How Clean Water is Delivered to your Home Tap

The fact that you can drink water straight from your tap is proof that the government is doing an effective job in taking care of Singapore’s water supply system.

Not all countries in Asia are able to secure potable water straight to the tap of every household. But it has been the goal of the Public Utilities Board (PUB) to deliver safe drinking water from its facilities to your home even without an independent filtration unit installed in your own water supply system.

Nevertheless, you might be curious how PUB does this. We mentioned before that there is  different home water pressure in every household, but all homes here, even industrial and commercial establishments in Singapore, have the same quality of tap water. They go through the same process  from the country’s four national taps.

The Four National Taps

If you haven’t learned this yet, Singapore’s water supply comes from these four national taps – water from local catchment, imported water, NEWater, and desalinated water, which are then distributed to seventeen reservoirs all over the country. The local catchment is composed of different stations that collect rainfall. Imported water is from the Johor River under the 1962 Water Agreement, while the NEWater is used water treated for consumption. Lastly, the desalinated water comes from the sea around Singapore that’s turned into drinking water. From these four national taps, the process begins.

Chemical Treatment

It begins from a national tap to the waterworks facilities where water is treated chemically to remove bacteria and other harmful particles. In this initial part of the process, coagulants are mixed with water to collect large impurities and suspended matters. These impurities are then removed to complete the first step.

Filtration

Sand filtration is the second stage where finer contaminants are purged from water. Chemical treatment only rids water of bigger particles, but it is during filtration that micro-impurities are eliminated.

Disinfection

Using chlorine or ozone, chemically treated and filtered water will then be disinfected to complete the purification process. PUB follows World Health Organization standards for disinfection that’s why we are sure that only the highest quality of water will be distributed right into our home taps. At this stage, the remaining impurities not filtered at the previous stages will be finally removed.

Collection and Distribution

This body of water that has undergone a rigorous process will then be collected in a tank and then pumped into the reservoirs for local distribution to households, commercial, and industrial establishments. Due to this three-step purification, everyone in Singapore is assured of safe drinking water straight from the tap. The only possible cause for contamination would be problems in your plumbing system, so you better hire leaking pipe repair Singapore pros if there’s a sign of damage or leakage in your pipes.

Water testing

However, ensuring safe drinking water does not end upon the completion of these three processes. Water that goes out to the reservoir are tested more than 300,000 times to know the effectiveness of chemical treatment, filtration, and disinfection. These tests are done daily and annually to ensure the consistency of results of the country’s water cleansing processes.

Having learned all these, savour every drop of water you drink from the faucet and use only enough for your needs inside the house.