Lying just north of the equator, nestled in the heart of Southeast Asia, more than 5 million people share the small island of Singapore, a city-state of limited natural resources that has grown into a shining example of modernity and economic success. No more so is this evident than when it comes to water – with progressive policies, best-in-class implementation and a burgeoning water industry that is now selling innovation overseas. What can the water industry learn from Singapore?
The success of Singapore’s water story is by design, not chance. Detractors could argue that its success is due to the country’s smaller scale, the fewer tiers within its bureaucratic system and the relatively low complexity of its water network. Such judgment, however, belies the more fundamental architecture of the success.
Its hard to find one place that encompasses so many innovative water solutions desalination, ambitious urban reservoir projects, water recycling, beautification programmes and more.
Singapore serves as a microcosm of lessons and implications for developing and developed nations alike that should be evaluated and tailored where appropriate. Singapore is a model of forward-thinking, a template for truly integrated and sustainable water planning.
Singapore was not always the thriving, cosmopolitan business centre it is today. In 1963, just a few years after self-governance was declared, Singapore experienced a severe drought. These harsh experiences were prescient in helping its government recognize early on that large-scale, long-term economic success would never materialize in the absence of a stable water supply. It rippled throughout planning and implementation, and the message came right from the top.
Speaking at the inaugural Singapore International Water Week in 2008, Lee Kuan Yew, a long-serving Prime Minister of Singapore who is lauded as a visionary of the nations achievements, recalled, “This [water] dominated every other policy. Every other policy had to bend at the knees for water survival.” In other words, almost from day one, Singapore has ranked water as a top priority.
Most people familiar with Singapore would not automatically think of the prosperous nation as water stressed. The country, however, has no natural aquifers and relatively little land to collect rainwater. Historically, it relied on a limited water catchment and importation of water from its neighbor, Malaysia. With holistic planning and investments in technology, this situation has changed today to one where its ambitious goal of water self-sufficiency looks achievable.
Innovation and New Sources of Water
NEWater, Singapore’s brand of ultra-clean, high-grade reclaimed water, was introduced in 2003, and desalination followed two years later. Today, five NEWater plants are dotted across the country, and a second desalination plant – one of the largest seawater reverse osmosis plants in Asia at 70 million imperial gallons per day (318,500 m3/d) – is in the works. Today, 30 percent of demand can be met by NEWater and 10 percent by desalination, with plans to increase these ratios to 40 percent and 25 percent, respectively, by 2020.
Remarkably, PUB, Singapore’s water agency, plans to eventually turn 90 percent of Singapore into catchment areas by tapping into smaller rivers and streams around the island, using variable salinity plant technology, an integration of desalination and NEWater treatment processes.
Singapore is also fast becoming a “hydrohub.” These trailblazing treatment facilities were matched by a government pledge of S$330 million (approximately US$262 million) in 2006 to spur the growth of the water industry through investments in research and development, as well as grooming a new generation of water professionals.
The private sector followed suit. Siemens opened a US$33 million lab in 2007, and GE’s water division opened a joint US$108 million research lab with Singapore National University in 2009. In parallel, the reputation of Singaporean-based companies such as Hyflux, Sembcorp and Keppel are growing rapidly as they export their know-how through the delivery of water plants beyond Singapore’s shores.
Black & Veatch has been involved in the development of Singapore’s water supply systems since 1922. The Singapore office now functions as Black & Veatch’s Global Design Centre for water and as a Centre of Excellence for desalination. In recent years, the company has played a major role in delivering some of the country’s most internationally renowned water projects, including the SingSpring Desalination Plant, the Sembcorp NEWater Plant and the Marina Barrage. Black & Veatch is also an original founding sponsor of Singapore International Water Week (SIWW).
Creating Connections with Water
Singapore’s leadership is also visible through investments in projects that capture the public’s imagination but also set new international standards and best practice. The iconic Marina Barrage, for example, is transforming Marina Bay into a unique, large-scale urban reservoir. Its a physical expression that demonstrates how the country is treasuring every drop of rain that falls on the island. Commissioned at the end of 2010, the new Marina Reservoir can meet about 10 percent of current water needs.
The Marina Barrage is integral to the city’s comprehensive flood-control scheme, alleviating low-lying city areas while becoming a vibrant lifestyle attraction. It has become a popular spot for family picnics, with kites peppering the sky, thanks to the natural uplift the structures design creates.
The freshwater lake the barrage creates serves as a centrepiece in the Marina Bayfront’s necklace of attractions, such as the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort, the upcoming Gardens by the Bay, a new business and financial district, and the Singapore Flyer, creating a vibrant and distinctive water piazza right in the heart of the city.
Education and social engineering efforts are not overlooked either. For example, the recent Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters (ABC Waters) programme, introduced in 2006, encourages local communities to connect with water by transforming Singapore into a city of gardens and water by turning a vast network of drains, canals and reservoirs into beautiful streams, rivers and lakes. The programme calls for participation and involvement, creating a sense of public ownership.
According to Yap Kheng Guan, Senior Director at PUB, “Singapore recognises that water sustainability cannot be achieved through increasing the water supply alone. It is equally important to manage the demand side through partnership with different stakeholders, enlisting them as joint stewards of water. This is especially so, given that two-thirds of Singapore is water catchment, so most people live, work and play in water catchments. With the ABC Waters programme, the idea is that they should enjoy the reservoirs and waterways, and also see that they have to play a part in helping to keep our environmental asset clean.”
