Hydroinformatics Institute (H2i) has completed an eight-month contract for PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency, to update the Marina Reservoir Modelling System. This system simulates the impact of environmental factors such as weather conditions, as well as both natural and man-made nutrient emissions, on water quality in the Marina Reservoir System.

The initial configuration consisted of six models that had to be run as a system, and could not be run individually. Through this contract, the system has been reconfigured to allow the models to be run independently, or in various combinations. This reconfiguration allows users to create more targeted simulations for specific scenarios. The modeling system was also updated to take into consideration changes in Marina catchment’s land-use, drainage networks, and reservoir management practices.

Together with Dutch applied research institute Deltares, a new emission model was developed to replace the previous one. This model is able to identify and quantify nutrient loads that travel towards Marina Reservoir from various sources.

Being able to simulate different scenarios using the updated Marina Reservoir Modelling System provides a better understanding of the potential impact from factors that include the weather, operational regime, and proposed improvement works to Marina Catchment. This means PUB’s operations can be better supported.