For decades, Singapore has known that its growth is tied to the amount of water it can provide its citizens and businesses. Historically, they have gotten their water from neighboring Malaysia. But because of friction between the two countries, Singapore has sought to break this dependence.
Due to this situation, in the 1970s, the country started reclaiming water for reuse and developed some of the world's first desalination plants.
These steps worked well for a while, but by the late 1990s, public officials realized additional measures were needed. If viable, what they decided to do was take raw sewage water, reclaim it, filter it, and treat it so it could be used for human consumption, industry, and the many ways we use water every day.
A study was undertaken to determine the feasibility of this process. Once leaders realized it was possible, they began to refer to this reclaimed water as NEWater. One of the initial steps they took did not have anything to do with water per say. Instead, it was all about "selling" NEWater to the public.
First, they had to convince people there was nothing wrong with "reclaimed" water. Many Singapore citizens did not realize the country had been reclaiming and treating this water for years.
Further, they stopped using the terms "wastewater and "sewage" water. These had negative connotations. Instead, they just called this NEWwater "used water." Over time, the term took hold, and NEWwater garnered public support.
How is NEWater produced?
For the most part, it is made through a three-step reclamation process:
1. Ultrafiltration filters are used to remove solids from the water. This process also removes most disease-causing bacteria, some viruses, salts, and other organic materials.
2. The second stage involves reverse osmosis. This step further filters out contaminants such as germs and bacteria along with metals, chlorides, sulfates, and pesticides. At this point, the water is potable and ready for human consumption. But just for safety, there is one more step.
3. Ultraviolet light (UV) is used to further disinfect the water and inactivate any remaining contaminants. UV has been used for decades to kill germ-causing pathogens.
Should we expect to see NEWater in the U.S.?
Much of the potable water in our country is already made – in varying amounts – using methods similar to Singapore’s NEWwater. A perfect example is a program in place in Orange County, California. Referred to as the Grown Water Replenishment System, this system is a virtual replica of the system now in place in Singapore. water is treated with microfiltration and reverse osmosis, followed.
However, in other parts of the country, not all the steps just described are in place. Instead, most of this water is just filtered and then treated with chemicals for purification to make it available for human consumption.
As more areas of the country experience water shortages, most likely we will have to take more steps to reuse water. This means NEWater may be right around the corner.
In fact, this may be an option that should be in place now in certain areas of the country. While the topic does not get much media attention, parts of Appalachia and Indian reservations are having serious water shortages now.
According to one woman who lives in a once-thriving West Virginia coal town, you never know if any water will come out when you turn on the tap.
In parts of the Navajo Nation, which occupies about 30,000 square miles in three western states, the situation is worse. They know that no water will come out of the tap.
Public health depends on access to safe drinking water. These areas, and others, have extremely limited water supplies along with poor water infrastructure. Without ready-when-needed potable water, future economic growth in areas like these becomes unlikely.
Along with the installation of water reducing technologies, such as waterless urinals to reduce water consumption, Singapore’s success indicates that NEWater may be an economically feasible and reliable way to provide these and many more communities with the healthy water they need now and for the future.
