SINGAPORE LAUNCHES CHANGI WATER RECLAMATION PLANT

SINGAPORE, June 24 (Bernama) -- Singapore Tuesday officially commissioned
the Changi Water Reclamation Plant that can treat 800,000 cubic metres of used
water daily.

The plant is part of the republic's Deep Tunnel Sewerage System (DTSS) that
was conceived to meet Singapore's needs for the collection, treatment and
disposal of used water over the next 100 years.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who launched the plant this evening to
coincide with the International Water Week event, said the project was an
important milestone in Singapore's "water journey" over the last half century.

"Many may not know or recall how far we have come. Five decades ago, when we
achieved self-government, only one-third of our population were served by proper
sanitation," he said.

The service then depended on a bucket system with a rudimentary network of
pumping stations and shallow sewers that led to two treatment plants, Lee said,
adding that it was only in 1997 that modern sanitation was finally brought to
every Singaporean.

The $3.65 billion and 50km-long sewerage system is like a superhighway
running 20 to 55 metres underneath Singapore that links an extensive network of
sewers from homes and industries into centralised water reclamation plants.

The system which is being developed in two stages, will first convey used
water from the northern and eastern parts of Singapore to the Changi Water
Reclamation Plant for treatment. The second phase which will take over 10 to
20 years to implement will then serve the used water needs of the western part
of the island republic.

Lee said with the DTSS, Singapore could gain about 1,000 hectares of
land or three times the size of its Central Business District when the land
occupied by used water plants and pumping stations would be released for
development.

The prime minister said the treated used water from the Changi Water
Reclamation Plant was also a vital feedstock for large-scale production of
NEWater, Singapore's own brand of reclaimed water.

Singapore's fifth and largest NEWater plant is currently being built on the
rooftop of the water reclamation plant, and together with existing plants, the
republic will have enough NEWater capacity to meet one-third of its water needs
by 2010.
-- BERNAMA