities Board are represented by the Public Utilities Board Employees' Union, a House Union affiliated to the National Trades Union Congress . Water Wally is the official mascot for PUB. It is blue in colour and takes the form of a water droplet. It helps to spread messages about water preservation and proper water usage to
12980-548: The water on Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water ; slightly over two-thirds of this is frozen in glaciers and polar ice caps . The remaining unfrozen freshwater is found mainly as groundwater, with only a small fraction present above ground or in the air. Natural sources of fresh water include surface water , under river flow, groundwater and frozen water . People use water resources for agricultural , industrial and household activities. Water resources are under threat from multiple issues. There
13098-536: The whole range of linguistic registers is relatively new in most languages, becoming increasingly evident since the mid-twentieth century. As literacy spread and technology produced a constant stream of new and complex terms, abbreviations became increasingly convenient. The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED ) records the first printed use of the word initialism as occurring in 1899, but it did not come into general use until 1965, well after acronym had become common. In English, acronyms pronounced as words may be
13216-425: The word " an achro nym ", which is a type of misnomer. Words derived from an acronym by affixing are typically expressed in mixed case, so the root acronym is clear. For example, "pre-WWII politics", "post-NATO world", " DNase ". In some cases a derived acronym may also be expressed in mixed case. For example, " messenger RNA " and " transfer RNA " become "mRNA" and "tRNA". Some publications choose to capitalize only
13334-578: The world since 1992. Further challenges to sustainable and equitable water resources management include the fact that many water bodies are shared across boundaries which may be international (see water conflict ) or intra-national (see Murray-Darling basin ). Integrated water resources management (IWRM) has been defined by the Global Water Partnership (GWP) as "a process which promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources, in order to maximize
13452-715: Was a topic of the second World Water Forum , which was attended by a more varied group of stakeholders than the preceding conferences and contributed to the creation of the GWP. In the International Water Association definition, IWRM rests upon three principles that together act as the overall framework: In 2002, the development of IWRM was discussed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, which aimed to encourage
13570-459: Was also appointed Singapore's National Coastal Protection Agency. The nation's demand for water is about 400 million imperial gallons (1.8 × 10 ^ m) a day, with homes and non-domestic sectors consumption forming 45% and 55% of the demand respectively, and expected to double by 2060. PUB is set to meet 80% of this demand through its NEWater and desalination technologies. PUB's watershed management and treatment processes has ensured
13688-511: Was done with a full space between every full word (e.g. A. D. , i. e. , and e. g. for " Anno Domini ", " id est ", and " exempli gratia "). This even included punctuation after both Roman and Arabic numerals to indicate their use in place of the full names of each number (e.g. LII. or 52. in place of "fifty-two" and "1/4." or "1./4." to indicate "one-fourth"). Both conventions have fallen out of common use in all dialects of English, except in places where an Arabic decimal includes
13806-449: Was little to no naming , conscious attention, or systematic analysis until relatively recent times. Like retronymy, it became much more common in the twentieth century than it had formerly been. Ancient examples of acronymy (before the term "acronym" was invented) include the following: During the mid- to late nineteenth century, acronyms became a trend among American and European businessmen: abbreviating corporation names, such as on
13924-552: Was managed by the Municipal Water Department under the guidance of the Municipal Engineer. Three reservoirs in Singapore are named after notable Municipal Engineers James MacRitchie , Robert Peirce and David J. Murnane . The idea of a Public Utilities Board was first introduced in 1961 when industrialisation was driving up the country's demand for power. However, it was only in 1 May 1963 that
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