A delegation from the Singaporean water company PUB visited the KWR Water Research Institute in the Netherlands last month to discuss joint research on the capture and use of rainwater.

During the visit specialists on both sides shared their knowledge and experience and it became clear that more research is needed on new water concepts.

The many challenges that Singapore is facing in the area of drinking water are summed up in the following objectives:

• Collection of every drop (optimizing the country’s rainfall collection)
• Collection of every used drop (a centralised wastewater system)
• Using every drop more than once (water reuse)
• Collecting new water (water desalination)

Because of the country’s small surface, it is not in a position to store all of its rainwater for use as drinking water. Currently, 90% of the country’s land is already being used to capture rainwater and, among other initiatives, an artificial lake was created to increase water storage and security.

Use of treated wastewater for production of drinking water is also becoming increasingly important in Singapore. People speak of “used water” and “new water” to raise the acceptability of this water source.

KWR and the Dutch water companies are looking to contribute to these goals as they work intensively on research into water-quality sensors and chemical screening techniques, among other concepts.

After KWR, the PUB delegation will visit Thames Water, as well as Veolia in France and Eawag In Switzerland.