WATER SUPPLY

Mr Goh Choon Kang asked the Acting Minister for Trade and Industry what steps his Ministry has taken to ensure the water supply that Singapore needs.

The Acting Minister for Trade and Industry (BG Lee Hsien Loong): Mr Speaker, Sir, Government policy has been for PUB to develop all available water resources in Singapore. This has been done. We have recently completed the Sungei Seletar/Bedok Water Scheme. This is the last major surface water source available in Singapore for development.

The PUB has two water agreements with the Johore Government. These agreements assure us an adequate supply for our present needs.

Mr Eric Cheong Yuen Chee (Toa Payoh): May I ask the Acting Minister for Trade and Industry what precautions are we taking in view of the threats by various political groups in Malaysia to cut off our water supply and to take over the waterworks in Johor Baru in three months' time?

BG Lee Hsien Loong: Mr Speaker, Sir, the Member's question is hypothetical. There is no need to over-react. We have heeded the proverb in Chinese that goes "Ju an si wei, you bei wu huan ( )" which means, "In times of peace, prepare for danger. Where precautions have been taken, there is no peril."

Dr Augustine Tan: Mr Speaker, Sir, are we considering desalination plants for Singapore as an alternative?

BG Lee Hsien Loong: Mr Speaker, Sir, we rule out no possibilities for the future. For the present, it is not feasible, for a number of reasons. Firstly, desalination has never been done on the massive scale which would be necessary if we were to depend on it as our sole source of water supply. Secondly, it is extremely expensive, expensive in terms of energy because, to distil the water, you must have electricity or some other heat source to boil it, distil it and then condense the clean water. We have no cheap source of energy. If we were an oil state in the middle of the desert with natural gas coming out from the ground which had no other market, we would burn the natural gas and distil water. We are not that. If we had to distil water in order to have a water supply, I would present the options to the Member: between spending perhaps 10 times the present cost of water to get a bucketful of water and forgoing that bucketful of water, for a clean bath, I would go for the second option rather than the first one.

This does not preclude future developments. Maybe technology will change. It could become cheaper. Maybe in time cheaper sources of energy will make distillation feasible. For example, nuclear energy could be one source of power, which would make it worthwhile for us to distil water. But where in Singapore would you put a nuclear power plant, with a safety radius of perhaps 20 miles? Where would you evacuate the population of Singapore should something happen to the nuclear power plant? It is out of the question. If ever fusion becomes a reality, maybe in a generation, well, it is possible that that will give us a cheap, safe source of energy which will give us a desalination capability. As of now, nobody has done it. Hong Kong, some years ago when the People's Republic of China (PRC) threatened to cut off its water supply, built the desalination plant. They have mothballed it because it is just too expensive to operate. I do not think we need any plants to be put in mothballs.

Dr Augustine Tan: Mr Speaker, Sir, do we have the capacity to ration water to households by installing meters that shut off after X number of gallons per day?

BG Lee Hsien Loong: That is an innovative suggestion. I will ask the PUB to look into the matter.

Mr Leong Horn Kee: May I ask the Acting Minister based on the planned capacity and usage, how long can our water supply last? Are there any plans to continue to promote water conservation?

BG Lee Hsien Loong: How long it lasts depends on how much we consume and how much rain there is. I do not intend to disclose the figures. I do not think it is desirable. As for conservation, yes, we will continue to have water conservation campaigns; in fact, water conservation must not only be a campaign but must be a way of life, because this is a problem which will never go away from us. We have tracked our water consumption over the years. We have studied the figures and tried to find out what it is which determines how much water we consume, and we have come to one very clear conclusion: It is the GNP of Singapore which determines how much water we consume. Firstly, in factories and commercial buildings, the more you are producing, the more water is required. Secondly, even with a population in homes and households, the higher the GNP, the higher the income of the population, the higher the standard of living, the more water is used. It is a fact that 5-room HDB flats use more water per capita than 3-room HDB flats. And as the population upgrades, our consumption will go up. So year by year the demand is there. We have to restrain the demand by conservation, by careful use, and we have to increase the supply by developing all our water resources which are feasible. But we must never forget. This is a problem which is forever.

Mr Goh Choon Kang (Braddell Heights): Mr Speaker, Sir, it has been reported recently that one of the water agreements has come up for review. Can the Minister tell the House what progress has been made?

BG Lee Hsien Loong: We have two water agreements, 1961 and 1962. They provide for the price of water to be reviewed after 25 years, to take into account the value of money. That means the agreements still run. The 1961 agreement runs for another 25 years to the year 2011 and the 1962 agreement runs for another 75 years to the year 2061, which I think is beyond what any of us is likely to see here. But the agreements do not end. It is just a provision within the agreement that after 25 years the price of water can be reviewed, but reviewed to take into account the value of money, namely, only to compensate for inflation. I have to report to this House that there has been no request to review the water rates so far.

Mr Tang See Chim (Chua Chu Kang): Sir, I just want to know what proportion of water is actually flushed down the drain, and whether the Government has any plans to use sea water for the purpose?

BG Lee Hsien Loong: In answer to the Member's question, I do not have a precise fraction of water which is flushed down the drain. I think PUB has done some of these studies. It is relatively small. PUB has also considered sea water. It is not an absurd idea. There is a possibility of sea water or recycled water, not of such a high standard of cleanliness, being used for domestic washing or for toilet flushing. We have not found it feasible because it would require installing a completely new reticulation system. That means a whole new network of pipes has to be laid out. You have to make sure that you never misconnect the pipes and interconnect the two systems, which is a real danger. Thirdly, even if you do that, sea water is highly corrosive. The maintenance problems will be very expensive. If we use recycled water, for example, from your washing machine in order to save the water, and use it to flush toilets, it is dirty water. There is bacteria and bacteria will breed. It will smell. It is unhealthy. So far, we have not found it worthwhile to do.