Sunday, January 8, 2012

Managing Water Effectively: Lessons from Singapore


Although Canada holds 20 percent of the world’s fresh water, we posses only 7 percent of the world’s renewable fresh water. The perception that Canada has an abundance of fresh water has led to misuse and abuse as evidenced by Canada's reprehensible per capita water consumption of 343 litres per Canadian per day. Canada requires more stringent policy to ensure sustainable water use and consumption.

The Canadian government can learn from countries like Singapore- a country that has built robust and highly effective water management policies.

Singapore covers an area of about 700 km2- slightly larger than the city of Toronto. With a population of 4.4 million, Singapore has consistently ranked as one of the least corrupt countries in the world. While Singapore receives 2400mm of rain annually, it is still considered a water-scarce country because of the limited amount of land that can be used to collect rainfall.

In order to provide sufficient water for its 4.4 million residents, Singapore’s water management approach relies on a combination of four strategies: rainfall storage, desalination, water imports and advanced technology for recycling water. Because of its holistic approach, Singapore has been able to successfully balance water quality and quantity considerations in an equitable manner that achieves economic efficiency, promotes public and private sector cooperation, and reduces reliance on external sources.

Let’s take a look at Singapore’s four strategies in further detail:

1.       Rainfall Storage:
Since 86 percent of Singapore’s population lives in high-rise buildings, the city-state has relied indispensably on collecting rainfall for non-potable uses (mainly for toilets). The cost of collecting rainwater is $0.25 USD per cubic meter compared to the cost of collecting potable water which is $0.33 USD.

2.       Desalination:
In 2005, Singapore created its first desalination plant, SingSpring, with the capacity to produce 30 million gallons of water per day. The plant uses three stages to treat water. First, sea water goes through a treatment process whereby suspended particles are removed. Next, water undergoes reverse osmosis. Finally, the water is remineralized.

A second desalination plant with a capacity to produce 70 million gallons of water will be completed in 2013. Combined, these two plants will allow Singapore to meet 7.4 percent of its current water demand.

3.       Water Imports:
Singapore currently relies on water imports from Malaysia to satisfy 40 percent of its water demand.

4.       Recycling Wastewater:
In 1998, Singapore started experimenting with water reclamation—the process of cleaning wastewater to safely return it to the environment. The Singapore Public Utilities Board (PUB) built a prototype plant, The Bedok Water Reclamation Plant, in May 2000 and after two years of testing the plant received a clean bill of health. The water quality was so high that it even met the quality standards of the Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization.  After the success of the Bedok Water Reclamation Plant, Singapore has begun to collect, treat, and reuse wastewater on a larger scale.

Public Policy
Singapore passed the Trade Effluent Regulation in 1976 to ensure all wastewater discharge undergoes extensive treatment. While many other countries have similar requirements, Singapore has strictly enforced and implemented its regulations. When waste from cattle farms became a major source of contamination, Singapore enacted the Cattle Act to restrict the rearing of cattle to certain areas.

By using an approach that collects water from four sources, Singapore has been able to curtail its reliance on external water supplies and institute an efficient, cost-effective, and equitable water management strategy. Singapore’s four tap strategy will allow it to achieve self-sufficiency by 2060 as highlighted below.
















By Trevor S.