Grace Chua Straits Times 29 Jun 10;
NATIONAL water agency PUB yesterday unveiled its 50-year plan to bring Singapore closer to self-sufficiency in water. It aims to do this by doubling its reliance on Newater and desalinated water.
These two forms of water now meet 40 per cent of the country's water needs; by 2060, it will be 80 per cent, PUB said on the first day of the Singapore International Water Week. PUB aims to triple Newater capacity so it can meet half of water demand by then, while the use of desalination will be widened by almost 10 times to meet 30 per cent of demand.
To get there, it will expand the Changi Newater plant and open a sixth facility in Tuas by 2030, as well as build a second desalination plant. It did not say where the new desalination plant would sit or when it would be ready.
This dramatic step-up in Singapore's water supply is being timed to dovetail with the expiry of the water agreement with Malaysia in 2061.
By then, the nation's demand for water will be double what it is now as a result of a growing population and industrial activity. PUB projects the country will need about 3 billion litres a day by 2060, split between domestic use and industrial use in a 30-70 proportion.
Besides reclaiming used water to produce Newater and purifying sea water, the country will also continue to rely on its water catchment areas.
Such areas now take up about two-thirds of the island, but with the network of drains and canals, as well as the damming of all river estuaries to form 17 reservoirs by next year, 90 per cent of the country will become a catchment zone.
Singapore has two pacts to import water from Malaysia. One expires next year and will not be renewed. When asked yesterday, PUB would not say if the other agreement, which expires in 2061, would be renewed.
Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean, who spoke at the opening of the Water Week and the World Cities Summit, which are being held at the Suntec conference centre, said: 'Water has always been a key consideration in our master planning, for it is a critical resource without which the city cannot survive - let alone grow.'
But while it shores up supply, PUB will not let up on efforts to get people to waste less water. Each person here now uses 155 litres of water a day on average. PUB aims to get this down to 147 litres a day by 2020.
It will encourage the use of water-efficient toilets and taps in homes, and urge people to take snappier showers. Commercial buildings will also be nudged into installing water meters, repairing leaks promptly and tapping on a Water Efficiency Fund for studies and projects.
Although the supply of sea water is virtually limitless, current desalination technology uses up a lot of energy, and so costs about 100 times more than buying raw water from across the Causeway.
This may result in higher water tariffs down the road, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim warned earlier this year.
Hope lies in a technology breakthrough which will lower the amount of energy needed in desalination, said PUB director of policy and planning Chua Soon Guan. So research to cut desalination's energy consumption will be a focus for the years to come.
Desalination will also be used to produce potable water from the minor rivers and streams near the island's shoreline.
Variable salinity plants will be set to work in those areas to treat fresh water, brackish water and saltier sea water. Such a plant was built in 2007 in Tampines for demonstration purposes. It can handle about 4 million litres of water a day.
Water from waste and sea to make a splash
Newater and desalination capacity set to multiply; plans to collect every raindrop
Uma Shankari Business Times 29 Jun 10;
(SINGAPORE) Singapore plans to triple its current Newater capacity and increase desalination output by almost 10 times by 2060 to meet the country's future water needs.
National water agency PUB said it expects demand for water to double over the next 50 years on the back of population and economic growth. To match the rising demand, Newater (which is water reclaimed from waste water) will meet 50 per cent of water demand by 2060, from about 30 per cent now.
And desalinated water (which is water reclaimed from the sea) will meet another at least 30 per cent of water demand. Right now, just 10 per cent of Singapore's water demand is met by desalinated water.
To meet these targets, PUB intends to build a sixth Newater plant in conjunction with the second phase of the deep-tunnel sewerage system, a highway of tunnels that collects used water for treatment. It also intends to build a second desalination plant to join Singapore's first in Tuas. PUB also said it has identified more than five sites for future desalination plants.
The long-term plans were announced yesterday by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean on the first day of the Singapore International Water Week.
Mr Teo said that with water demand forecast to double in the next 50 years, Singapore plans to collect every drop of rain by expanding its catchment areas to 90 per cent of the land area. Right now, about two-thirds of Singapore is slated to become a huge water catchment area by 2011.
