Singapore presses ahead with desalination program
Singapore presses ahead with desalination program
Agence France-Presse
Singapore
Singapore announced Friday that it will push ahead with a
program to develop desalination as an alternative source of water
while pursuing long-term supply deals with Malaysia and
Indonesia.
The Public Utilities Board (PUB) said it had pre-qualified 11
bidders for the supply of 136,000 cubic meters (30 million
gallons) of desalinated water per day under a build-own-operate
scheme.
"This is part of our planned diversification of water
sources," a PUB press statement said.
Bidders for the project are free to choose from a range of
available processes under the tender, which will close in April
2002.
Desalination is a treatment process that removes dissolved
salts from seawater. Two main processes are used for desalination
-- distillation and membrane methods.
The contract is expected to be awarded in the second half of
2002, and the PUB will enter into a 20-year water purchase
agreement starting from 2005.
"The water purchase agreement will set out the tariff
structure, terms and conditions for the purchase of desalinated
water," the statement said.
Singapore is still negotiating the terms of a new long-term
water supply agreement with Malaysia, one of the key issues in
the two neighbors' often volatile relations.
It has also entered into agreements with Indonesia to develop
water resources in Riau province near Singapore.
Officials say Singapore must diversify its water sources and
employ conservation over the long term to ensure stable and
secure supplies. Reservoirs have been built to trap abundant
rainfall, but it remains dependent on outside sources.
The city-state of four million people obtains half of its
daily water from Malaysia's Johor state. Its two water agreements
with Malaysia expire in 2011 and 2061.
Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew in September brokered a
deal in which Malaysia will supply 350 million gallons of water
after 2061 but with prices drastically increased.
Singapore also has to give Malaysia 12 parcels of land in what
was seen as a "bonus" for the water deal.