HOW SINGAPORE INCREASE THEIR WATER SUPPLY AND DEALT WITH WATER SCARCITY


Dear Minister of Environment of Europe and all other readers

My team from Europe which consists of 5 members ; Nadiah, Danial, Syasya, Firdaus, Nufail, has been sent to Singapore to find out what they have done to increase water supply. During the trip we have discovered a few ways that Singapore dealt with water scarcity that might help Europe overcome water shortage in our country. Here are a few ways that we would like to share with you.

Before we tell you the methods, watch this video of a group of students in Singapore asking other people about the water scarcity in Singapore: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksL1sxa5zUw

Singapore has put in place a diversified water supply system called the 4 National Taps.




The first tap is expanding catchment area, is collected in reservoirs and  storm water collection ponds. Before 1975, Singapore only had three reservoirs. Since then, 11 more reservoirs were constructed. Some of them are located at MacRitchie, Lower Peirce, Kranji, Marina and Bedok.  By 2009, Singapore's total catchment area occupied 2/3 or Singapore's total area. In November 2008, Singapore announced the opening of a new reservoir- Marina reservoir which could supply up to 15% of Singapore's water needs. The advantage of this tap is that is that it is lower in cost as rainwater is cheaper to purify and easily collected. Also, the increased amount of rainwater collected acts as a ready source of potable water. At the same time, more nature reserves and areas of greenery can be conserved in the process. However, there are also some disadvantages to this tap. It is not suitable for small countries due to land constrain. Also there will be less land available for other purposes such as building of houses and industries. 

(Credits: PUB link )

The second tap is imported water which Singapore get from neighboring countries that they sign international agreements with. They are currently in a contract with the Malaysian state of Johor for water in exchange with money. Singapore have been buying water from Malaysia since 1920. The first agreement(signed in1961)  expired in August 2011 and the second agreement(signed on 1962) would expire in 2061. As of 2003, about 40% of Singapore's water came from Malaysia.  Singapore buys raw water from the state of Johor, Johor then buys back the water after it has been treated and turned into potable water. The advantage of this is that it is a convenient way of obtaining water supplies. The disadvantages of this is that it is not sustainable for the long run as the contract might expire, causing an effect in water supply. Some countries may also increase the price of their water to earn more. Thus, it is not a long-term solution because we are not being self-sufficient. It is not possible for Singapore to keep relying on imported water since there is always an underlying threat when our neighboring countries decided to cut off  their water supplies to Singapore.



 





(Credits: Wikipedia )

The third tap is by using NEWater. NEWater is another effective way to increase the supply of water in Singapore as wastewater is made drinkable for people through the usage of technology and hence, makes Singapore less dependent on other countries. NEWater is reclaiming or recycling water by removing waste material from used water. This process has been ongoing for more than 20 years in Singapore. It is supplied to both industrial and commercial buildings, but a small amount is supplied to homes. NEWater is mixed with rain waters in reservoirs before it is sent to water treatment plants. It is the success story and the pillar of Singapore's water sustainability, NEWater is a high-grade reclaimed water produced from treated used water that is further purified busing advanced membrane technologies and ultra disinfection, making it ultra-clean and safe to drink. The source of this national tap is water reclamation of used water. They basically take the used water and clean the water at a water treatment factory which are located at Bedok, Kranji, Seletar, Ulu Pandan and Changi. This can provide advantages for supplying water for the country. This can be a long term solution to overcoming water constraint. Used water can also be converted into potable water for any purposes. the country also does not have to depend on other countries to provide them with water. However, there are some disadvantages for this tap which are people that are not used to the taste of water as minerals and nutrients are removed. This tap will however be costly for the government as the cost of building the factory is high(the NEWater plant in Bedok cost $6.82 million). In 2011, Singapore's latest and largest NEWater plant was completed. This plant together with the expansion of the existing four NEWater  plants can meet 30% of the nation's water needs. By 2060, we plan to triple the current NEWater capacity so that NEWater can meet 50% of their future water demand.
 "Because it is ultra clean, NEWater is ideal for industry use, such as wafer fabrication processes. NEWater is supplied to wafer fabrication, electronics and power generation industries complexes for air-con cooling purposes. This frees up potable water for domestic use." ( Adapted from: www.treehugger.com/files/2011/01/singapore-bottling-wastewater-to-battle-water-scarcity.php )



(Credits: PUB link )

The  last tap is desalinated water. Desalinated water is also another effective way to increase the supply of water in Singapore as seawater is made drinkable through desalination which is a modern way to get a modern supply and hence, making Singapore more self-sufficient and less dependent on other countries. Desalination is converting seawater into potable water for domestic and industrial purposes through distillation and reverse osmosis. Distillation is the process where water is being boiled and water vapour is collected and condensed into fresh water. Reverse osmosis on the other hand is a process whereby  seawater is pumped at high pressure through a special membrane, which separates the dissolved salts from the water. Desalinated water supplies produces as much as 136,000 million litres of desalinated water daily, which meets 10% of Singapore's water needs. One example of a desalination plant is the SingSpring Desalination Plant in Tuas uses reverse osmosis method to produce 30 million gallons of water a day which cost Singapore $200 million. The second 70mg desalinated plant will be completed in 2013. By 2060, they intended to ramp up desalination capacity by almost 10 times so that the desalinated water would meet at least 30% of their water supply. This can provide several advantages for Singapore in supplying water and can be a long term solution to overcoming water constraint. However, there are some disadvantages for this tap which is because this method is extremely expensive and uses large amounts of energy. This will cause the government a lot of their expenses which could be used for housing or other purposes. There are also a few water projects that they have organized to ensure a sustainable water supply for Singapore. For example, they had events like cleaning up the Singapore River, building the Marina Barrage and creating the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System.




(Credits: PUB link )

Besides having 4 National Taps, Singapore also emphasizes on conserving water to increase water supply. Conserving water would need the help of the people in the nation itself. They would have to advertise the uses and methods of conserving water such as recycling household water, recycle laundry water for flushing toilets, water for washing of vegetables to be used to water plants. They would have to educate the public by having save water campaigns, water rationing exercises and by mass media.

Schools also participate in campaigns and competition to keep people aware of water consumption. Here are a few videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkHKtUFFVrA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3twfCGUJfM

I hope this proposal that includes methods and ways Singapore tackle the water scarcity problem would help you think about other methods and even using the methods that we have find out to deal the water shortage in Europe.
 
Here's a last video for all of you to watch on Singapore's 4 National Taps :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9o3WmU8ZB1c

Here are some photos related to the topic :

Yours Sincerely
The group of researchers from Singapore

(All images found in Google.)