Harmonious cities - UN-Habitat

URBAN WATCH Project round-up
Water
Tourist success for
Singapore’s new
systems
As a resource scarce city-state,
relying on most of its water supply
from historical rival Malaysia,
Singapore is aiming to reduce this dependence
by introducing innovative technologies
in water recycling and sewage.
Under decades-old treaties, which start expiring
in 2011, Singapore buys more than half
of its water from Malaysia. The water trade
has sparked occasional spats between the two
nations over pricing and other issues.
The planned “sewage super highway” is
aiming to help reduce this dependency, and
is already winning awards before its completion,
due by the end of this year. Singapore’s
deep tunnel sewage system (DTSS) made up
of a 48-km-long deep tunnel that stretches
u r b a n
58 WORLD
November 2008
from Kranji to Changi was awarded at the recent
World Water Congress, Vienna.
The USD 3.65 billion system is a centralised
wastewater treatment plant with a deepsea
outfall near Changi. It began in 2000 to
cater to the country’s increasing population
and growing economy.
Director of Policy at the National Water
Agency, PUB, Tan Yok Gin said that it will
form an integral part of Singapore’s water
supply strategy as it allowed every drop of
water to be collected, treated and further
purified.
“Singapore has come a long way in its used
water management, from the early days of the
night soil bucket system,” Tan said in Vienna.
The Government in Singapore has even
turned this into a tourist attraction. Used water
collected from homes and industries will
be channelled through the deep tunnel to the
Changi Water Reclamation Plant where it is
treated to international standards before being
discharged into the sea or sent to the NE-
Water factory to be bottled — the city-state’s
very own brand of reclaimed water.
The factory where it is made had reportedly
become so popular that the government
decided to promote it as a must-see for
tourists. In its first year of opening, the NE-
Water visitor centre received more than
100,000 people.
Currently, there are four NEWater plants
in Singapore. The fifth plant at Changi will be
Singapore’s largest. NEWater will meet about
30 percent of Singapore’s total water demand
by 2010, when it will also be completely connected
to the new DTSS network.
“By collecting all the used water for treatment
and further reclamation at one centralised
plant, the DTSS allows us to recycle
water on a large scale. Singapore’s 5th NEWater
Factory will be built on the rooftop of the
Changi Water Reclamation Plant. When completed,
the Changi factory will not only be the
biggest in Singapore but one of the biggest in
the world,” added Mr Tan. u
The new “sewage super highway” is aiming to resolve Sinagapore’s water shortages Ph o t o © PuB