Young Joo Chye Today Online 5 May 13;
PUB, the national water agency, thanks Dr Noel Chia for his interest in the groundwater project (“Is Jurong groundwater suitable for ‘fifth tap’?”; April 29). We assure him that there are existing regulations for the disposal of toxic waste and discharge of used water under the Environmental Protection and Management Act, as well as the Environmental Public Health (Toxic Industrial Waste) Regulations, to control pollution.
Waste chemicals and pesticides are included in the latter regulations, and the National Environment Agency conducts regular enforcement action against individuals or organisations to ensure that harmful waste is not introduced into our environment.
Contamination of shallow groundwater is also minimised, as Singapore is fully served by modern sanitation. Raw water from our reservoirs is treated at PUB’s waterworks and meets the World Health Organization’s guidelines for drinking water quality before it is piped to customers.
The groundwater project is a study to explore the presence of deep aquifers within Singapore’s sedimentary rocks and the potential for extracting groundwater in a sustainable, safe manner. The rocks are mostly in the western and southern parts of Singapore, known as the Jurong Formation, and the groundwater resources are likely to be located at much greater depths.
Compared to shallow groundwater sources, these aquifers are generally less influenced by surface run-off and pollutants.
Nevertheless, the project will involve water quality analyses of available samples of groundwater extracted and will help us ascertain the suitability of utilising the groundwater.
PUB welcomes feedback from members of the public, which can be sent through our 24-hour call centre at 1800-284-6600.