'Water reuse and desalination will play a bigger role as key sources of water supply,' said Mr Teo. 'Singapore plans to triple its current Newater capacity and ramp up desalination capacity by almost 10 times so that these two sources are able to meet 50 per cent and 30 per cent of our future water demand in the long term, should this be necessary.'
Singapore now gets water from four sources: water from local catchment areas, Newater, desalinated water and water imported from Johor.
PUB's near-term targets called for 40 per cent of Singapore's water demand to be met by Newater and 25 per cent to be met by desalinated water by 2020.
The latest targets, which are for the longer term, come as PUB expects water demand to double in the next 50 years. About 70 per cent of the demand is expected to come from the non-domestic sector while domestic consumption will make up the other 30 per cent.
Advances in membrane technology allowed Singapore to introduce reclaimed water and desalinated water as alternative sources, said PUB chief executive Khoo Teng Chye.
'These two sources have put us in a stronger position to deal with the vagaries of weather and allow us to increase our water supply to meet growing demand,' Mr Khoo said. 'We will continue to invest in R&D in our search for new sources and more cost-efficient ways to treat water.'
Singapore's fifth and largest Newater factory in Changi was opened in May this year. The $180 million plant, which is designed, built and operated by Sembcorp Industries, joins earlier plants in Ulu Pandan, Kranji, Seletar and Bedok. Together, these five plants now meet 30 per cent of the national water demand.
They will soon be joined by a sixth facility, which is likely to be in the western part of Singapore.
PUB will also soon unveil details of its plan to build a second desalination plant to enhance Singapore's drought resilience.
'The new plant will be built through a design-build-own-operate approach, based on a public-private sector partnership to enhance supply efficiency and help keep the cost of water as affordable as possible,' said Mr Teo.
PUB, Hyflux and Black & Veatch collaborated on the SingSpring desalination plant in Tuas, which has been in operation for close to five years.
PUB also said that to manage water demand, it is working to cut daily per capita consumption to 147 litres by 2020 through water conservation programmes and outreach efforts. Today, each Singaporean uses 155 litres of water daily on average.
More desalination, NEWater
Grace Chua Straits Times 28 Jun 10;
IN THE next 50 years, Singapore will dramatically ramp up its desalination and NEWater capacity in a bid to become self sufficient in its water supply. Over the next half century, the nation's water demand is projected to double from 380 million gallons per day (mgd) to 760 mgd.
Most of it will be met by the increased production of the reclaimed used water NEWater, and desalinated water. These two forms of water currently meet only 40 per cent of the country's water needs.
By 2060, national water agency PUB aims to increase this proportion to 80 per cent, it announced on Monday evening at the Singapore International Water Week conference and trade show.
Singapore's two other sources of water are from catchment areas like reservoirs as well as imported water from Malaysia. The drive to produce more NEWater and desalinated water will enable Singapore to be self-sufficient in water by 2061, when its water agreement with Malaysia runs out.
An earlier water agreement, signed in 1961 to allow Singapore to buy water from its neighbour at 3 sen per 1,000 gallons (about 1.3 Singapore cents), will run out next year (2011) and is not being renewed.
Besides desalination and reclaiming used water, the PUB will also increase Singapore's water catchment from the current two-thirds of land area to a whopping 90 per cent. It will tap even minor rivulets across the island and treat water there with variable salinity plants, which can treat fresh water and desalinate brackish water and saltier sea water.
PUB unveils Singapore's water strategy for next 50 years
Hoe Yeen Nie Channel NewsAsia 28 Jun 10;
SINGAPORE : Singapore wants to triple its output of recycled water by 2060, to meet growing demand. And it is expected that NEWater will account for half of projected needs.
There are also plans to ramp up desalination capacity to meet a third of future demand.
All this is part of the country's goal to achieve self-sufficiency before its water agreement with Malaysia expires in 2061.
Currently, about two-thirds of Singapore's water supply comes from its reservoirs, and from Malaysia.
The rest is either recycled water, or seawater made safe for use.
