Here's How Singapore Gets Clean Waterby Muhammad Rafly Andrianza | 29-05-2018 23:07 |
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  Talking about Singapore is not just about shopping for expensive goods and business areas in Southeast Asia, but also about creativity, order, discipline, community harmony, friendliness, and social life. One of the creativity is the recycling of water used by the community into clean water. To ensure a diverse and sustainable water supply, Singapore relies on Four National Taps, which are local water catchments, imports from Malaysia, recycled with NEWater, and desalination or purification of water from salinity. Local water infiltration PUB has responsibility in the collection, production, distribution and reclamation of water in Singapore. In the collection process, rainwater is collected through rivers, canals, and waterways, then stored in 17 reservoirs. The various reservoirs are connected by pipelines so that excess water can be pumped from one reservoir to another. This is to optimize storage capacity. The reservoir is also to prevent flooding when it rains. The water from the reservoir is then channeled to the water line for filtering. After that, the filtered water is stored in a closed reservoir before it is distributed to customers. NEWater Water management does not end there. Used water used by customers is then collected again through a sewerage system and cleaned at a water reclamation plant. For Singapore, used water can be a resource to be re-processed into clean water. Used water treatment uses advanced and ultraviolet membrane technology called NEWater. The resulting water was returned pure, even very pure. This very pure water is healthy to drink, and tastes bland. "Therefore, most of this NEWater water is usually channeled to factories that require pure water, and the rest is mixed with water from the reservoirs, then reprocessed and distributed to the community to be ready for drinking," said George Madhavan, Director of 3P Network Department, to the group while visiting the NEWater Visitor Center building. This building is kind of a place of lighting about the packaged water management like exhibition. Inside there are pictures and replica technology applied in NEWater. George explained that NEWater is able to contribute 30 percent of 30 percent of 273,000 cubic meters (60 million gallons) of water supply to Singaporeans by 2013. "We are targeting by 2060, NEWater can meet 50 percent of the water requirement for Singaporeans," said George. Import from Malaysia Apart from local water catchments and NEWater, Singapore also imports from Johor, Malaysia. George said, water cooperation between Singapore and Malaysia is manifested in two bilateral agreements. The first agreement expires in August 2011 and the second agreement is valid until 2061. However, George said, it continues to try to keep the water dependence on neighboring countries reduced. How to boost resources in Singapore, one of which targeted NEWater 50 percent of the water requirement. Water desalination Singapore also exploits sea water resources for the fulfillment of clean water for its people. Sea water is filtered by desalination process. Desalination is a separation process used to reduce the dissolved salt content of brine to a certain level so that water can be used. George Madhavan said Singapore's first desalination plant was the SingSpring Desalination Plant which began operations in Tuas in September 2005. The plant is Singapore's first partnership project between the state and private parties. According to George, SingSpring is capable of producing 30 million gallons of water or 136,000 cubic meters per day and is one of the largest desalination plants in the region. The second desalination plant will be built this year. The plant is expected to increase the water supply to 70 million gallons or 318,500 cubic meters per day. "By 2060, water desalination is expected to meet 30 percent of water needs in Singapore," he hoped.
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