Singapore’s NEWater Journey
PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency commemorated the closure of NEWater Visitor Centre (NVC) and Bedok NEWater Factory (BNF) with a closing ceremony recently. The event graced by Guest-of-Honour, Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, was attended by more than 100 guests.
In her opening remarks, Minister Fu paid tribute to the dedication and significant contributions of the pioneers, whose indomitable spirit has been integral in implementing the technology behind NEWater. Some of these pioneers include PUB’s Senior Consultant, Harry Seah, then-Project Manager of the NEWater study team who oversaw the research and development phase of NEWater before it was launched in 2002, and Tan Thai Pin, the study team’s Deputy Project Manager. Tan played a crucial role in garnering support from industrial partners and convinced them to adopt NEWater in their operations. Professor Ong Choon Nam, a prominent local expert on water quality, contributed valuable technical knowledge as Chairman of the International Expert Panel on NEWater alongside his fellow panel members.
Continuing NEWater public education
Although the NVC has officially closed on 31 July, visitors can still head to the Sustainable Singapore Gallery (SSG) at the Marina Barrage to learn more about the Singapore Water Story, which features NEWater as one of the key components of Singapore’s water management strategy. PUB is committed to continue NEWater education and promote water sustainability and is working on developing a new exhibit on NEWater at SSG and at a learning gallery located at the upcoming Tuas Nexus.
Bolstering NEWater supply
With Singapore’s water demand projected to nearly double by 2065, NEWater’s role as a dependable and weather-resilient National Tap remains vital. To meet projected increase in water demand from industries, PUB is building a third NEWater Factory in Changi, located within the existing Changi Water Reclamation Plant (WRP). The upcoming Tuas NEWater Factory (TNF), which will be integrated within the Tuas Water Reclamation Plant currently under construction, will have a production capacity of 75 million gallons per day (mgd) – the equivalent of 136 Olympic-sized swimming pools. A construction tender for the expansion of TNF from its initial capacity of 25 mgd to 75 mgd will be launched later this year.
As it progresses towards a three-node1 used water management system by 2035, PUB will continue to expand Singapore’s used water treatment capacity and NEWater infrastructure. Plans are underway to reconstruct Kranji WRP and Kranji NEWater Factory (KNF), while Changi WRP will undergo a third phase of expansion to further increase its used water treatment capacity.
Pursuing research and innovation in NEWater
PUB continues to innovate for greater efficiency of the NEWater production process. Since 2006, it has incorporated membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology in its used water treatment process. This 3-in-1 solution combines conventional bioreactors, secondary sedimentation tanks and microfiltration and ultrafiltration in one single step. The benefits include increased energy efficiency of used water treatment, reduced land footprint of the water reclamation plants and higher quality effluent for NEWater production.
The development of ceramic-based MBR also further enhanced its used water management. PUB conducted successful demonstration trials to validate the use of ceramic MBR systems as part of the used water treatment process, which proved to be more resilient to chemical damage and able to effectively treat industrial used water. The upcoming Tuas WRP will be retrofitted with ceramic MBRs for industrial water treatment and will house the world’s largest MBR system.
There is also a continuous effort to enhance energy efficiency in NEWater production. PUB has been collaborating over the last few years with local and overseas partners to develop and scale biomimetic membranes for municipal applications. The technology uses nature-based protein water channels within a filtration membrane, which facilitates high water flow while minimising energy consumption. Demonstration plant trials at KNF with Aquaporin Asia which commenced last year are showing promising results, achieving 20 percent reduction in energy consumption.
To improve NEWater recovery rates, PUB explored the incorporation of water technology company ROTEC’s proprietary Flow-Reversal technology in the reverse osmosis membranes used during the NEWater production process. Initial trials have successfully demonstrated an improvement in recovery rates from 85 percent to as high as 90 percent, enabling PUB to produce more NEWater from each drop of treated used water effluent. The Flow-Reversal technology will be incorporated into the design of our future NEWater plants.
About PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency
PUB is a statutory board under the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE). It is the national water agency, which manages Singapore’s water supply, water catchment, and used water in an integrated way. From April 2020, PUB also took on the responsibility of protecting Singapore’s coastline from sea-level rise as the national coastal protection agency.
PUB has ensured a diversified and sustainable supply of water for Singapore with the Four National Taps (local catchment water, imported water, NEWater, desalinated water). PUB leads and coordinates whole-of-government efforts to protect Singapore from the threat of rising seas and the holistic management of inland and coastal flood risks.
PUB calls on everyone to play a part in conserving water, in keeping Singapore’s waterways clean, and in caring for Singapore’s precious water resources. If everyone all do their little bit, there will be enough water for all needs – for commerce and industry, for living, for life.
- The three-node system, with the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System at its core, consists of Changi WRP in eastern Singapore, Kranji WRP in the north and Tuas WRP in the west. ↩︎