But this is not enough for the long term.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean said: "With water demand forecasted to double in the next 50 years, Singapore plans to collect every drop of rain by expanding our catchments to 90 per cent of our land area. Water reuse and desalination will play a bigger role as key sources of water supply."
So, the government will ramp up the capacity of its NEWater plants, to meet half of Singapore's projected needs.
A fifth NEWater plant was opened at Changi recently, and another is on the cards.
The new NEWater plant will be built in conjunction with the second phase of the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System, a network of underground pipes that carry used water for treatment and disposal.
As for desalination, the government also plans to raise its desalination capacity such that it meets at least 30 per cent of long-term demand. That is an increase of nearly 10 times from the current level. However, desalination is a very energy-intensive process, so research efforts in the next few years will focus on lowering that energy usage.
There are also plans to build a second desalination plant. And national water agency PUB said that more than five sites have been identified for future facilities.
But in the long-term, conservation is key.
And while there are efforts to get Singaporeans to use water wisely, companies have also been roped in to reduce consumption.
By 2060, industry is expected to account for 70 per cent of water demand.
These long-term strategies were highlighted in a book by the PUB and presented to Mr Teo at the joint opening of the Singapore International Water Week and World Cities Summit on Monday. - CNA/ms
More desalination, Newater
Joanne Chan Today Online 29 Jun 10;
SINGAPORE - Future water demand is set to double by 2060, and strategies for a sustainable water supply were outlined yesterday.
The current Newater capacity will be tripled and desalination output increased by almost 10 times, said Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Teo Chee Hean at the joint opening ceremony of the Singapore International Water Week and World Cities Summit.
Water catchments will also be expanded to cover 90 per cent of Singapore's land area in the long term, said DPM Teo.
Singapore's water supply comes from four sources - local catchment, imported water, Newater and desalination. Currently, reservoirs and imported water make up two-thirds of Singapore's water supply.
But this is set to change in the long run, as water re-use and desalination will play bigger roles.
"They are not dependent on rainfall and help to boost our drought-resilience," said Mr Teo.
A sixth Newater plant likely to be located in Tuas will be built in together with Phase Two of the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System, a highway of tunnels that collects used water for treatment.
According to national water agency, PUB, Newater will account for half of Singapore's water needs by 2060.
A second desalination plant is also in the pipeline, so that desalinated water will meet at least 30 per cent of demand.
PUB noted that 70 per cent of water demand will come from the non-domestic sector, while household consumption will make up the other 30 per cent by 2060.
It aims to reduce consumption from an average of 155 litres of water daily per Singaporean to 147 litres by 2020.
Besides putting in hard infrastructure, Mr Teo also said Singapore will continue to enhance public spaces.
PUB said more than 100 active, beautiful and clean water projects will be carried out over the next 20 years.
Ten are due for completion by the end of this year.
Singapore To Ramp Up Its Water Supply
Zakaria Abdul Wahab Bernama 28 Jun 10;
SINGAPORE, June 28 (Bernama) -- Singapore plans to triple the current reclaimed water (NEWater) capacity to meet 50 per cent of its demand by 2060.
The island republic also plans to ramp up desalination capacity by almost 10 times so that desalinated water will meet at least 30 per cent of its water demand in the long term.
These long-term plans were contained in a publication produced by PUB, the national water agency, and unveiled by Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean at the opening of the Singapore International Water Week, the global platform for water solutions, here Monday.
PUB expects Singapore's water demand to double in the next 50 years, with about 70 per cent of the demand coming from the non-domestic sector, and domestic consumption making up the other 30 per cent.
The city-state currently sources its water from local catchment, imported water, high grade reclaimed water and desalinated water.
Teo said, despite its limited land area of 710 sq km, Singapore planned to collect every drop of rain, and with the latest three reservoirs at Marina, Punggol and Serangoon, two-thirds of the country would become a huge water catchment.
He added that Singapore, with a population of over four million, aimed to expand its water catchment area to 90 per cent of its land eventually.
Today, each Singaporean uses 155 litres of water daily on average.
-- BERNAMA