SINGAPORE TO RAMP UP NEWATER AND DESALINATION CAPACITY

SINGAPORE, July 6 (Bernama) -- Singapore will ramp up its NEWater and
desalination capacity so that by 2060 they will account for 80 per cent of
Singapore's water needs.

These targets had been set ahead of the expiry of Singapore's second water
agreement with Malaysia.

Malaysia has agreed to supply Singapore with water till 2061. Speaking at
the Singapore International Water Week event here Tuesday, Prime Minister Lee
Hsien Loong explained that the need to be self-sufficient in water had long been
seen as a strategic necessity.

NEWater now meets 30 per cent of Singapore's water needs and the target is
to raise that to 50 per cent.

Desalinated water currently fulfils 10 per cent of demand, and capacity will
be ramped up significantly when its second and largest desalination plant,
located at Tuas, is operational by 2013.