The current used water tariff structure comprises both a fixed and variable component - sanitary appliance fee (SAF) and a waterborne fee (WBF) respectively. SAF is set at $3 per sanitary appliance for all users. Domestic and non-domestic users are charged WBF of 30c/m3 and 60c/m3, respectively. These charges are used to offset the cost of maintaining, operating and expanding the sewerage system.

Singapore’s 2017 per capita domestic water consumption is about 143 litres per day. It has been previously brought down from 165 litres per day in 2003. The target is to lower it to 140 litres by 2030. 

You may find more information on the water story at PUB's website here.

Singapore's 4 National Taps refer to the 4 sources of water supply, i.e. (1) Local Catchment, (2) Imported Water, (3) NEWater, and (4) Desalinated Water.

• The 1st 'tap' Local Catchment, refers to the supply from our local water catchments and reservoirs.

• The 2nd 'tap' Imported Water, refers to the import of water from Malaysia under the 1962 Water Agreement. Under the 1962 Water Agreement, Singapore can draw up to 250 million gallons of water a day from the Johor River, and Singapore is obliged to provide Johor with treated water up to 2% of the water we import. The 1962 Water Agreement will expire in 2061. Constructed by PUB under a 1990 agreement with Johor supplementary to the 1962 Water Agreement, the Linggiu Reservoir is located upstream of the Johor River Waterworks and releases water into the Johor River to supplement its flow. This enables abstraction of raw water at the Johor River Waterworks which is owned and operated by PUB for treatment.

• Our 3rd 'tap' NEWater, is ultra-clean, high-grade reclaimed water produced from treated used water that is further purified using advanced membrane technologies and ultra-violet disinfection.

• Our 4th 'tap' is seawater desalination where freshwater is obtained by removing salt from seawater through the reverse osmosis process. Desalination is the process of turning seawater into drinking water. Singapore currently uses reverse osmosis for its desalination. This process produces pure drinking water by passing seawater through membranes to remove dissolved salts and minerals. Producing desalinated water is energy intensive. Moving ahead, PUB is exploring technology to bring down the energy needed for desalination, such as electro-deionisation and biomimicry. Electro-deionisation is a method that uses an electric field to pull dissolved salts from water. Biomimicry is the mimicking of biological processes by which mangrove plants and euryhaline fish extract freshwater from seawater using small amounts of energy.

Diversification of our sources of water through the 4 National Taps ensures a reliable and resilient water supply. For more information, you may visit the PUB's website here.

NEWater is not directly channelled to our households and into our tap water currently, as we are mindful of consumers’ perception about the consumption of used water that has been treated. A small percentage of NEWater is blended with raw water in the reservoir. The raw water from the reservoir goes through treatment at the waterworks before it is supplied to consumers as tap water. There is no immediate need for PUB to directly supply NEWater to households as PUB is currently managing the water demand holistically from other sources such as local catchment areas, imported water, and desalinated water.

For more information on NEWater technology, please visit PUB’s website here.

Under the 1962 Water Agreement, PUB has the full and exclusive right and liberty to draw off, take, impound and use the water from the Johor River, up to a maximum of 250 million gallons per day. Imported water currently meets about half of Singapore’s needs and remains an important source of water. However, we are already feeling the effects of climate change and we could face more extreme weather vagaries of dry spells or droughts. Considering that imported water is dependent on weather, we need to progressively build up weather-resilient sources – i.e. NEWater and desalination to ensure the sufficiency and resilience of the water system. 

For more information, you may wish to visit the PUB's website here.