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and that is because PUB has been running our desalination
and NEWater plants at almost full capacity. Most of our NEWater is used by industries
that need a very pure source of water. But in addition to that, we have been able to put about 35
million gallons per day of NEWater to top-up and maintain our current reservoir stocks,
and this NEWater mixed with the raw water in the reservoir ultimately enters PUB's potable
water supply.
Nearly all water authorities that use recycled water for human consumption do something like
this, I'm answering your question yesterday. They first use the
recycled water to top-up then reservoirs or to top up the aquifers,
and then this is mixed with raw water and pre-treated the second time using conventional
treatment methods. This is what we call indirect potable use. We can also think of this as
creating an environmental buffer. The water from reverse osmosis, which is very pure,
contains hardly any minerals at all. This water is mixed with raw water in the reservoir,
is subject to the usual ecological processes that occur in the reservoir, and then it undergoes
conventional treatment all over again.
I note Er Lee's query yesterday. Your question was: do we need to double-handle
water? And let me spend a little time going through this in detail.
So far in the world, I only
know of one water authority, which since 1968 has been piping recycled water directly into
the potable water supply. This is the water authority in Namibia, from a place called
Windhoek. I have not been there personally. But they have been doing this since 1968.
Now, we all know NEWater is safe to drink.
All of us in this House have drunk it. You
will remember the National Day Parade, when at that time PM Goh Chok Tong raised the toast
to Singapore and we all drank it. As a doctor, I know it is safe to drink. But
to dispense
with the environmental buffer, to make it routine, is a big step,
and is not one which
I want to rush into. First, we have to make sure that Singaporeans understand that it
is safe and accepted. Secondly, we have to be doubly, triply, quadruply sure that all
the fail-safe mechanisms are in place, because my paramount concern must be the safety and
health of our people. So therefore I accept that there
is some merit in your suggestions
or questions, but this is something I will study very, very carefully and I want to give
you this assurance that our top and paramount concerns are public hygiene
and safety, security
and the peace of mind of our people. So let us not rush into this.
Now, we owe a great debt to our founding leaders and the pioneer generation in the
PUB for their vision, foresight and hard work that led to the development of Four National
Taps for Singapore. But just bear in mind that the most recent desalination plant, with a capacity
of 70 million gallons a day, was only completed six months ago. We commenced building this
plant in 2011, and if you remember, in 2011, PUB was
heavily criticised for floods and
not droughts. I think this is a good reminder that in fact, flash floods come and go, but
droughts can be prolonged and are in fact of much greater strategic threat to our well-being.
Now, we are reasonably secure for now but we should not be complacent. As I said earlier,
we do not know whether this will turn out to be an El Nino year, and if so, how severe
an implication that has for drought, and drought not only in Singapore but for the region;
and even worse, for the agricultural producers, which also has knock-on impact on food prices
and other related issues. So, the point is we cannot afford to waste water and we need
to be very careful to emphasise conservation and to insist on an efficient use of water
across all sectors.
14. There are many aspects in our daily life, both big and small. One example will be the
which we have launched is this thing called the Minimum Water Efficiency Standards scheme
(MWES). For instance, we said we will state that only washing machines with at least 1-tick
of efficiency will be allowed for sale in Singapore from 1 April 2014. We intend to
raise the minimum standards to at least 2-ticks in 2015. I think the general point here is
that we are trying to save both water and save money for Singaporeans.
The non-domestic sector currently consumes 55% of Singapore's total water demand. This
55% will grow to 70% by 2060. PUB has started by
encouraging the voluntary submission of
Water Efficiency Management Plans (WEMPs) by companies since 2010. We believe that these
plans would help companies become more aware of their water usage patterns, and they would
identify ways to reduce consumption and raise their efficiency. To date, about 35%
of large water users have submitted their water management plans to PUB on a voluntary
basis.
We will have to go further and we will mandate the submission of these plans by all large
water users with effect from June 2015. So, companies consuming 5,000 or more cubic metres
of water each month will have to install a private water meter within their premises and submit
their WEMPs annually to PUB.