Marina Reservoir to supply 10% of water needs

Wayne Chan Channel NewsAsia 20 Nov 10;

SINGAPORE : Singapore's city centre reservoir - Marina Reservoir - is now ready for use.

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew activated the Marina Reservoir fountain, one of the tallest in Singapore, to mark the event on Saturday evening.

The freshwater reservoir has been through a desalting process which started April last year, and is now set to supply about 10 per cent of Singapore's water needs.

PUB said desalting brings a reservoir's concentration of salt water down from around 35,000mg per litre - which is typical of seawater - to about 100mg per litre - considered suitable enough to be of drinking water standard.

A reservoir in the heart of the city was MM Lee's vision 20 years ago.

He dreamt of putting a dam across the Marina Channel to create a freshwater reservoir.

With advancements in membrane technology that allows treatment of water from highly urbanised areas, and the clean-up of the Kallang and Singapore rivers, this dream has become a reality.

The Marina Reservoir - Singapore's 15th reservoir - together with the Punggol and Serangoon Reservoirs to be ready next year, will increase Singapore's water catchment area from half to two-thirds of the island.

"What is interesting about this project is that it is taking rainwater from a very large part of Singapore. In fact it will be about 1/6 of Singapore's land area (10,000 hectares), and probably the most urbanised part of Singapore," said Yap Kheng Guan, senior director of PUB.

Water will first flow from drains in Orchard, Ang Mo Kio, Paya Lebar and Alexandra into the Marina Reservoir.

It can then be pumped 14 kilometres through a pipe to Upper Peirce Reservoir within half an hour for storage before treatment.

After treatment at Chestnut Avenue Waterworks, the water is then distributed to the rest of the island.

PUB said what this means is that we need to take care of our waterways.

"The drains you see right in front of your office or your house may well be bringing water to this place here (Marina Reservoir). So it's really important for us to understand that, because every litter or things that we throw into the drain may find its way here," said Yap.

The PUB hopes to turn 90 per cent of Singapore into catchment areas in the future by tapping into smaller rivers and streams around the island, using variable salinity plant technology which is an integration of desalination and NEWater treatment processes. - CNA /ls

A reservoir 23 years in the making
Launch of Marina Reservoir is fruition of MM Lee's vision of freshwater lake in city
Cai Haoxiang Straits Times 20 Nov 10;

As dragon boaters pulled in unison and sailboats glided across the Kallang Basin, Mr Lee Kuan Yew pushed a lever.

A fountain - 12 storeys high - shot up from the water.

And with that, the Marina Reservoir, Singapore's 15th reservoir, was ready for use. It will supply 10 per cent of the country's water needs - and take Singapore a step further in its drive to be self-reliant.

The creation of a freshwater lake in the heart of the city was the Minister Mentor's vision, 23 years in the making.

But even with the launch of its operations yesterday, the task was not done, stressed Mr Lee.

Speaking to the media, he said: 'There'll always be leaks, there'll always be people who will pollute, and you've got to keep on cleaning it up and fighting it and getting them to help keep the Marina Reservoir clean.'

Summing up the long journey involved in the creation of the reservoir - from old-fashioned dredging of the Singapore River to cutting- edge membrane technology - Mr Lee said: 'This is not something which happens overnight; it's stretched for many years, in fact decades.'

Together with the Punggol and Serangoon reservoirs, which will be ready next year, this new reservoir will allow Singapore to trap more rainwater. The water catchment

area will increase from half to two-thirds of the island.

Now, drains in Singapore's most urbanised areas - from Ang Mo Kio to Orchard to Paya Lebar to Alexandra - will channel rainwater into the Marina Reservoir.

It will then be pumped 14km through a pipe to Upper Peirce Reservoir for storage. Upon treatment, the water will then be distributed to the rest of the island.

In the creation of the new reservoir, there were three challenges.

One, a filthy Singapore River as a result of nearby farms, factories and lack of sanitation. Two, the need for technology that allows for water from highly urbanised areas to be processed. Three, to desalt the water so that it is drinkable.

The first challenge was overcome when in 1977, Mr Lee tasked the clean-up of the river. Seven years later, concept plans by world-renowned architects Kenzo Tange and I.M. Pei suggested that a Marina lake would form a unique 'focal point' in the city. Drawing on their ideas, Mr Lee in 1987 unveiled his vision for the Marina Barrage and the reservoir.

Over the next two decades, membrane technology to filter out unwanted substances became more advanced.

And so in 2005, construction began on the $226 million Marina Barrage, a dam across the Marina Channel. Completed in 2008, it served to control floods and create the reservoir.

In particular, its nine gates and seven pumps pumped sea water out to the sea, while keeping rainwater in. Now, the salt water concentration has dropped to a few hundred mg per litre, making the water suitable for storage and treatment.

Yesterday, Mr Lee also paid tribute to six men who helped in the creation of the reservoir. They are:

# PUB chairman Tan Gee Paw, 67, who drew up the masterplan of the clean-up, analysed the sources of pollution and identified solutions;

# Former commissioner of the Public Health Division Daniel Wang Nan Chee, 67, who removed pollution by improving refuse collection and relocating street hawkers;

# Former deputy commissioner of the Public Health Division Loh Ah Tuan, 63;

# Former head of Pollution Control Department Chiang Kok Meng, 65, who coordinated the various agencies in the clean-up;

# Former head of Drainage Department T.K. Pillai, 81, in charge of cleaning sewer leakages; and

# Former deputy head of Environmental Health Department George Yeo, 79, in charge of refuse collection and pest extermination.