Singapore is an island country. Freshwater resources are extremely scarce and groundwater resources are inadequate. Despite the annual rainfall of 2350 mm, Singapore, a tropical island country, is still seriously short of water because of its land area of more than 600 square kilometers. Its per capita water resources are only 211 cubic meters, ranking second to last in the world. The daily water use of Singapore's 4 million residents depends on the collection and storage of rainwater, and the long-term purchase of water from Malaysia under the Singapore-Malaysia Water Supply Agreement. Under such circumstances, the protection and utilization of water resources has naturally become the top priority of the whole country. Therefore, Singapore has been vigorously developing desalination technology, new water and so on.

 

It is reported that the Singapore Public Utilities Bureau is currently researching the first place to use intelligent water meters, which will replace the traditional water meters used by existing user units.

 

Following the implementation of the first phase of the Smart Water Meter Scheme, the Public Utilities Bureau will first assess its effectiveness and strengthen its technical capabilities, and then fully implement the scheme in other parts of the island. And most importantly, users don't have to pay anything for smart water meters and installation work!

 

Previously, about 1.6 million water meters were installed in residential and non-residential units throughout the island. Water meter data is read by staff at home every two months. Users receive bills every month. The Public Utilities Bureau estimates users'water consumption every other month. But after the user unit installs the intelligent water meter system, the water consumption can be read automatically many times a day, and the relevant data will be transmitted back to the public office on the same day. This will further assist the authorities in early detection of water supply networks and leakage from user units.

 

In addition, users of smart water meter system can also query daily water consumption by mobile phone application or website, and receive timely notification when water consumption is high or there are signs of leakage, so as to solve the problem as soon as possible.

 

The Public Utilities Bureau issued a report the day before yesterday pointing out that the large-scale implementation of intelligent water meter plan is one of the important directions for the Bureau to move towards smart utility in the future. In order to achieve the goal of water saving, change water use behavior, optimize water demand management and improve work efficiency, the Public Utilities Bureau will cooperate with other government departments to explore how to better improve public services by using existing water use data.

 

In 2016 and 2018, the Bureau successively tried out intelligent water meters in two locations, Pang Goose and Yuhua. The average water consumption of 800 households participating in the experiment decreased by about 5%. Residents said that their awareness of water saving was higher because they could know the leakage situation in time.

 

Singapore has developed industrial, commercial and financial services. As a highly urbanized country without natural resources, Singapore is facing serious water shortages. Singapore's domestic water source mainly comes from 14 reservoirs in the country, but with the development of economy and population, Singapore's water demand is about 1.4 million cubic meters per day, and domestic water resources can only meet 50%. As a result, most of Singapore's water resources are purchased from abroad (mainly Malaysia and Indonesia), and more than 50% of its water supply comes from Johor, Malaysia.

 

Singapore has an equatorial climate with an annual rainfall of about 2350 mm. Its rainfall has the characteristics of high density, short duration and small distribution area, which results in the formation of large flow in a short time and small area. Therefore, Singapore's domestic water sources are mainly collected through catchment areas and stored in reservoirs, then transported to water plants for treatment, and finally into the water supply network system. The central catchment area is a protected catchment area and also a nature reserve. Its land is specially used to collect rainwater. With the gradual increase of water demand, Singapore has used rivers to build reservoirs. The quality of raw water collected in these unprotected catchments is far inferior to that in the central catchment.

 

Since the 1960s, Singapore has gradually enacted environmental regulations to control industrial pollution without hindering industrial development. For example, since 1980, major air pollution sources, such as power plants and refineries, have been allowed to use liquid oil with sulfur content not exceeding 2% for power generation. This provision has been in place since 2000 and remains unchanged. Singapore also stipulates that special equipment must be installed in industries that distribute pollutants in the air to ensure that the gases emitted meet national standards. Through continuous improvement, Singapore has established a very comprehensive system of environmental laws and regulations, which can be strictly implemented. These regulations clearly stipulate that in Singapore, water is a public property, and the government intervenes in the public interest of water issues through administrative and regulatory means. (Reprint information, infringement is deleted)