In water-stressed Singapore, a search for new solutions to keep the taps flowing

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People picnic on the grassy roof of the Marina Barrage pumping station with a view of the Singapore skyline, Saturday, July 22, 2023. The barrage and the adjacent dam separates seawater to create a freshwater reservoir downtown, the city-state’s largest and most urbanized catchment area. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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Girls play on water drop statues, part of a promotional campaign to educate the public on water conservation, at Marina Barrage in Singapore, Saturday, July 22, 2023. Water has long been a vulnerability for the tropical island nation of Singapore, which gained freedom from neighboring Malaysia in the 1960s. Politics with Malaysia, which still supplies some of its water, climate change and a population boom have made Singapore’s quest for water independence much more urgent. Solutions the country now uses now are among the most advanced in the world. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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A worker passes under the reverse osmosis membranes on display at the NEWater visitor Center in Singapore, Tuesday, July 18, 2023. During this process, water passes through semi-permeable membranes to separate out bacteria and other undesirable contaminants. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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A guide talks to a youth group about commitments they can make to conserve water during a tour of the NEWater visitor center in Singapore, Tuesday, July 18, 2023. In the country’s schools, children are taught from a young age about best practices for water use and conservation. Schools hold simulated water rationing exercises where water taps are shut off and students had to collect water in pails. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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A display shows the ultraviolet light technology used to treat wastewater as a group tours the NEWater visitor center in Singapore, Tuesday, July 18, 2023. At the NEWater processing facility, visitors can walk through mock tunnels, see the inside of filters and answer quizzes on ways they can better reduce their own water use while being able to watch water quality checks in real-time. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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A poster promoting water conservation is posted in an elevator at the Changi Water Reclamation Plant in Singapore, Thursday, July 20, 2023. Water technology developed and used in Singapore, such as portable water filters, water testing technology and flood management tools, have been exported to over 30 countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia and Nepal. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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A model shows the underground deep tunnel sewer system as a youth group tours the NEWater visitor center in Singapore, Tuesday, July 18, 2023. A massive wastewater recycling program, which draws wastewater through tunnels linked to the island’s sewers, purifies wastewater through microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet radiation, adding to drinking supply reservoirs. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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Two bottles on display show the difference between incoming used water and treated used water after processing at the Changi Water Reclamation Plant in Singapore, Thursday, July 20, 2023. Dubbed “NEWater”, the treated wastewater now provides Singapore 40% of its water, with the government hoping to increase capacity to 55% of demand in years to come. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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A child passes under a water piping exhibit at the NEWater visitor center in Singapore, Tuesday, July 18, 2023. Singapore has become a global hub for water technology, being home to nearly 200 water companies and over 20 research centers and hosts a biennial International Water Week. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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Joggers pass by a floating solar panel farm on the Bedok Reservoir lined by apartment buildings in Singapore, Sunday, July 16, 2023. In 2006 the government launched the Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters Program which transformed the country’s water systems into more public areas for the public to enjoy. Through the program, reservoirs are now areas where residents can kayak, hike and picnic, giving a greater sense of ownership and value to the country’s water supplies. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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A worker demonstrates a test of drinking water from a tap after being treated at the Keppel Marina East Desalination Plant in Singapore, Friday, July 21, 2023. Five desalination plants, which produce drinking water by pushing seawater through membranes to remove dissolved salts and minerals, operate across the island, creating millions of gallons of clean water every day. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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Rain drops fall during a downpour in Singapore, Friday, July 14, 2023. Across the island, 17 reservoirs catch and store rainwater, which is treated through a series of chemical coagulation, rapid gravity filtration and disinfection. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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Rain falls during the morning commute in Singapore, Thursday, July 20, 2023. With no natural water resources, the country has relied on importing water from neighboring Malaysia via a series of deals allowing inexpensive purchase of water drawn from the country’s Johor River. But the deal is set to expire in 2061 with uncertainty over its renewal. And climate change, bringing increased intense weather, rising seas and an increase in average temperatures, is expected to exacerbate water insecurity, according to research done by the Singaporean government. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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A worker walks through a pumping station at the Changi Water Reclamation Plant in Singapore, Thursday, July 20, 2023. The 50 meter- (164 foot-) deep pumping station receives used water from a sewage tunnel before its treated at the plant into purified NEWater, Singapore’s own brand of reclaimed water. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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A Skytrain shuttles passengers between terminals through the Jewel complex at Changi Airport, Sunday, July 16, 2023, in Singapore. The nature-themed complex boasts the world’s tallest indoor waterfall surrounded by a five story indoor garden with thousands of trees, plants, ferns and shrubs. Singapore has become a global hub for water technology, being home to nearly 200 water companies and over 20 research centers and hosts a biennial International Water Week. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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Cables run out to a floating solar panel farm on the Bedok Reservoir as apartment buildings rise in the background in Singapore, Sunday, July 16, 2023. Singapore is one of the most densely populated countries on the planet. In recent decades the island has also transformed into a modern international business hub with a rapidly developing economy. The boom has caused the country’s water consumption to increase by over twelve times since the country’s independence from Malaysia in 1965 and is only expected to continue to grow. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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A youth group tours the micro filtration system at the NEWater visitor center in Singapore, Tuesday, July 18, 2023. At the NEWater processing facility, visitors can walk through mock tunnels, see inside of filters and answer quizzes on ways they can better reduce their own water use while being able to watch water quality checks in real-time. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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Rain falls as passengers sit in a bus during the morning commute in Singapore, Thursday, July 20, 2023. Across the island, 17 reservoirs catch and store rainwater, which is treated through a series of chemical coagulation, rapid gravity filtration and disinfection. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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Workers monitor drainage and reservoir cameras for problems during a heavy rain from a command room at PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency, in Singapore, Thursday, July 20, 2023. The room is part of Singapore’s cutting-edge water management system that combines technology, diplomacy and community involvement to help one of the most water-stressed nations in the world secure its water future. The country’s innovations have attracted the attention of other water-scarce nations seeking solutions. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

