Property Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
Kochi
Malabar
Thiruvananthapuram
Wise water management – lessons from Singapore
|
How Singapore manages its water requirement is a lesson for urban Indians, writes S.Vishwanath
|
Photo: R. Ashok
Take the cue: Singapore’s water management strategy has wider application in India.
Being an island nation, water resources too like many other resources, tend to be limited and this is true of Singapore too. With a population of 3.80 million and a land area of 699 square km is officially a ‘water stressed’ nation as it has less than 1000 cubic metres per person per year as water availability. It’s average rainfall of 2400 mm per year gives its only internal fresh water resource and it imports 40 per cent of its water needs from neighbou
ring Malaysia. How Singapore manages its water requirement is a lesson for all urban areas in India.
The 4 taps strategy
Key to its water management is what it calls the 4 taps water strategy. The 4 taps include its own catchment management and water harvesting in reservoirs, buying water from Johore, Malaysia, desalination plants to supply water and recycling wastewater through its ambitious and innovative NEWater plants.
The first tap is to harvest rainwater which falls on its land and to store them in reservoirs. Approximately 60% of Singapore is now a catchment for its own water reservoirs. Whereas previously most rain would flow into the sea, now they are channelised to be collected in 14 reservoirs kept away from sea waters, treated and supplied back to the city. While previously stormwater channels were simply concrete drains designed to flush out the heavy downpour away, they are now being treated ecologically to encourage softer landscapes, flora and fauna and to increase the biological propensity which natural rivers have as compared to concrete drains. The second tap is water brought from Malaysia which contributes currently to 40% of its requirements. Two agreements for water purchase signed in the 1960’s have tended to become contentious at times but also have withheld all stresses and strains and never has Malaysia stopped water supply to Singapore. One of the agreements will come up for renewal in 2011 and the other in 2061. The third tap is recycled sewage water called NEWwater. 3 wastewater recycling plants recycle close to 90 million litres per day. This recycled water is put back in the fresh water reservoirs, treated further and supplied back to the city for all its requirements. Treated wastewater is put through a further 3 step process of membrane based ultra filtration, reverse osmosis and ultra violet treatment before being sent to reservoirs. Around 20,000 tests were conducted before the water was found fit for consumption. It is gradually being integrated into the city’s water requirements through first for non-potable purpose use and also through its blending with reservoirs for potable water use
The fourth tap is desalination. The first desalination plant was commissioned in 2005 with a capacity to produce 136 million litres of desalinated water per day which is about 10% of water requirements.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Property Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
Kochi
Malabar
Thiruvananthapuram
|
