A STUDY OF THE WATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN SINO SINGAPORE TIANJIN ECO-CITY (SSTEC)

Abstract

China’s water resources are over allocated, inefficiently used, and grossly polluted by human and industrial wastes. As quoted by the World Health Organisation; half of humanity has one of the six main diseases associated with poor drinking water and inadequate sanitation, and about 5 million people die each year from such diseases. With China's rapid industrialisation and urbanisation, coupled with the ever-increasing irrigation needs for agricultural use, there is a continually drive to pressure for a regular, high-quality and sustainable water supply. The Chinese government allocated RMB 1 trillion for the investments in the water sector in its 11th Five-Year Plan (2006- 2010), which generated significant water business opportunities. This thus implies and highlights the current high profile of the water issues in China. The purpose of this report is to investigate how China can adapt itself to a water system that can improve on its current water conditions and sanitation quality. At the same time, to source out the likely problems that China might face during and after the implementation of the system. An actual project- Sino Singapore Tianjin Eco-City (SSTEC) is adopted as the main case study to provide a more realistic analysis based on the real time information. SSTEC is a joint venture project between China and Singapore. In the case of SSTEC, the water management system is developed by adopting the water technologies from Singapore's own developmental experience. Nevertheless, both the nations have each different characteristics, thus many factors need to be considered during the shifting of Singapore’s technologies into China’s contexts. Such factors will include climate, rainfalls, soil condition, water demand, culture and financial status. With such, China is likely to face problems during the operation. However, as this project is still under development, it is inconvenience to disclose the problem details at this sensitive period. Thus, limited information is available from both primary and secondary resources. Although interviews are conducted, there are limited responses from the invited interviewees. In order to avoid bias, the interviews will act like a guide to further studies than a conclusive statement. After analysing the information gathered, an action plan is proposed to SSTEC in ensuring the most effective performance to implement the water system, and to meet the water demand and acceptable sanitation quality.