By VICTORIA MILKO and DAVID GOLDMAN

SINGAPORE (AP) — A crack of thunder booms as dozens of screens in a locked office flash between live video of cars splashing through wet roads, drains sapping the streets dry, and reservoirs collecting the precious rainwater across the tropical island of Singapore. A team of government employees intently monitors the water, which will be collected and purified for use by the country’s six million residents.

“We make use of real-time data to manage the storm water,” Harry Seah, deputy chief executive of operations at PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency, says with a smile while standing in front of the screens. “All of this water will go to the marina and reservoirs.”

The room is part of Singapore’s cutting-edge water management system that combines technology, diplomacy and community involvement to help one of the most water-stressed nations in the world secure its water future. The country’s innovations have attracted the attention of other water-scarce nations seeking solutions.

A small city-state island located in Southeast Asia, Singapore is one of the most densely populated countries on the planet. In recent decades the island has also transformed into a modern international business hub, with a rapidly developing economy. The boom has caused the country’s water consumption to increase by over twelve times since the nation’s independence from Malaysia in 1965, and the economy is only expected to keep growing.

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With no natural water resources, the country has relied on importing water from neighboring Malaysia via a series of deals allowing inexpensive purchase of water drawn from the country’s Johor River. But the deal is set to expire in 2061, with uncertainty over its renewal.

For years Malaysian politicians have targeted the water deal, sparking political tensions with Singapore. The Malaysian government has claimed the price at which Singapore purchases water — set decades ago — is too low and should be renegotiated, while the Singaporean government argues its treatment and resale of of the water to Malaysia is done at a generous price.

And climate change, which brings increased intense weather, rising seas and a rise in average temperatures, is expected to exacerbate water insecurity, according to research done by the Singaporean government.

“For us, water is not an inexhaustible gift of nature. It is a strategic and scarce resource,” Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at the opening of a water treatment facility in 2021. “We are always pushing the limits of our water resources. And producing each additional drop of water gets harder and harder, and more and more expensive.”

Seeking solutions to its water stresses, the Singaporean government has spent decades developing a master plan focusing on what they call their four “national taps”: water catchment, recycling, desalination and imports.

Across the island, seventeen reservoirs catch and store rainwater, which is treated through a series of chemical coagulation, rapid gravity filtration and disinfection.

Five desalination plants, which produce drinking water by pushing seawater through membranes to remove dissolved salts and minerals, operate across the island, creating millions of gallons of clean water every day.

A massive sewage recycling program purifies wastewater through microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet irradiation, adding to drinking supply reservoirs. Dubbed “NEWater”, the treated wastewater now provides Singapore 40% of its water, with the government hoping to increase capacity to 55% of demand in years to come. To help build people’s confidence in the safety, Singapore’s national water agency collaborated with a local craft brewery to create a line of beer made from treated sewage.

Innovation has been possible partially because of the involvement of private businesses, Seah said.

“Sometimes private sectors may have a different way of doing things, and you can learn from them. Industry involvement in us is very important,” Seah said.

Getting community participation and buy in has been an effective method to improved awareness and conservation as well, Seah said.

In 2006 the government launched the Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters Program, which transformed the country’s water systems into more public areas. Through the program, residents can kayak, hike and picnic on the reservoirs, giving a greater sense of ownership and value to the country’s water supplies. Several water facilities now have public green spaces on the roofs where the public can picnic amid big lush green lawns.

In schools, children are taught about best practices for water use and conservation. Schools hold mock water rationing exercises where water taps are shut off and students collect water in pails.

The international community has tapped into Singapore’s water innovation as well. The country has become a global hub for water technology, as home to nearly 200 water companies and over 20 research centers and hosts a biennial International Water Week.

Water technology developed and used in Singapore, such as portable water filters, water testing technology and flood management tools, have been exported to over 30 countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia and Nepal.

But not all of the solutions used in Singapore will relevant to other countries, especially those with less-developed infrastructure concedes Seah.

Despite the leaps that Singapore has made in its journey for water security, Seah warns that continued progress is essential for the island.

“After more than two decades we are still constantly analyzing the water,” he said. “We can never be complacent.”