The Bureau of Waterworks participated in Singapore International Water Week 2012, held at the Sands Expo & Convention Center (Marina Bay Sands) in Singapore from Sunday, July 1st through Thursday, July 5th.

The Singapore International Water Week, now in its fifth year, is a large-scale conference that gathered 18,554 participants from water supply operators and corporations of 104 countries and regions. Some foreign VIPs also participated in the event for the promotion and discussion of several kinds of advanced technology.

The TMG took part in the Water Expo's Japan Pavilion to show corrugated stainless steel pipes, electronic leakage detector(^*1), etc, as a leakage prevention technology unique to Tokyo that won the grand prize in the IWA 2012 East Asia Regional Project Innovation Awards. The booth provided a great opportunity to welcome visitors and encourage meaningful discussions with close water suppliers in Asia.

Most of the conference participants are those involved in both public and private water suppliers from all over the world. So, it is necessary to explain how we operate waterworks in English. I participated in the conference last year as well where I had a hard time communicating with people in English. I realized that English fluency was not enough; we also need a wide range of technical terms and expertise. So when I was preparing for the visit to Singapore as a representative of Tokyo, I did my best to learn relevant information as much as possible so that I thoroughly understand the waterworks in Tokyo. Moreover, I repeatedly tried to translate that information from Japanese to English so that I was fully prepared.

At the conference, I was at the Tokyo booth in the Japan Pavilion, welcoming visitors. I gave out a bottle of Tokyo Water (^*2) to each visitor at the booth, explaining that it is tap water of Tokyo. Many responded, "Is it OK to drink this?" "This is unbelievable." This is because drinking tap water is unusual in many countries. Then I asked them to actually drink the water to see how good it is. I also found that people have different interests. Some asked me for a technical explanation of water treatment methods, while others were interested in how we support our customers. I tried to provide them with answers that precisely met their interests and needs. In addition, a one-way explanation could prematurely end the conversation, so I asked the visitors questions and enjoyed conversation that stimulated our interests.

What we particularly focused on is how we make our booth stand out and more attractive than the others. So we used Andon (^*3) to decorate our booth and set up an attractive corner where people can experience water leakage investigation. As a result, we succeeded in getting the attention of many visitors. Some of them even said that they want to come to Japan to see our facility.

The TMG will make an international contribution by using our expertise in managing leading waterworks technology. Making the best use of this amazing experience in Singapore, I would like to keep making further efforts as one of those involved in the international contribution.

^*1 See detailed information of corrugated stainless steel pipes and electronic leakage detector from here.
^*2 Tokyo hands out bottled tap water to promote water purifying technology adopted by the Bureau of Waterworks.
^*3 Andon means "oriental lamp" in Japanese. It's made of a bamboo frame and Japanese paper, sometimes with elegant paintings. It's a form of traditional lighting in Japan.