SINGAPORE: The National Environment Agency (NEA) has completed its annual water quality review of Singapore's six recreational beaches.
The water quality at all the beaches attained a "good" rating except Pasir Ris beach, which is still deemed unsafe for swimming, the same as last year.
The water at Pasir Ris beach may look clean but it is actually teeming with a bacteria found in human faeces.
Significant amounts of the enterococcus bacteria were present in eight per cent of 1,364 water samples collected in the water quality review. They had enterococcus counts of more than 200 per 100 ml.
Based on the World Health Organisation's water guidelines for recreational use, only beaches with not more than 5 per cent of the collected water samples having enterococcus counts of greater than 200 per 100 ml and graded "good" or "very good" are suitable for activities such as swimming, water-skiing and wakeboarding.
Although there has been no deterioration in the water quality at Pasir Ris beach, it is still graded as "fair" since the 8 per cent exceeded WHO's guidelines of not more than 5 per cent of collected water samples having enterococcus counts greater than 200 per 100 ml.
So NEA is continuing to advise the public not to swim, wakeboard or waterski in the water at Pasir Ris beach. However, people still go into the water, despite nine advisory signages put up at the beach.
Said one teen: "I think the sign is not obvious. I feel that its location is wrong. They should have a bigger sign so the public can be alerted to it."
And water sport activities will still continue as per normal on weekends.
Serene Giam, assistant manger, Training & Operation, People's Association Water-Venture, said: "We'll remind participants during their breaks or even after their activities to rinse themselves with clean water over here at the outlet."
NEA said the water quality is affected by several factors, including minor leaks from older sewers and discharges from small-scale sewage treatment plants and low water currents in parts of Pasir Ris beach are not effective in diluting and dispersing discharges.
By 2012, these plants will be phased out under an ongoing plan by PUB and the sewer network will be extended. PUB aims to mend 23 kilometres of aging sewers in the area by 2011. - CNA/vm/al
Waters off Pasir Ris beach still filthy
Levels of bacteria found in human faeces exceed WHO guidelines
Amresh Gunasingham, Straits Times 26 Aug 09;
A YEAR after signs went up at Pasir Ris beach warning swimmers against taking a dip in the waters there, little has changed.
Levels of bacteria found in human faeces present in the sea there still exceed World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, a year-long National Environment Agency (NEA) study has found.
It said that although water quality has improved marginally, swimming and activities such as waterskiing are still discouraged along the 3.3km stretch of beach from the People's Association's Pasir Ris Holiday Complex to the Civil Service Aloha resort.
The NEA said yesterday that an ageing sewage network was partly to blame for the poor water quality: Faeces is leaking into the waters off Pasir Ris beach from a 23km network of pipes in the Tampines, Changi and Pasir Ris areas.
The discharge from 39 sewage treatment plants in areas such as Tampines and Changi is also to blame, it added.
Waste dumped from moored vessels and animals secreting waste into the waters there add to the problem.
Pasir Ris beach is the only one with poor water quality in Singapore, said the study, which examined six recreational beaches.
The other beaches - Sentosa and Seletar islands, Sembawang Park, Changi and East Coast - are suitable for swimming and other water sports, it added.
The NEA caused a stir last year when it said the adoption of more stringent water-quality standards based on new WHO guidelines meant that swimming was no longer safe off Pasir Ris beach.
Since then, more officers have been sent to examine drains and rivers in the area that lead to the sea for possible discharges, a spokesman for the agency said.
Enforcement action has also been stepped up, she added.
When contacted yesterday about the problem, the PUB, Singapore's national water agency, said plans were in place to phase out the 39 treatment plants, which have contributed to the problem off Pasir Ris, by 2012.
PUB director of water reclamation Tan Thai Pin said two contracts worth $30 million to do this have already been awarded.
Work to repair the leaking sewers is also expected to be completed in two years' time, he added.
'Over their lifespan, sewers will naturally deteriorate through ageing and corrosion, which may result in minor leaks.'
The conditions at Pasir Ris may be compounding the problem, said Assistant Professor Hu Jiang Yong of the National University of Singapore's (NUS) civil engineering department.
She said the water temperature, sunlight intensity and other factors there may be more conducive to the bacteria's survival.
