Friday, February 14, 2003
ASIA FILE
Singapore braves its water woes
Singapore takes its vulnerability seriously. It consumes 300 million cubic metres of water, but demand isn't standing still
Barun Roy Published : February 14, 2003
Under pressure from Malaysia to pay more for the drinking water it buys from across the causeway, Singapore has taken two steps that will help it become more self-reliant.
First, it has decided to try out seawater conversion and has awarded a S$250 million build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract to a Singaporean-French joint venture to build the island republic's first desalination plant on reclaimed land at Tuas. The company, SingSpring, 70 per cent owned by Singapore's Hyflux and 30 per cent by France's Ondeo, will start building the plant later this year to produce 136,000 cubic metres of water per day.
Second, and perhaps more significant, it has begun to distribute what it calls NEWater, which actually is wastewater purified for drinking. After test production at a pilot plant at Bedok, some 2 million gallons of NEWater, about 1 per cent of Singapore's total consumption, is being pumped daily into raw-water reservoirs to be processed again before distribution. Using an advanced membrane technology, sewage is reclaimed, micro-filtered, and put through a reverse osmosis process to remove all minerals, particles, and bacteria and produce ultra-clean water that is safe to drink. Those who have tasted it say it's better than the water they normally drink. Another plant will be built at Kranji to expand NEWater production to 10 million gallons daily by 2011.
It is the government's intention to meet at least 25 per cent of Singapore's water needs from alternative sources by 2011: 15 per cent from NEWater, 5 per cent from seawater, and 5 per cent from treated industrial water.
2011 is important. That's when the first of Singapore's two water treaties with Malaysia runs out. This treaty, made in 1961, allows Singapore to extract 86 million gallons of water daily from the Pulai, Tebrau, Skudai rivers in the southern Malaysian state of Johor. Malaysia may decide to renew this treaty, but Singapore isn't taking any chances.
Of course, there's the second treaty, signed in 1962, which has a longer life. It lets Singapore draw up to 250 million gallons daily from the Johor river and the Linggui reservoir and expires only in 2061. When Singapore broke away from Malaysia in 1965, both treaties were included in the Separation Agreement and were registered with the United Nations. Thus, both are international treaties and can't be altered except by mutual agreement or through arbitration.
But Malaysia thinks Singapore is paying next to nothing - just three cents for 1,000 gallons - and says that it has the right to demand a raise. Singapore agrees, but wants the price issue discussed as part of a package of other issues left over from the separation, like the use of Malaysian air space by the Singapore Air Force and the building of a bridge to replace the causeway between the two countries.
At first, Malaysia was agreeable to the package idea. But later it changed tack and now wants the water price discussed separately. Singapore feels let down. What annoys Singapore more is the fickleness of Kuala Lumpur's demand. It first wanted 45 cents per 1,000 gallons, then proposed a raise to 60 cents until 2007, M$3 from 2007 to 2011, and a higher inflation-based rate till 2061. Then it changed its mind again to demand M$6.25 flat for the remaining duration of both contracts.
As both countries battle out the issue, which has involved angry exchanges between their leaders and nasty comments in the Malaysian media, Singapore has taken its vulnerability very seriously.
Every year, Singapore consumes about 300 million cubic metres of clean water, which the existing arrangements with Malaysia are just about right to take care of. But the demand isn't standing still. It's expected to go up by at least a third by 2012, and a natural shortage will occur unless other arrangements are made in the meantime. Shortages will be massive if Malaysia doesn't renew the 1961 treaty.
With no rivers or lakes to tap, Singapore's only indigenous source of water is rainfall collected in ponds and reservoirs. Fourteen such reservoirs have been built so far and the scope for building more is limited.
Desalination as an idea has interested Singapore for at least a decade and a half. Cost was one of the factors - another was the non-availability of an appropriate plant site - why the government hadn't gone for it earlier. Since then, new land has been added through reclamation and new advances in technology have made desalination more affordable. Already, a small desalination plant has been built on Pulau Seraya to serve factories on that island.
Once the first commercial plant gets off, even though it's likely to cost a billion Singapore dollars to build, the government's motivation to go for desalination will be even stronger. As for NEWater, the republic's prestigious Ngee Ann Polytechnic has started offering a course on the technology of its production, which some 300 Singapore Water Board employees have already signed up for.
Business Standard Ltd. Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110002. INDIA Ph: +91-11-23720202-10. Fax: 011 - 23720201 Copyright & Disclaimer editor at business-standard.com