If we do not import water from the other countries, where and how do we get our water supply from?
By the time when two water agreements where Malaysia imports her water supply to Singapore are dued. There would be a possibility that the contract would not be
renewed again! Without having the contract renewed, how are Singaporeans going
to survive without water? Thus, it is anticipated that NEWater and desalination
water would be produced in a more significant quantities to supplement the
traditional source.
This is when we realised the importance for
NEWater!
NEWater is the product from a multiple barrier water reclamation process:
The first barrier is the conventional wastewater treatment process whereby the
used water is treated in the Water Reclamation Plants.
The second barrier, and first stage of the NEWater production process, uses
microfiltration/ultrafiltration to filter out suspended solids, colloidal particles, disease-causing bacteria, some viruses and protozoan cysts. The filtered water that goes through the membrane contains only dissolved salts and organic molecules.
The third barrier, and second stage of the NEWater production process, utilizes reverse osmosis (RO). In RO, a semi-permeable membrane filters out undesirable contaminants such as bacteria, viruses, heavy metals, nitrate, chloride, sulphate, disinfection by-products, aromatic hydrocarbons, and pesticides that cannot pass through the membrane. Hence, NEWater is free from viruses and bacteria and contains very low levels of salts and organic matter. At this stage, the water is of a very high quality.
The fourth barrier, and third stage of the NEWater production process, acts as safety precaution. UV disinfection is used to ensure that all organisms are inactivated and the purity of the product water guaranteed. With the addition of some alkaline chemicals to restore the pH balance, the NEWater is ready for use.
In fact, the quality of NEWater is cleaner than the other sources of Singapore's water.
Thus, NEWater is one of the main source in providing water supply in Singapore.