There are no known cases of people falling sick after swimming off Pasir Ris.
But Associate Professor Ng How Yong of the Division of Environmental Science and Engineering at NUS advised against swimming there.
He said potential problems could arise if swimmers swallow the water or wade in when they have open wounds.
Sales engineer Patrick Tam, 32, who was at the beach yesterday, said that although the water looked clean enough to swim in, the areas surrounding the beach had put him off taking a dip.
'It is not the water itself, but the shipyards and kelongs located so near the water here that put me off.
'Compared to the East Coast beach, the area does not look clean.'
Still not good enough for a dip
PUB extension plans in Pasir Ris mean that water quality will improve
Lin Yan Qin, Today Online 26 Aug 09;
MINOR leaks from older sewers and moored vessels, as well as discharge from small-scale Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) - these are affecting water quality at Pasir Ris beach.
And for the second year running in an annual water quality review, Pasir Ris beach (picture) has received a "fair" grading, which means beachgoers will continue to be advised against swimming, wakeboarding and water-skiing there, the National Environment Agency said.
The agency revealed yesterday the factors behind the water quality at Pasir Ris for the first time after its review last year. Significant improvements should come within two or three years.
The beach was given the grade last year after NEA's guidelines for assessing water quality for recreational use included tests for enterococcus, a type of bacteria found in faeces. Beaches that have more than 5 per cent of the collected samples with enterococcus counts above a certain limit and which are graded "fair", "poor" or "very poor" are unsuitable for activities involving long periods of whole-body immersion or where water is likely to be swallowed.
The other five beaches reviewed - at Sentosa, Seletar Island, Sembawang Park, Changi and East Coast Park - remain safe. But at Pasir Ris, 8 per cent of the samples collected over three years - down from 10 per cent last year - had enterococcus counts greater than 200 per 100ml. The bacteria can cause stomach pain, breathing problems and eye or ear infections.
So far, the Health Ministry has not observed health problems associated with poor water quality at beaches, according to NEA. In its study to establish the causes of the higher bacterial content, NEA found that the low water current in the inner curve of Pasir Ris beach do not effectively dilute and disperse the sewage discharge.
Change will come with PUB's ongoing plan to extend the sewer network, which will phase out the 39 STPs and rehabilitate 23 kilometres of ageing sewers in the area by 2012 and 2011 respectively.
According to the PUB, there are now about 190 STPs - built to service remote areas across Singapore, located mainly in the Lim Chu Kang, Sungei Tengah and Pasir Ris farmland areas. These will also be phased out in tandem with developments or when it is necessary to safeguard water quality, said Mr Tan Thai Pin, PUB director for Water Reclamation (Network).
Meanwhile, NEA will continue to review water quality at beaches annually. It will work with other agencies to minimise the bacterial pollution from other sources by enforcing against indiscriminate discharge of sewage from moored vessels and against dog owners who do not clean up after their pets.
Ms Pamela Hee, 28, who visits Pasir Ris beach once a month, felt it was a pity the sea would remain off-limits for swimming, since there are no swimming pools in that area.
Few people flout the nine signs put up by NEA advising against swimming. "There are people who splash the water around a bit, but that's rare," said Ms Hee, an executive. "We go mainly to enjoy the scenery, and many people fly kites or cycle."
Clean-up of waters off Pasir Ris beach soon
Pipework to be repaired, discharge dispersed from sewage treatment plants
Judith Tan, Straits Times 28 Aug 09;
PIPEWORKS serving north-east Singapore will be repaired and ageing treatment plants shut down at the end of this year.
The works, undertaken by the national water agency PUB, are expected to improve the quality of the waters off Pasir Ris beach, which was last year labelled Singapore's dirtiest.
News reports this week still crowned it with the dubious title one year on.
The 3.3km stretch, where swimming has been declared unsafe, wends from the People's Association Pasir Ris Holiday Complex to the Civil Service Aloha resort.
Works aside, studies on the feasibility of changing the profile of Pasir Ris beach are under way. Doing this promises to improve the flow of water and disperse the bacteria from the leaky sewers and discharge from sewage treatment plants.
The sea water there contains levels of enterococcus bacteria - found in human faeces - higher than those allowed in World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.
