Thirsty Singapore taps more reclaimed waste water
Thirsty Singapore taps more reclaimed waste water
Jason Szep Reuters Singapore
In a bid to wean itself from dependence on neighboring Malaysia, Singapore will open its fourth plant to turn sewage into drinking water.
Singapore, which relies on the Malaysian state of Johor for half of its water supply, said on Friday it would open the plant to make what city planners call "NEWater", or recycled waste from air-conditioners, sinks and toilets.
Since last February, Singapore has been replacing about 1 percent of its total daily drinking water consumption with the reclaimed waste water. That will more than double to about 2.5 percent of all tap water in seven years.
A new plant -- the fourth and largest NEWater facility in the resource-starved island state -- would open in 2006, Environment Minister Lim Swee Say said on Friday.
Singapore's first two NEWater factories supply about 10 million gallons (45 million liters) of recycled waste water each day to industrial plants, commercial buildings and fresh-water reservoirs.
State-run TV often plays up the safety of NEWater. In one news broadcast, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong was seen guzzling a bottle of NEWater after a sweaty round of tennis.
The plants themselves are also drawing flocks of tourists.
One saw more than 100,000 visitors last year after glossy brochures on the facilities were distributed to hotels and tour agencies, with offers of free guided tours that end with a souvenir bottle of reclaimed waste water.
A third plant will start this month to help quench Singapore's daily water consumption of about 300 million gallons -- a figure the government says will rise by a third in 10 years.
Turning the tap on NEWater follows years of dispute between Singapore and Malaysia over the price Singaporeans pay for water under two pacts dated before the two countries separated in 1965.
By 2061, when one agreement expires, Singapore could be completely self-sufficient in water, the government estimates.
Singapore gets nearly half of its drinking water from catchment areas designed to preserve almost every drop of rain.
The rest is piped from Johor at a price of three Malaysian cents per 1,000 gallons of raw water -- a figure Kuala Lumpur initially said it wanted to raise 100-fold although it has since revised the offer.
To speed self-sufficiency, Singapore has awarded contracts for the supply of desalinated sea water and is expanding its water catchment areas to cover two-thirds of the island by 2012.
Construction of the first desalination plant started on Friday.
"Desalinated water is now an affordable source," Lim told a ground-breaking ceremony. When finished next year, the $118 million plant will satisfy 10 percent of Singapore's thirst for water, or about 30 million gallons a day, officials say.
The fourth plant at Ulu Pandan will have a capacity of 35 million gallons a day.