Let’s see if I can do a satellite embed…
That (if all is well with Google Maps) is an aerial view of the weird factory that I ride by every day on my way into town. It was originally described to me as a ‘desalination plant’ but it turns out to actually be a water recycling plant, called a ‘Newater Factory.’
Newater factory photographed out the window of the yacht club shuttle bus
Singapore has an elaborate rain-collection system, and per-capita water usage is quite low by international standards. Nonetheless, Singapore pipes in about 40% of its fresh water from neighboring Malaysia. The occasional political hiccup between Singapore and Malaysia coupled with the trauma of an island-wide water shortage back in the 60’s seems to put everyone on edge about this reliance on the pipeline. Oil they can buy from multiple sources; when it comes to water they’re in a vulnerable position.
Fortunately, the civil engineers here have no sense of proportion. They’ve built a desalination plant on the west coast which provides almost 10% of the water supply. And in the last 10 years they’ve scattered treatment plants here and there such that now essentially all of the islands waste-water is reprocessed and reused. In an attempt to stifle the outcry that stemmed from the prospect of recycling sewage into drinking water, there’s a beautiful PR center which exists to demonstrate and promote the use of the recycled water.
The first section of the center had lots of videos and kid-friendly interactive exhibits.
I arrived at the same time as a bus full of Thai tourists. After a few minutes the Newater tourguide sidled up to me and asked “So… you’re with them, then?”
Government officials drink recycled pee without dropping dead.
Will the tourists want to stand directly above a multicolor recycled-water fountain and take thousands of posed photos? Yes they will.
Part two of the tour included an actual working water-processing plant. More to come.