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Singapore: The UAE is closely studying the controversial water reclamation technology which has put Singapore on the road to becoming self-sufficient in water, said Dr Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahd, Minister of Environment and Water.
Dr Rashid did not confirm if they will invest in exactly the same technology, but said they could learn from Singapore's experience and enhance their existing applications to ensure sufficient water supply.
He clarified that the UAE will still rely heavily on desalination technology, which produces the majority of the country's water.
"Singapore is really at the forefront in many areas when it comes to environmental issues. Its water conservation measures and (water recycling) technology are some of the areas that we want to look closely," Dr Rashid told Gulf News.
Dr Rashid is attending the Singapore International Water Week.
Singapore has been using high-grade reclaimed water called neWater, which is produced from treated wastewater that is purified further using advanced membrane technologies.
neWater is said to be ultra-clean and even safe to drink, as it has passed more than 30,000 scientific tests and surpassed World Health Organisation requirements.
Although it's safe for drinking, majority of the "reclaimed" water is used by commercial and industrial firms and only about two per cent, which is mixed with the city's raw reservoir water, is used "indirectly" by households, according to Yap Kheng Guan, director of 3P Network Department of the Public Utilities Board (PUB).
Singapore has three neWater factories, with a fourth currently being built under a public-private partnership agreement.
Currently, the PUB blends 23,000 cubic metres of neWater with the reservoirs' raw water, which is then treated and supplied as drinking water. Singapore plans to increase the amount to 46,000 cubic metres by 2011.
Singapore Minister of Environment and Water, Dr Yaacob Ebrahim said their neWater technology may be useful to the UAE, but he cautioned that it is energy-intensive.
"For places like the UAE, which is dry and needs a lot of water especially for industrial purposes, it makes sense to recycle water. But the big question for recycling really is energy cost, because the technology uses membranes that require energy. So we have to be very careful and know how to balance it," Yaacob told Gulf News.
"At the moment, based on our own pricing, it's a lot cheaper to produce that in Singapore. But again, it is subject to fluctuations in energy prices. So, one of the research that we're looking at is how to recycle water with low energy consumption," Yaacob added.
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