The guidelines state that not more than 5 per cent of collected water samples should have bacteria counts of more than 200 per 100ml if a beach is to be suitable for activities such as swimming, water-skiing and wakeboarding.
Pasir Ris beach clocked in at 8 per cent.
A National Environment Agency (NEA) study last year found that its waters were being fouled by various sources, including minor leakage from old sewers and discharge from small-scale sewage treatment plants serving remote areas of Pasir Ris.
PUB director of the water reclamation network Tan Thai Pin said that, apart from phasing out the 39 smaller sewage treatment plants in the Halus/Tampines, Changi and Selarang areas by 2012, ageing sewers in Pasir Ris are being repaired.
By 2011, work on 23km of sewers will be completed. Ten per cent of them are more than 30 years old.
The NEA study also drew attention to the low water currents in the concave part of the beach being ineffective in diluting and dispersing the discharges.
Associate Professor Wong Poh Poh of the National University of Singapore's department of geography called for a proper assessment of the magnitude of the problem before any work is done.
Dr Ahmad Magad, a Member of Parliament for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, told The Straits Times he had not received complaints from residents about not being able to swim or wakeboard in the area, but expressed confidence in NEA's 'holistic and comprehensive solution' to the problem.
Environmentalists Howard Shaw and Eugene Heng agree.
Mr Heng, who chairs the environmental group Waterways Watch Society, said Singaporeans should not add to the problem by littering there.
Meanwhile, some members of the public are either unaware of the contaminated waters or are throwing caution to the wind.
Mrs June Pereira, 39, said she saw many swimmers in the area last Saturday.
Dr Derrick Aw, a dermatologist with the National University Hospital, warned that swimming in contaminated waters may cause a flare-up of eczema in people with sensitive skin.
He said: 'In people with open wounds, there is also a risk of infection by flesh-eating bacteria.'
Old sewers to be repaired over next five years
Aim is to prevent leakage and contamination of fresh-water sources
Amresh Gunasingham, Straits Times 28 Aug 09;
THE pipes are old, underground and potentially dangerous.
That is why more than 1,000km of old sewers, some dating back to the colonial era, will be repaired over the next five years.
The aim is to protect sources of fresh water from being tainted.
PUB, the national water agency, has a $423 million programme started in 1996 to upgrade the 3,400km national sewer network.
It is estimated that at least 10 per cent of the sewage network is at least three decades old.
Some of the pipes in some areas - around the Singapore and Kallang rivers, as well as Rochor and Stamford canals - are close to 50 years old.
To date, more than a third of the network has been repaired, said PUB director of water reclamation Tan Thai Pin.
Most of the new upgrading work will take place in areas such as Punggol, Serangoon and Jurong.
According to PUB surveys, surface cracks, displaced joints and corrosion can occur in older sewers.
Waste pipes sited up to 6m underground are vulnerable to soil movement and damage from tree roots, said Mr Toh Hong Huat from Sam Lain Equipment Services, a local sewerage pipe contractor employed by PUB.
The concern is that sewage may leak from the pipes, through cracks and defective joints, into the water catchment areas in the suburbs and city area.
Sewage not only contaminates the water in reservoirs, but also contains chemicals that make the water harder and more costly to treat.
Another concern is that sewers near the coastline can fill with seawater at high tide, and groundwater because of considerable damage.
'Repair is undertaken for two reasons - to prevent leaking and to prevent water from getting in,' said Mr Tan.
But rather than digging up roads to install new pipes, technological advances have allowed for the use of manholes, usually up to 1m in width, to repair ageing sewers.
Mr Tan said spiralling costs and structural limitations meant that the authorities had to opt for repairs rather than laying new pipes.
'Most sewers are found under roads that have high traffic volume. In the past, we could close the roads and replace these pipes, but that is not feasible now,' he noted.
Digging could also add as much as 50 per cent to costs, as well as cause inconvenience to businesses and the public.
Highly urbanised areas such as Chinatown, where many of the older pipes are found, also have narrower roads and building structures that make digging unfeasible.
As part of the upgrading programme, $10 million will be invested over the next two years to rectify leaks along a 23km stretch of decade-old sewer pipes in the Pasir Ris area.
This was cited in a study, released earlier this week, as being partly to blame for the waters off the Pasir Ris coast being unsafe for swimming.
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