How many percent of water in Singapore is produced by the local water catchment areas? – Delvin
In 2011, the amount of water in Singapore from local water catchment areas takes up more than 2/3 of Singapore's land surface.
Which countries are we importing from? – Cleve
Malaysia, Johor Bahru
Since land and water are both scarce and limited resources in Singapore, which is more important in Singapore now? – Shaun
It is true that Singapore faces a tough challenge on land and water scarcities. With our current population density one of the highest in the world, Singapore continually explores options on how to maximise its land space. Current solutions to this issue include mixed land use, stacked-up and high-rise buildings to save space and overhead and underground infrastructure to maximise land space to the fullest.
Singapore in recent years have also started to reclaim more land to develop industrial, commercial an d recreational infrastructure to boost the country’s economic growth in the long run. With the population set to increase to 6.9 million by 2030, it looks as if the problem of land scarcity would be even more intense.
However, is it a more important issue in Singapore now, when compared to water?
Personally, I believe the issue of water scarcity is more pertinent currently in
Singapore. Water is a life-giving commodity, and also a strategic and multidimensional resource that crosses all economic and social sectors. Over the years, water has become a very sensitive issue for land-constrained Singapore which has to be dependent on the imported water from outside sources such as Malaysia.
Currently, there is only one agreement left until 2061 which allows Singapore to build a dam across Johor River and to buy water over, above the original limit of 250 million gallons a day. There have been negotiations to extend this agreement, however, the talks did not go through as Malaysia then said it wanted to unilaterally revise the price to RM 6.25 per thousand gallons, up from 3 sen per 1000 gallons in the initial agreement. This has caused Singapore to move towards a self-sufficiency model in which there is little dependence on outside sources for water supply. Of the current daily consumption of 380 million gallons, Newater and desalination now make up 40 per cent. PUB aims to raise that to 80% by 2061, when all agreements with Johor expire. However, Singapore still faces a possibility of demand exceeding the available supply as there is a rapid increase in population growth, high living standards and heightened industrialisation.

The growing urbanisation trend has increased the pressure to meet the water demands of a larger population for whom drinking water, drainage, waste water and sanitation services have to be provided. In terms of the energy sector, Singapore is also water and energy deficient. Our water sector is a major user of energy for pumping, treating, recycling and desalination as well as for production of NEWater.
This coupled with the fact that there are skyrocketing energy prices and upcoming fuel-guzzling projects such as the desalination project shows the true value and importance of water. Because of its deficiency, what is of utmost importance is the attitude of the public towards water use and conservation. The government has to continue its public education drive to drive home the message that more can be done to conserve water using the 3Rs. Further policy measures are needed to reduce per capita consumption as well as industrial and commercial water demands from 155 litres today to 140 litres by 2030. In addition to the water conservation tax, tariff increases, efficiency measures and awareness strategies, the government has to rethink its policies and more needs to be done to allow the people to understand the true significance of water and to conserve it.
In conclusion, the public must realise the importance of using water sustainably for its long-term conservation even when immediate access to clean water may not be a problem. This is because no matter how much water is drawn from the Four
National Taps (water from local catchment areas, imported water, NEWater and desalinated water), the amount will never be sufficient if not consumed more efficiently. Therefore, the issue of water as a limited resource is more important than land in Singapore now, because unlike land usage, which does not have any direct relation with the people, the issue of a limited water supply requires a change in the p eople’s mind-set and attitudes which would influence their actions and measures taken to conserve water. Furthermore since Singapore is embarking on a selfsustainability model, it has to take into considerations the potential impacts of climate change and the high costs involved in the technology, machinery and energy used for NEWater and the desalination projects.
The issue of the lack of water supply is a greater threat as compared to land space.
In order to resolve this problem, a specific attitude has to be cultivated and government policies have to be rethought in regards on the economics of its selfsustainable model and also to educate the public on the importance of water conservation. This process requires a lot of time and effort, and thus I believe it is the more important of the two problems in Singapore now.
How are local catchment areas chosen? – Barry

Local catchment areas are mostly chosen in places where there are high amounts of rainfall, and they are being chosen based on their natural surroundings and the amount of rainfall that is collected during a period of time.
How long is the lifespan of the local catchment areas, will it be there forever or will the land be used for another project after its lifespan its over? – Zhiying
The life span of the local water catchment areas are infinite as long as there is rain so that the catchment areas can collect rainwater. Unless there is some kind of natural disaster that affects the structure of these water catchment areas, it would last forever.
Currently, Singapore uses two separate systems to collect rainwater and used water. Rainwater is collected through a comprehensive network of drains, canals, rivers and stormwater collection ponds before it is channelled to Singapore's 17 reservoirs for storage. This makes Singapore one of the few countries in the world to harvest urban stormwater on a large scale for its water supply.
How much land area in Singapore does the catchment areas occupy? - Keith
Singapore has a total of 17 reservoirs serving to collect and harvest rainwater. It occupies two thirds of Singapore’s total land surface area. It has increased from half to twothirds of Singapore’s total land area with the completion of the Marina,
Serangoon and Punggol reservoirs. It is estimated that the amount of water catchment areas will increase to 90% of Singapore’s total land area by 2060.
Is the water supply sufficient? – Barry
The water supply in Singapore is sufficient at the home. With our current population of about 5 billion, the amount of water that we import, our local catchment areas and
NEWater all show that every Singaporean has access to clean and fresh water. This shows that we do have a sufficient supply of water at the moment.