FEB 21, 2003
Newater released into S'pore reservoirs

By Dominic Nathan
DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR

NEWATER started flowing into the reservoirs on Friday but it could be another three to six months before it flows out of taps in homes.

For a start, most of the reclaimed water will go to wafer-fabrication plants and some commercial buildings in the Tampines area.

With a symbolic turn of a giant brass tap by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong at the Bedok Newater plant, Singapore took a major step towards becoming self-sufficient in water.

And it came with an assurance from PM Goh that water prices will stay affordable, under S$2 a cu m, for some time.

It now costs S$1.52 a cubic metre. Water tariffs were last raised in 1997.

It was thought then that the next jump would be to around S$2.

But technology advances and improvements in energy efficiency mean that the additional water sources will cost less than were projected six years ago.

Desalination of seawater has turned out to be less expensive than thought, and Newater, even cheaper to produce than desalinated water.

The Government gave the go-ahead to use Newater for drinking after accepting the report of an expert panel which carried out 20,000 tests over two years and found Newater to be safe for drinking and cleaner than PUB water.

Public acceptance of Newater has been overwhelming, noted PM Goh before touring a new S$5 million visitor centre at the plant, which will be open to the public.

Starting on Friday, two million gallons a day (mgd) of reclaimed water, or 1 per cent of all water consumed, will be blended with raw water supplies in the Bedok, Kranji and Upper Seletar reservoirs.

It will go up to 10 mgd or 2.5 per cent of total water consumption by 2011.

But most of the 55 million gallons of Newater to be produced daily by 2011 at Bedok, Kranji, Seletar and Ulu Pandan will still go to wafer-fabrication plants like Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing.