BTS : To drink or not to drink - NEWater
Yap Yok Foo
26 July 2002
To drink or not to drink - NEWater
Tell us where the reclaimed water really comes from and naturally we
all go 'ugh'. But maybe what we should all realise is that it's hard
to define what's really 'pure' water
By Jaime Ee
SO, do you think you'll drink NEWater? After all, it's cleaner than
PUB tap water; it surpasses all criteria set by the World Health
Organisation and US government, and some rather important people were
recently seen on TV drinking bottles of treated waste water that is
touted as a future source of drinking water for Singaporeans. Yeah,
but it's also quite possible none of them watched Kevin Costner's
opening scene in Waterworld (possible since the movie was such a bomb)
where his character filters his own, ah, waste water, and drinks it.
Fine, so it was just a movie set in the dreary future and the desolate
world Costner was in had no access to top water purification
technology like we do. But no matter what this technology can do, it
can't wipe out images from our fertile little minds of water - what we
do with it at home, what other people do with it, and thinking of that
same water being collected into one large tank, mixed with a cocktail
of chemicals to neutralise and purify and pumped back into our water
pipes - charcoal tablets, quick!
Yuck factor, indeed. They weren't kidding when they said some major
re-education was going to be needed to get people over this mindset. I
can almost see the posters: 'NEWater: It tastes just like the real
thing'; 'Water: It doesn't always have to come from a river';
'Something Old, Something New, Yes we Borrowed it but we can colour it
Blue if you want'.
But really, I'm not sure that it was such a good idea to tell people
the truth about reclaimed water and where it really comes from. There
are certain things we don't need to know, like why the sky is blue and
what secret ingredient makes the laksa at a certain stall rated 'D'
for hygiene taste so good.
The main reason we're squeamish about NEWater is that we have
absolutely no idea what kind of water is being brought into the
country before it's treated by the PUB and pumped through our water
pipes. We don't think about what's been dumped into the rivers or seas
that our water originates from, but instead take it for granted that
we get water that's clean enough to drink straight from the tap.
Although those of us brought up on boiled water still continue to do
so, while the more holistically inclined will insist on either
filtering the water or buying pure spring water from health food
shops.
So, tell us the truth about reclaimed water and naturally we all go
'ugh'. But maybe what we should all realise is that it's really hard
to define what's really 'pure' water. Even so-called mineral water
bought off the shelf has varying levels of impurities, or more
minerals than are actually good for you. I'm always wary of buying
so-called imported bottled drinking water, especially since I don't
know if their purification standards are the same as ours. But as they
say, what you don't know won't hurt you.
Besides, NEWater can't possibly be as bad as some of the so-called
drinking water I've tasted in other countries, including Europe and
North America. You know the old joke about not drinking the water when
you go away - I've drunk water that tasted like detergent or even
epsom salts, bathed in water that wouldn't lather with soap and
visited cities where water filter systems are sold like soap. So what
does that tell you?
In other words, we could probably do a lot worse than NEWater. It's
not ideal, but we don't live in an ideal world. Of course, there are
questions about the health value of NEWater as opposed to conventional
water, but ultimately, it's a question of what choices we're left
with. And besides, there's nothing in NEWater or 'old' water that a
trusty water filter can't handle? I hope.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
EDITORIAL
Good enough to quench the thirst
THE name may not be the cleverest or the most elegant, but NEWater
represents the most significant breakthrough in Singapore's search for
solutions to its long-term water needs.
After a two-year start-up involving exhaustive trials and tests,
Singapore can now produce enough NEWater - a locally-coined name for
recycled waste water - to replace what it now gets from Johor under
the treaty that expires in 2011. The importance of this development
cannot be overstated, given that the terms of water supply remain a
thorny issue in ongoing negotiations between Singapore and Malaysia,
and given Singapore's desire to reduce its dependence on water from
across the Causeway.
When the Bedok and Kranji water treatment plants are up and running by
next year, they will initially produce 15 million gallons a day (mgd)
of NEWater - or just 5 per centof Singapore's current water
consumption of 300 million gallons daily. But come 2011, the volume
that comes on-stream could amount to more than 55 mgd, when two more
NEWater plants, in Seletar and Ulu Pandan, come into operation.
To be sure, the reclaimed water - which, after treatment, becomes
purer than tap water - will find only industrial uses for now. Still,
it's a helpful start that will free up more potable sources for
Singaporeans. Notably, Singapore's wafer fabrication plants - which
consume copious amounts of ultra-pure water - are switching to
NEWater. And if NEWater meets the mark for wafer fabs, with its
exacting demands for high-grade water, surely it's more than good
enough for other industries that don't have such water purity
requirements. Indeed, all non-potable users should tap recycled water.
But cost could be an issue: NEWater - while cheaper than desalinated
water - costs more to produce than treating reservoir and river water.
If the Public Utilities Board, Singapore's water authority, wants to
encourage greater use of NEWater - and it should - it must ensure that
it will be affordable. The cost of utilities is already a standard
item on Singapore businesses' list of high operating expenses.
Further on, there's scope to extend NEWater to the consumer sector,
and indeed, the government is already looking at - for a start -
releasing it into the reservoirs to supplement drinking supplies. Of
course, not everyone willtake to the idea of quenching their thirst
with treated waste water. And knowing the details of the advanced
filtration and sterilisation technology may not be enough. But it's
really a case of mind over matter, and assurances that NEWater has
been declared safe to drink by an international panel (even if the
taste is a bit flat) and indeed, found to surpass the World Health
Organisation's drinking-water standards, should, over time, gain
ground with the public.
Surely Singaporeans - who now readily drink from the tap - don't
assume that the rivers and reservoirs that currently feed Singapore's
water pipes are free of virus, bacteria or other micro-organisms. And
the treatment for NEWater removes organisms of up to 0.0001 micron in
size (a strand of hair is about 1 micron) - probably barely visible
even under powerful microscopes.
American example
After all, millions of Americans in California and Arizona have been
drinking reclaimed water for years - from sources such as rivers
polluted with sewer outflows - with no major ill effects. Still, at
least one party is waiting in anticipation for NEWater to take off
beyond the industrial sector here: those selling water filtration
systems for homes and offices, and producers of bottled water.
Singaporeans should welcome the prospect of eventually having an
independent supply of water and start discarding whatever qualms they
have about using recycled water.
http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/