PUB preparing for weather extremities: Balakrishnan

AsiaOne 15 Feb 12;

National water agency PUB is preparing for the consequences of weather extremities, said Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.

Besides flood risks, PUB is working on strengethening the long-term resilience of Singapore's water supply against the risk of drought, said Dr Balakrishnan.

He was answering Member of Parliament Dr Lee Bee Wah's question in Parliament on the short and long-term measures of the Government to deal with dry spells and extremities in weather conditions.

Dr Balakrishnan explained that PUB is ensuring there is sustainable water supply in times of dry weather with water management approaches and managing water supply.

The water management approaches highlighted by the minister include a water supply system comprising the Four National Taps: local catchment water, imported water, NEWater and desalinated water.

PUB has also been increasing the capacity of local water sources at reservoirs such as Marina, Punggol and Serangoon reservoirs, and Singapore's second desalination plant - with a capacity of 70 million gallons per day - is expected to be completed in 2013.

Dr Balakrishnan said that PUB plans to increase NEWater and desalination capacities to meet 50 per cent and 30 per cent of water demand respectively by 2060.

Managing water demand is also another strategy in ensuring Singapore's long-term water sustainability.

Programmes to educate the public are in place, such as the "10 Litre Challenge" and "10% Challenge" for domestic and non-domestic water users respectively, said Dr Balakrishnan.

From end February, PUB will run its Water Conservation Programme again to promote wise water use.

Dr Balakrishnan also pointed out that through the range of measures, Singapore's daily domestic water consumption per capita has decreased from 165 litres in 2003 to 153 litres in 2011.