There are three components to the water price in the monthly bill: water tariff, water conservation tax and waterborne fee.

The Water Tariff covers the costs incurred in various stages of water production process — collection of rainwater, treatment of raw water and distribution of treated potable water to customers through an extensive island-wide network of water pipelines. The Water Tariff is charged based on the volume of water consumed.

The Water Conservation Tax (WCT) was introduced in 1991 to encourage water conservation and to reflect its scarcity value. WCT is imposed as a percentage of the water tariff to reinforce the message that water is precious from the very first drop. Every drop of used water is collected via a separate network of sewers and channelled to the water reclamation plants for treatment, after which it is further purified into NEWater or discharged into the sea.

The Waterborne Fee (WBF) goes towards meeting the cost of treating used water and maintaining the used water network. It is charged based on the volume of water usage.

Read more about PUB’s water pricing on PUB’s website here. 

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.

With climate change, we can expect more intense rainfalls to be the norm in future. PUB has taken a system-wide approach to introduce flexibility and adaptability to Singapore’s drainage system to cope with higher intensity storms.

Known as the “Source-Pathway-Receptor” approach, measures are not only carried out along the pathway (e.g. through widening and deepening of drains and canals) but also implemented at the source where runoff is generated (e.g. through on-site detention) and at the receptor where floods may occur (e.g. through platform levels, crest protection and flood barriers).

The Government has invested $1.2 billion in drainage improvement works since 2012, and will spend another $500 million in the next two to three years to upgrade more drains. Despite these continuous efforts in upgrading our drainage infrastructure, we cannot expect zero floods as the design capacity of the drains may be exceeded temporarily during very intense rainfall. This is especially so as climate change impacts intensify.

Hence, in addition to widening and deepening of drains, PUB continues to work with developers/building owners to develop and maintain the necessary drainage and flood protection system within their premises. For example, they mandated developer/business owners to build on-site detention tanks for all new and redevelopments projects that are larger than 0.2hectares (2,000 square metres) and stipulated higher platform levels, crest protection and flood barriers at the receptors where floods may occur.

Everyone has a part to play in protecting Singapore from flash floods and building resilience to climate risks. For more information, you may wish to visit the 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.