Singapore’s second and largest seawater treatment plant opens

SINGAPORE — A quarter of Singapore's water demand will now be met by desalinated water, with the opening of the Republic’s second and largest seawater treatment plant today (Sept 18).

The Tuaspring Desalination Plant was officially unveiled this evening by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, along with Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan and his Second Minister Grace Fu.

Situated on a 14-hectare site in Tuas, it will supply 70 million gallons of water per day – or 125 Olympic-sized pools worth of water – to Singapore’s water supply for 25 years. It is the second plant to be developed and operated by Singapore’s biggest listed water treatment company Hyflux.

Construction of the plant began in 2011. It also features an on-site combined cycle gas turbine power plant which will supply electricity to the desalination facility.

Desalinated water, or treated seawater, is one of Singapore’s four “national taps” – the other three are imported water from Malaysia, NEWater and water from the reservoirs. Singapore’s first desalination plant, Singspring Singapore, was opened in 2005 and supplies 30 million gallons of treated water a day to PUB, making up 10 per cent of Singapore’s total water supply. Singapore’s daily water demand is about 400 million gallons.