SUPPLY OF WATER

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SUPPLY OF WATER:

(Achieving self-sufficiency):

* 8. *Dr Lam Pin Min asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources if he will provide an update on Singapore's effort in achieving self-sufficiency in our water needs.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Mr Speaker, Sir, we have over the years developed a diversified and sustainable supply of water through our Four National Taps strategy, ie, water from local catchments, imported water, NEWater and desalinated water.

While continuing to rely on imported water, we are increasing the amount of water that we collect from our local catchments. The construction of the Marina Barrage has been completed and that of two new reservoirs at Punggol and Serangoon are scheduled to be completed next year. Together, they will increase our catchment area from half to two-thirds of Singapore’s land area.

Since the launch of NEWater in 2003, we have been successful in substituting potable water with NEWater for non-potable use, conserving precious potable water for drinking. The construction of our fifth and largest NEWater plant at Changi is currently in progress. When

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completed, NEWater will be able to meet 30% of our water needs by 2011, up from the current 15%.

Our fourth tap is desalinated water. The SingSpring desalination plant in Tuas was commissioned in 2005, and can supply up to 10% of our water demand.

In summary, the implementation of the strategies under our Four National Taps approach ensures a robust and sustainable supply to meet Singapore’s long-term water needs, and to be self-sufficient, if need be.

Dr Lam Pin Min (Ang Mo Kio): I would like to ask the Minister, in addition to the current available water technologies, what other R&D project is the Government investing towards water self-sufficiency and maybe even more affordable modalities of fresh water generation? And the second question is: are there plans to continue importing water beyond the said agreement?

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, let me reply to the second question first. We have two agreements with Malaysia, one is expiring in 2011, the other one in 2061. The previous Minister and myself have mentioned in Parliament that we will not renew the 2011 agreement and we have communicated this to the Malaysians. For the 2061 agreement, it is still a long way to go. We will continue with that until the time comes for us to review it whether we want to prolong that or not.

On the first question as to whether we are exploring other means, the answer is yes. We are exploring all other available technological solutions to harvest as much water as possible from Singapore's land area. NEWater has been our great success but we are not being complacent. For example, we have put a request for research proposal in which Simens has been awarded the contract to investigate

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how best we can reduce the energy costs for desalination. So we will try our very best to provide affordable water to Singaporeans and use technology to improve our water harvesting. Another example would be the Variability Salinity Plant, which is a water plant which can take both brackish water and river water at the same time. So we can change between slightly desalinated water and slightly fresh water and clean the water up. This allows us to put these plants at the various mouths of the canals across Singapore and thereby increasing the water harvesting in Singapore.

The PUB is committed to finding new ways and means to improve our water supply but the solution lies in technology because Singapore is such a small space. We do not have enough catchments and, therefore we have to find some other ways of using technology to harvest all the rainwater that falls onto our land.

Mr Low Thia Khiang (Hougang): I would like to ask the Minister how the water self-sufficiency programme, and whatever that we achieve, would benefit Singaporeans, in particular, whether when we achieve water self-sufficiency, the water tariff will be reduced and water conservation tax will be abolished.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, the water conservation tax will never be abolished because it is the tool that allows us to actually conserve water and therefore providing more water for Singaporeans. It is put in place to send an important message to Singaporeans that water is a strategic resource. Use it by all means but use it judiciously. It is an important lesson for us, as mentioned by Minister Mentor during the Singapore International Water Week, that we do not want to be thirsty any longer. So it is important for us to send that message and I do not think, at least in my time as

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Minister, that we will remove the water conversation tax. But I do not think the Singapore Government is also keen to remove it. What happens is that we will help people at the bottom who may have difficulties.

In terms of the water tariff, we will continue to monitor the impact of energy price and other impacts on our water tariff. We will adjust it accordingly if there is a case to be made. At the moment, the water tariff is about the right level and we will keep it that way.

On the benefits of self-sufficiency, obviously, we will feel secure as there will be the constant supply of water to meet both our domestic and non-domestic needs. As I mentioned in my reply, if need be, we can be self-sufficient. At the moment, we have the Four National Taps and they are in place to give us the diversification and reliability of our water supply system and we will keep it at that. But, meanwhile, we will continue to explore new technologies to find other ways in which we can increase the yield from Singapore's land area.

Mr Speaker: Miss Penny Low, last question.

* *Miss Penny Low (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Mr Speaker, surely increasing the supply of water through water harvesting and technologies is one part of the spectrum, the other part of it is managing the demand for water itself. I am wondering whether there is any indication of the trend, whether we are going to face an increased demand in water in future and, also, what measures are there that the Government might be putting in place or giving incentives for the reduction, or managing the demand for water.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, I thank the Member for the question because it is an important part of our equation, which is managing water

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demand. For both the domestic and non-domestic sectors, we have different strategies. But, ultimately, the aim is for them to reduce water consumption as much as possible. At the moment, if my memory serves me right, our consumption is about 158 litres per person per day. We have a target of trying to achieve 155 litres per person per day by 2012, which is our green plan.

We will continue to review this, taking into account factors such as population increases. At the same time, we will continue to reach out to the community to help them to reduce water consumption as much as possible by giving them tips and things that they can use at home, for example, thimbles in which they can fix into their faucets and taps. For the non-domestic sector, the PUB has launched a 10% reduction, called the 10% Challenge, to help the non-domestic sector to reduce their water consumption. And this can be done in two ways. Firstly, by reviewing their whole water consumption and the areas in which they can be cut back.

Secondly, PUB has gone, together with some of the industry players, to see how at the initial stage, in the design stage, what are the water efficient measures that they can put into their plant and to ensure that the water consumed is at the right level. So these are the efforts by the PUB and we hope that through these efforts, Singaporeans, both domestic and non-domestic, will respond to the call from the PUB to try and use water as judiciously as possible.