EVALUATION! WE CHOOSE NEWATER!

The advantages: of NEWater is that it can reduce our country's dependence on imported water from other countries. And, by having the NEWater , our country can be totally self-sufficient if there is no new water agreement. We do not need to depend on other countries for water which costs a lot if create our own source of drinking water. Through recycling the water, it helps to maximize the use of resources left on the Earth to ensure that there are sufficient supply to last the future generations. It helps to save space and it is energy efficient which means that money would not be wasted in the process. It can also save much money as it is cheaper than desalination. We can process the water throughout the whole year as it is not weather dependent. It is sustainable and environmentally friendly.

The natural resources on Earth are limited and there is a need for countries to maximize the use of these resources to ensure that there are enough to last the other generations. Countries should reduce, reuse and recycle these natural resources. One example of natural resources is actually water and there is limited supply of water in the world. Some countries would have abundant (a lot of) supply of water but some countries would not have.

With the population growing everyday, there is a need to find alternative to satisfy the human's needs and that is NEWater.

That's why we chose NEWater as our best choice to increase our water supply in Europe.

Video~NEWater Singapore

Video~Save water campaign

Video~Reclaiming and recycling water

Video~Recycling Rainwater

Video~Hyflux

TAP FOUR! Desalinated Water

The SingSpring Desalination Plant in Tuas can produce 30 million gallons of water a day and is one of the region's largest seawater reverse-osmosis plant.

Supplies 136 000 million litres of desalinated water daily, which meets 10% of Singapore’s water needs. It is an integral role in Singapore’s drive towards self-sufficiency and will meet future needs at an affordable cost.

SingSpring Desalination Plant in Tuas

TAP THREE! NEWater

NEWater is obtained from reclaiming used water. Treated used water is further purified, making it suitable for human consumption. It is supplied to both industrial and commercial buildings, but a small percent is blended with raw reservoir water. There are 4 NEWater factories- Bedok, Kranji, Seletar and Ulu Pandan. Since it is ultra-clean, it is ideal for wafer fabrication plants which require high-quality water.

The country enjoys 2,340 millimeters of rainfall a year -- much of which is caught and funneled into the water supply through a network of drains, canals and reservoirs dotted around the city.

Singapore is bereft of sufficient domestic water reserves and is highly reliant on Malaysia for at least half of its water supply

Although Singapore separated from Malaysia in August 1965 under acrimonious circumstances, the water links continued.



Seletar NEWater factory



Kranji NEWater factory

Ulu Pandan NEWater factory

Bedok NEWater factory

TAP TWO! Imported water

Singapore buys raw water from the state of Johor, Johor buys back the water after it has been treated and turned into potable water. They have been buying water from Malaysia since 1920. Singapore has already signed 2 agreements with Malaysia. The first one is signed in 1961, which will expire in 2011 and the second one is signed in 1962, which will expire in 2061.

Jurong railway line

Johor Bahru Causeway

TAP ONE! Water from local catchment areas

There are 14 reservoirs island wide, half of Singapore is used as water catchments. Extension of the catchments, 350m wide Marina Barrage. Some freshwater reservoirs in Singapore are Sungei Punggol and Sungei Serangoon.

In 2009, water catchments of Singapore will comprise 2/3 of Singapore’s total area.

Sungei Serangoon

Sungei Punggol

OVERCOMING WATER CONSTRAINTS!

To reduce Singapore’s dependence on Malaysia for water, they have put in place a diversified water supply system called the 4 National Taps.

How Singapore OVERCAME WATER CONSTRAINTS!

Ongoing contract with Singapore’s neighbour Malaysia (Which is, however, due to expire soon) from which Singapore gets her clean water. Development of water recycling facilities and establishments such as Hyflux using reverse osmosis and other distilling techniques to produce potable water from used water. Use water wisely and keep our water courses and catchment areas clean at all times.

Physical limitations

Area : 700km2

Small water catchment areas

Small rivers:

Small volumes of water

Dry spells;  

Water levels drop in some months   

Growing demand for water

Population: Rapid increase

Increased demand for water for domestic use

Development of: industries and businesses

Average daily demands for water

Method THREE! Increasing the water supply

Measures taken to increase the water supply are expanding catchment area, building reservoirs (Marina Barrage); create new technological innovations (Water reclamation (NEWater) and seawater desalination).

Extending the catchment area is also extending the area from which the rainwater can be collected and stored for later use. Could be done by building more reservoirs. E.g. Marina Barrage, Punggol Reservoir.

The Marina Barrage is a dam built across the Marina Channel. It acts as a tidal barrier; it creates a fresh water reservoir behind it.

It is a 3-in-1 project- Water Supply, Flood Control and a New Lifestyle Attraction. It increases the water catchment from half to two-thirds of Singapore. Water from the reservoir will be treated to drinking water standards.

Technological innovations include water reclamation and seawater desalination.

Water reclamation refers to reclaiming/recycling water by removing the waste materials from it. Singapore created NEWater using this method. This practice has been ongoing for more than 20 years. In Africa, people filter waste water through sand/pebbles. In Peru, people harvest fresh water from the condensation of fog.

Seawater desalination is a process by which seawater is changed to fresh water.

The old method uses lots of fuel while the new method is done using pre-treatment filtration system and reverse osmosis system.

NEWater

Outside NEWater

Inside NEWater

Marina Barrage

Reservoirs and water catchment areas

Seawater Desalination

Method TWO! Increasing the price of water

Imposing the water conservation tax to reduce wastage as means to conserve water. Having 2-tier water rates and water conservation tax to encourage conservation of water.

E.g. of countries; Singapore, Norway, states in the USA such as Oregon and Washington.

 

Increasing price of water

 

Method ONE! Conservation

Recycling household water by using laundry water to flush toilets and using water from washing vegetables to water the plants. Collecting rainwater to wash the floor helps us to save water too.

Singapore makes use of pipes and drains which are connected to the reservoirs to collect rainwater. By repairing underground leaking piping systems, we would stop the leaking and not waste water.

For farmers they should consider using water drips instead of water sprays or irrigation canals.

For factories, they should replace older equipments that use more water with water saving equipment.

Finally, they can organize water saving campaigns such as water rationing exercises and mass medias.

Leaking pipe

Fixing faulty pipes

Collection of rainwater

Irrigation

Water spray

Overall, we should use water wisely and keep our water courses and catchment areas clean at all times.

Definition of WATER CONSERVATION.

Water Conservation refers to the careful use and protection of resource so that the supply of water is sustainable and can be used by future generations.