Singapore 4 Taps

• Heavy rain - 178 rain days per yr; 2300 mm avg rainfall annually
• 1° North of equator; city state - 719.2 km²
• Lacks space to store sufficient water
• Demand expected to double by 2060 but determined to stop relying on freshwater imports from Malaysia
• Climate change = less reliable rainfall
• Four 'national taps' used to meet current demand of 430 mn gallons of water per day
• After 17 years of no change, water price set to rise by 30% over next 2 years
• Tap 1: Imported Water

  • Bilateral agreements signed with Malaysia in early 1960s hence allowing Singapore to build a water treatment works next to Johor River
  • Singapore meets up to 40% of its water needs from Johor pipeline
• Tap 2: Catchment water

  • Aquifers of little significance
  • No large natural lakes and no rives over 10 km in length
  • Urbanisation = high surface run off into sea
  • PUB want to change this with its call to 'collect every drop of water'
  • 17 reservoirs = captures water from 2/3 of land area, the most recent of which are located downstream e.g Mariana dam which supplies 10% of freshwater
• Tap 3: NEWater

  • Waste water from homes and industries collected and transferred underground along a 48 km deep tunnel sewage system to one of Singapore's 5 NEWater treatment plants
  • UV disinfectant and dual membrane filtration used to purify water relatively cheaply
• Tap 4: Desalination

  • 2 desalination plants supply 25% freshwater needs
  • Uses seawater reverse osmosis
  • 2 further plants scheduled for opening by 2020 to increase freshwater needs to 30%
  • Whilst it is expensive, they take up less space and access to salt water (guaranteed) = important for land starved Singapore
  • Use of alternative technology e.g biomimicry is being explored to help cut energy needs of Singapore's desalination plants