FEB 22, 2003
New water is reborn

Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong yesterday turned on the Newater tap, and put Singapore on the road to becoming self-sufficient in water. In this three-page special SHARMILPAL KAUR and ALEXIS HOOI look at how Newater has taken off and how water conservation is still important to homes and industry here

FISH have taken to Newater as well as they do to river water.

Medaka fish, a Japanese breed normally used in animal studies, have thrived despite spending the past two years in tanks filled with concentrated Newater at the National University of Singapore.

Many of the thousands of fish tested lived out their full lives without any health problems and have even bred a second generation of equally healthy offspring.

Alongside the tanks of fish, were cages of mice that drank nothing but Newater. They too showed no signs of health problems and lived up to the human equivalent of between 80 and 90 years of age.

The tests, carried out even though they were not required, confirmed that Newater contained no viruses, parasites, cancer-causing agents, hormones nor any substance that affected fertility or caused birth defects, said Professor Ong Choon Nam, director of the Centre for Environmental and Occupational Health Research at the National University of Singapore, who led the team of researchers.

Both sets of findings on the fish and mice tests support what a panel made up of nine local and foreign experts said in a report on Newater last year.

It had strongly endorsed Newater as a safe and sustainable source of water, exceeding the drinking water standards of both the World Health Organisation and the United States' Environmental Protection Agency.

The experts, who included scientists, doctors and microbiologists, ran more than 20,000 tests over two years.

About 190 different parameters were evaluated, from the colour of the water to detecting the presence of bacteria, viruses, hormones, cancer-causing agents and new pharmaceutical compounds.

Newater passed with flying colours.

Referring to the standards set by the two organisations, the panel's chairman, Prof Ong, said: 'The tests were very comprehensive and thorough. In terms of fulfilling international water requirements, we have exceeded the two very commonly-used international guidelines and standards.'

One of the foreign experts on the panel, Professor Joan Rose, an expert in water-pollution microbiology from the University of South Florida, described Singapore's approach as being the 'best of the best' after comparing it to similar water reclamation plants in the US.

But concerns over safety do not end with the extensive testing carried out over two years during the pilot phase.

Environment Minister Lim Swee Say told The Straits Times that there will be continuous online monitoring of the Newater quality at the Bedok plant, which was up and running yesterday.

He said: 'If there's any deviation, and the water produced does not meet the specified standards, we'll know. In fact, the system will shut down the particular module automatically.'

And there is no manual override, which means the problem must be fixed before that section can be restarted.

There will also be independent auditing of the water quality standards, added Mr Lim.

Little surprise then that an independent survey done by research company Forbes found that 98 per cent of Singaporeans had no problems drinking Newater.

Mr Lim said: 'The response has been so positive and so encouraging that in fact it was beyond our expectations.'

And with the opening of the Bedok Newater plant, the public education efforts will become more hands-on.

A $5 million visitor centre has been built above the plant, complete with Newater cascading down the sides of two glass walls.

An auditorium and six interactive multimedia stations will give visitors an understanding of how Newater is produced through videos and computer games.

And for a close-up look at the real thing, an elevated walkway covered by clear glass panels also allows visitors to see how water is 'reborn'.

Said Prof Ong: 'We have leased water with a new life - we can recycle water and give it new life over and over again. That's a very meaningful process.'