GREEN SEWERAGE SYSTEM FOR FUTURE SINGAPORE

Abstract

Singapore is regarded as the pioneer in wastewater treatment technology especially so after the foreword of the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System and the NEWater initiative. In a small city state like Singapore, the water scientists continuously strive to excel in green water related technology and solutions to fulfill the demand from its ever-increasing population for clean water since 1960s.

The purpose of this report is to investigate the effectiveness of the current DTSS in Singapore to ascertain its feasibility and sustainability for the future. At the same time, green sewerage practices adopted in other parts of the world are briefly discussed to introduce the driving principles behind them as well as to integrate these principles to compute a green sewerage system approach for Singapore.

This study revealed that the DTSS system can be refined to further boost the green system. By introducing the bi-tunnel system, the initially combined wastewater and sewage can be collected separately and undergo individual process with varying treatment intensity to speed up overall process. Moreover, the principles of low-cost and low-maintenance adopted in ECOCYCLET and DEWATS are recommended for Singapore to ensure long term sustainability of the treatment process through power saving. Last but not least, the inadequacy within the sludge management and disposal process is refined to reduce sludge volume and improve biogas production through OpenCEL’s Focused Pulsed technology.

However, direct transferring of technology may not be viable due to geographical and population differences in addition to cost constraints. Difficulties surfaced during data collection period may result in bias analysis and discussion since the information needed is not readily available. Finally, it is hoped that our experience in achieving innovative and creative solutions can position the country in good stand when it comes to bidding for international projects as well as for exchange of technology.