PUB looks at Jurong Island water needs: tapping groundwater

It is studying ways to tap wastewater and groundwater for use there
Grace Chua Straits Times 1 Jan 13;

CAN Jurong Island's groundwater be tapped? Or can waste heat from industrial processes be used to clean its used water or drive desalination?

These are some of the questions the PUB is asking. The national water agency called a tender last month to work out how best to meet the industrial island's future water needs.

In 2010, the PUB found the island had fresh groundwater, after it dug a 5m-deep well and pumped a litre of freshwater per second from it for three months.

Last November, it closed a tender for a study to model the groundwater on Jurong Island to see if industries there can tap groundwater for process and other needs, and how much can be tapped sustainably.

As industry expands on the island, demand for water for cooling and industrial processes will also rise from the 35 million gallons per day now to double that over the next 10 years, said PUB senior planning officer Soh Yeow Chong.

Currently, Newater, potable water and industrial non-potable water are supplied from the mainland, while some firms pipe in seawater for cooling. As demand grows, more costly land and sub-sea pipes will be needed.

Meanwhile, wastewater is treated by PUB plants or private utilities. Most of it is discharged, while some is reused. But the PUB wants to know: Can more of the discharged water be reclaimed for use on the island? Can an easier- to-treat portion of used water be segregated from a harder-to- clean portion?

"We are trying to close the water loop on Jurong Island," Mr Soh said.

The 32 sq km Jurong Island is home to more than 94 petroleum, petrochemical and chemical companies, and more firms are expected to set up shop there on two newly reclaimed areas.

Besides boosting the local water supply, the PUB also wants to know if, say, waste heat from industry can be used to desalinate or treat water there.

And for the longer term, the PUB also wants consultants to help work out whether public, privatised or some hybrid form of water supply and treatment is best for Jurong Island.

A hybrid business model already exists: the design, build, own and operate scheme that has private firms building, running and supplying Newater to the PUB.

The tender for this water-resources study closes on Jan 10.

Meanwhile, groundwater - largely rainwater that has seeped into the ground - could be another source of water for Jurong Island's industries.

The island is composed of seven islands, made up of the sedimentary rock in the Jurong Formation, joined by reclamation.

Rainwater seeps into the ground and is less dense than seawater, so it forms a freshwater lens atop the saltier ocean and can thus be tapped.

It goes at least 5m down, but drawing too much groundwater too fast can lead to land subsidence. So the PUB wants to know how much can safely be tapped, and at what rate - depending on rainfall - groundwater supplies get recharged.

The groundwater study tender closed in November with four bids, ranging from $797,498 to $860,000, including those from consultants Camp Dresser and McKee, and the National University of Singapore.

The contract for the 18-month study is likely to be awarded next month, Mr Soh said.

Future studies could come up with rainwater recovery schemes and storage for Jurong Island, the tender said.

Other areas being studied

WATER supply is not the only thing being studied on Jurong Island.

In 2010, the "Jurong Island version 2.0" initiative was launched to prepare the petrochemical island for future growth, increase its competitiveness and overcome resource constraints.

Under that multi-agency scheme which involved industrial landlord JTC, the Economic Development Board (EDB) and other government agencies, various studies were carried out.

The areas studied included looking into a second link to mainland Singapore, making industries more energy-efficient, and using green materials such as palm oil, sugar cane and plant ethanol as alternatives to petroleum-derived feedstocks for producing chemicals.

Several suggestions from these studies could be adopted or have already been adopted on Jurong Island.

For one thing, when the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal opens this year, its "cold energy" could be tapped. Liquefied gas is shipped at very low temperatures and as it heats up, it can cool air and separate it into oxygen and nitrogen for use in other industrial processes.

And the McKinsey Green Campus, an actual chemical process plant on the island, serves as a model factory that teaches companies how to increase energy efficiency throughout their operations.

Meanwhile, the National Environment Agency (NEA) and consultants CH2M Hill did a study of the air quality on the island, measuring what the most common pollutants were at what levels, how Jurong Island stacks up against industrial parks overseas, and suggesting specific pollution abatement measures.

Findings from this study are not yet available.