Firms may need better incentives to recycle water: Dr Balakrishnan

SINGAPORE — With good-quality water in Singapore priced relatively low, there is little incentive for businesses to revamp their mode of operations to save and reuse water, especially if they have already spent large sums on their current machines, said Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan. Some form of regulation in the recycling of water for businesses may be needed, he added.

Speaking yesterday in the first of six pre-Committee of Supply consultation sessions on water conservation, the minister was responding to an audience member who suggested legislating the recycling of water in certain industries for new factories.

Yesterday’s session involved 23 members of Water Network, an advisory group comprising water-related companies, non-governmental organisations and public agencies.

Dr Balakrishnan said the suggestion to have some form of regulation was something that would have to be considered carefully. Incremental efforts are already under way, such as the recently introduced Water Efficiency Management Plan for the non-domestic sector, which requires high water users to install private water meters within the premises to monitor consumption.

“The problem is that even though we price it at what we believe is the correct price, it still works out to a very small number. And that’s why for most companies, water is not your main focus because it’s a small fraction of your total cost of doing business,” he said. “And therefore, businesses are not sufficiently incentivised.”

Water agency PUB said water consumption is expected to almost double in 2060, with the non-domestic sector taking up 70 per cent of the pie. Still, such regulations would need to be accompanied by support and incentives, noted Dr Balakrishnan.

Micron Semiconductor Asia managing director Lee Kok Choy said a strong helping hand, such as subsidies, from the Government is needed to make it more doable for high water usage businesses here to recycle water.

Yesterday’s discussion came in the wake of Singapore’s record 27-day dry spell early last year.

Dr Balakrishnan said in 2002, Singapore had no recycling or desalination facilities. In only 12 years, those plants now meet 55 per cent of demand. If the country did not have these plants during the dry spell, the situation may have been quite different. But Singaporeans have “almost taken it for granted that we have water security”, he added.

Yesterday, members called for more drastic measures to drive the conservation message, such as implementing dry spell surcharges.

Dr Balakrishnan has already hinted that a water-rationing exercise could be on the cards this year.

However, Professor Peter Ng, head of Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, said starting with water rationing in households would only create an unnecessary backlash. Such exercises should start, and perhaps work best, in institutions such as schools and army camps, where the message can be driven home without causing as much inconvenience to people.

For households, the authorities can minimise the pinch by reducing water pressure to some degree for a short time as part of the exercise, he added.