The Blue Revolution In Singapore
It’s no wonder that stories of Singapore’s miraculous economic transformation have dominated people’s imagination. But to fully appreciate the innovative path that Singapore had pursued with respect to water management, it’s important to look at the history and politics associated with it. In fact, the history of water management in Singapore was largely uneventful until in 1965 when Singapore became independent and water became dear to the lee Kuan Yew, the modern architect of the nation state.
Two major events forced Lee to place water at the high pedestal of policymaking, where water was often confined to its fringes. First, in 1942, the British blew a 70-ft gap in the causeway to stall the Japanese forces. The explosion ruptured the pipe with water from Johor that was under it. Singapore had only two reservoirs and two week of supply of water. This vulnerability of water in terms of Singapore made a profound impression on Lee. Second, in 1965 Lee was informed by the British High Commission that the Malaysian prime Minister threatened to turn off the water in Johor which is crucial for Singapore’s survival and made it dependent on Malaysia. These two events primarily shaped Lee’s lifelong view of the strategic important of water.
Singapore takes a holistic approach to managing its water resources, essentially overseeing the entire hydrologic cycle through one agency, Public Utility Board (PUB). The PUB has termed this approach closing the loop where the core element is the Four National Taps or the four water supply sources to Singapore . They are :
· Imported water from Malaysia
· NEWater ( recycled water)
· Water desalination and
· Local catchments ( that is storm water and reservoirs)
A brief explanation of the four will underscore the essence of the urban water management in Singapore.
Imported water : Singapore and Malaysia have a long history of water import agreements that stretch back to 1927 and a new round of negotiations began in 1998 which was linked to economic packages focused on recovering from the Asian financial crisis. By 2003, Singapore had begun to look seriously for alternative water sources including importing from Indonesia and ultimately the negotiations with Malaysia ended without agreement. With the expiry date of 2061 approaching, this has become the de facto planning for Singapore to advance and diversify its technologies as it moves towards the goal of achieving self-sufficiency in water.
NEWater :It is regarded as Singapore’s success story and a pillar of water sustainability. This mechanism basically recycles used water and further treats the wastewater using a three stage process that includes microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet disinfection. The NEWater which is ultra-clean, high grade recycled water can now meet upto 40% of Singapore’s water needs and the plan is to increase this to 55% by 2060.
Water desalination : Once considered a costly last option for water scarce countries, desalination technology has advanced dramatically over the past decade. Since 2005, Singapore has opened two desalination plants, that can meet upto 25% of its water needs. A third desalination plan was opened in 2017 and two more is projected to be get completed in next 10 years so that desalination can supply upto 30% of the country’s water demand .
Local catchments: Water from local catchments is a pillar of a sustainable water supply. Rainwater that falls on 65 % of Singapore’s land area is channeled into one of 17 reservoirs and this catchment will be increased to 90% in the long run. Further PUB continues to explore ways to maximize the rainwater collection and strives to collect every drop that falls on the land surface.
All the measures listed above emphasize the fact that PUB has been an impressively competent organization and has effectively aided Singapore’s quest for a blue revolution in the region.
