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FEB 22, 2003 Launching Bedok plant, PM Goh says water will stay affordable. Newater will reach homes in three to six months' time By Dominic
Nathan NEWATER started flowing into the reservoirs yesterday and could reach homes in three to six months' time. At first, most of the reclaimed water will go to wafer fabrication plants and some commercial buildings in Tampines. With a symbolic turn of a giant brass tap by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong at the Bedok Newater plant, Singapore took a huge step towards being self-sufficient in water. And the PM promised that water, which now costs $1.52 a cubic metre, would stay under $2 per cubic metre for some time. Water tariffs were last raised in 1997 and the next increase was expected to raise them to around $2. But technology advances have trimmed costs. Desalinating sea water is cheaper than was thought; and Newater, even cheaper to produce. Newater, he said, would have the most profound impact on Singapore's future water supply. By 2061, when the second of two water agreements with Malaysia expires, Singapore can be totally self-sufficient. For Public Utilities Board (PUB) chairman Tan Gee Paw, Newater's launch is the fulfilment of a 30-year dream. As an engineer with the board, he worked on its first master plan in 1972, which considered water reclamation. The first plant was built in 1974, but decommissioned in 1975 because the technology was expensive and unreliable. The idea was revived only in 1998. Within four years, they knew it would work. 'I cannot describe the excitement I felt,' he said. 'We had in our hands the solution to our water challenge.' An expert panel tested Newater for over two years and said it was safe for drinking, even cleaner than PUB water. Then the Government gave the go-ahead to use Newater for drinking. Public acceptance had been overwhelming, PM Goh noted before he toured the plant's new $5 million visitor centre. An independent poll last October by Forbes Research found that 82 per cent of Singaporeans would drink Newater directly and another 16 per cent would drink it mixed with reservoir water. As of yesterday, two million gallons a day, or 1 per cent of consumption, will be blended with raw water in the Bedok, Kranji and Upper Seletar reservoirs. By 2011, it will be 10 million gallons a day, or 2.5 per cent of consumption. By then, 55 million gallons will made daily at Bedok, Kranji, Seletar and Ulu Pandan. Most of it will still be used by wafer-fabs. Four million gallons a day now go to the seven existing wafer fabs and demand is growing. But people shouldn't ease up on water conservation, the PM cautioned. The PUB will launch a new programme, promoting devices like thimbles to help homes cut water use by 5 to 8 per cent. Said the PM: 'If we run water-efficient homes, we can lower our utility bills significantly. More importantly, we will help stretch our national water sources.' We'll have enough water 'By 2011, when the 1961 Water Agreement expires, we will not need to renew it. By 2061, when the 1962 Agreement expires, we can be totally self-sufficient, if there is no new water agreement with Malaysia. We are grateful to Malaysia for supplying us water all these years, and in
the years to come. However, I see our decreasing reliance on Johor water in a
positive light. It will take the sensitive issue of water out of the equation
of bilateral relations.' |
