How has Singapore used technology to turn wastewater into drinking water?

Having faced similar problems about five decades ago, neighboring Singapore had very smart methods to thoroughly solve the problem of pollution.

From storing each drop of rain .

50 years ago, the cleanest country in the world today still lacks clean water. The water from the rivers smells and is clogged with waste from shipyards, pig farms and toilets dumped directly into the flow.

But today, everything has changed in the sky.

The country with the highest population density in the world now has a completely new water use policy. They collect, store rainwater, recycle waste water and even develop technology to simulate human kidneys to desalinate seawater.

George Madhavan, an engineer working for the National Water Management Company (PUB) for 30 years, is now the company's communications director, said: "For about a generation, we have changed Singapore face ".

In many countries, agencies are divided according to specific tasks and only focus on their own tasks such as flood control or just drinking water management. But in Singapore it is the opposite; PUB manages the entire journey of the country.

It may be hard to believe but this is a popular image in Singapore about half a century ago.

"Our goal is to store every drop of rain and recycle used water as much as possible. That means we don't sell clean water. We rent water. We handle the stream. After use, this is similar to laundry service, " Madhavan said.

Mr. Madhavan also said: "The water you drink today is the same as the water from the old days. We did not create or destroy it, the water just rotated. So we are using technology to shorten the cycle. life of water ".

After declaring independence on August 9, 1965, the country that owned only 700km2 lived on water from three reservoirs and mainly imported from neighboring Malaysia. Today, Singapore stores rainwater through an 8,000km long sewer network that leads to 17 reservoirs, and also recalls used water from a 60-meter underground drainage system.

Unlike Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo, Singapore does not have much land along the city to dig and lead downstream lines, the government has set up a water management unit in 1972. The period of 1977-1987, 11 Government officials are involved in cleaning up the Singapore River and the main commercial area is heavily polluted. The island has relocated 610 pig farms and 500 duck farms, gathered 5,000 street vendors into food trading centers and moved boats to the east.

In 2008, the government also built the Marina Barrage dam to play a role in flooding and accumulating rainwater. With 9 drains and 7 large pumps, this dam can pump sea water out and retain rainwater inside. This $ 226 million Marina Barrage project is also one of the long-term plans of the late Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

. To seawater filtration technology simulating human kidneys

Madhavan said the Singapore government's biggest challenge was to displace 46,000 people who encroach on land and live in poor conditions without sewers between buildings.

More than 260 tons of rubbish have been removed from the lake after Singapore undertook the renovation. In 1987, the water environment was regenerated, the river in Singapore had fish. Worried about water pollution again, in the beginning, the government controlled people to stay away from the water.

The two natural waters of the island are rainwater and 250 million liters of water every day from Malaysia's Johor River.

Mr. Madhavan also shared an interesting story: "We even used measures to place crocodile signs on lakes and rivers to drive people away."

However, today, Singapore has opened a waterfront area like the Marina Reservoir, where people can kayak, cycle and fly kites. Every day, the lion island nation can provide 400 million liters of water to 5.4 million people.

The two natural waters of the island are rainwater and 250 million liters of water every day from Malaysia's Johor River. Malaysia's agreement to buy clean water will expire in 2061.

Climate change makes natural water sources unreliable, the country is focusing on projects to treat used water and desalinate seawater.

In 2003, NEWater project was officially launched. This is the name of the treated clean water and purified by microfiltration, by osmosis and ultraviolet sterilization.

Meeting 30% of the nation's demand, NEWater is drinking water but is mainly used for industry and storage for the dry season. Singapore oriented the NEWater project to meet 55% of the country's clean water demand by 2060.

Singapore oriented the NEWater project to meet 55% of the country's clean water demand by 2060.

The first desalination plant of the island nation opened in 2005, with the task of filtering seawater, desalinating, creating fresh water and meeting part of people's needs. However, both desalination and NEWater projects have the same disadvantage of consuming a lot of energy to produce, Madhavan said.

Singapore is currently building a factory with an electrochemical desalination testing program, which uses electric fields to remove salt from seawater. According to Madhavan, PUB hopes to reduce half the amount of energy used for production.

Researchers at universities are also developing seawater filtration technology that simulates human kidneys, although this method also requires several years of research.