762
S.-Y. Chan et al.
the concepts of Green Lab and also Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030
Agenda.
Keywords Water distillation · Sustainable development · Green lab · Awareness
1 Introduction
Water is an essential element in life. A minimum 2 L of water per day is required for
hydration for an adult under ordinary conditions. Water consumption is estimated to
be increasing in response to the increase in world population (Howard and Bartram
2003). Over time, this will lead to aggressive competition for clean supply of drinking,
bathing and cooking water. According to National Geographic, while 70% of the
world’s mass is water, only 2.5% of this is freshwater which can be consumed while
the rest of it is saline and ocean-based. From the 2.5% of freshwater, only 1% of it
is easily accessible and the remainder is trapped in glaciers and snowfields. Hence,
only 0.007% of water is accessible to the current world population, i.e., 7.6 billion
people (Zachos 2017; Tran et al. 2016). According to United Nations, by 2025, 1.800
billion people will be living in areas or countries with water scarcity problems and
1.6 billion people will be facing lack of necessary infrastructure for access to river
water and aquifers (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2016).
Clean water, basic toilets and good hygiene practices are essential for the survival
and development of children. Today, there are around 2.4 billion people who do not
use improved sanitation, and 663 million who do not have access to improved water
sources. For children under five, water and sanitation related diseases are one of the
leading causes of death. Every day, over 800 children die from preventable diseases
caused by poor water quality, and a lack of sanitation and hygiene (UNICEF WASH
2017; UNICEF 2017).
Water has also become an essential resource for development in many developing
countries. There has been heavy weightage on use of water in construction, agriculture, infrastructure as well as research (Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations 2016; Wang et al. 2011). Particularly in science research labs, water
is used in the form of distilled water which is prepared from tap water that is generally
regarded as clean water for daily use. From the tap, water is piped through the distiller for boiling and the evaporated steam is cooled down to condense it into a clean
collector for further use. In the process, the non-distilled water will flow through the
outlet and be drained off via sink. The used of distilled water is to ensure accurate
judgment of the effect of water and moisture to the subject of interest. This is to avoid
the effect of mineral build up that may affect the studied subject. The collected water
is clear from minerals, chemical and impurities, and has no elemental traces in it, i.e.,
clean water with purity level of 99–99.9% (Kozisek 2005; Hulett 1896). Frequently,
research institutions will invest in purchase of a water distiller in order to act as an
in-house distilled water source. Despite the different range of water distillers, the
main principle of distilling water is the same. Water input from the tap and output of
S.-Y. Chan et al.
the concepts of Green Lab and also Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030
Agenda.
Keywords Water distillation · Sustainable development · Green lab · Awareness
1 Introduction
Water is an essential element in life. A minimum 2 L of water per day is required for
hydration for an adult under ordinary conditions. Water consumption is estimated to
be increasing in response to the increase in world population (Howard and Bartram
2003). Over time, this will lead to aggressive competition for clean supply of drinking,
bathing and cooking water. According to National Geographic, while 70% of the
world’s mass is water, only 2.5% of this is freshwater which can be consumed while
the rest of it is saline and ocean-based. From the 2.5% of freshwater, only 1% of it
is easily accessible and the remainder is trapped in glaciers and snowfields. Hence,
only 0.007% of water is accessible to the current world population, i.e., 7.6 billion
people (Zachos 2017; Tran et al. 2016). According to United Nations, by 2025, 1.800
billion people will be living in areas or countries with water scarcity problems and
1.6 billion people will be facing lack of necessary infrastructure for access to river
water and aquifers (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2016).
Clean water, basic toilets and good hygiene practices are essential for the survival
and development of children. Today, there are around 2.4 billion people who do not
use improved sanitation, and 663 million who do not have access to improved water
sources. For children under five, water and sanitation related diseases are one of the
leading causes of death. Every day, over 800 children die from preventable diseases
caused by poor water quality, and a lack of sanitation and hygiene (UNICEF WASH
2017; UNICEF 2017).
Water has also become an essential resource for development in many developing
countries. There has been heavy weightage on use of water in construction, agriculture, infrastructure as well as research (Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations 2016; Wang et al. 2011). Particularly in science research labs, water
is used in the form of distilled water which is prepared from tap water that is generally
regarded as clean water for daily use. From the tap, water is piped through the distiller for boiling and the evaporated steam is cooled down to condense it into a clean
collector for further use. In the process, the non-distilled water will flow through the
outlet and be drained off via sink. The used of distilled water is to ensure accurate
judgment of the effect of water and moisture to the subject of interest. This is to avoid
the effect of mineral build up that may affect the studied subject. The collected water
is clear from minerals, chemical and impurities, and has no elemental traces in it, i.e.,
clean water with purity level of 99–99.9% (Kozisek 2005; Hulett 1896). Frequently,
research institutions will invest in purchase of a water distiller in order to act as an
in-house distilled water source. Despite the different range of water distillers, the
main principle of distilling water is the same. Water input from the tap and output of