Interesting enough, ST runs a story on PUB planning to dam more
rivers to capture rain water collected from HDB and built up area
today. 
It seems that there is some active monitoring of ST reporters in
this forum.
Well, Mr. Alexis Hooi, what nickname are you using?
Goh Meng Seng
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/story/0,4386,276319,00.html?
More dams planned to catch water from HDB towns
By Alexis Hooi
THE Public Utilities Board (PUB) is now looking to tap into run-off
water from more urban areas - by damming up Sungei Punggol and
Sungei Serangoon in the north-east in five years' time.
Almost like a secret fishing village, hidden in the mangrove of
Sungei Serangoon. This river is the kampung getaway for residents
in Sengkang and Punggol. Studies are being done on how it may be
dammed up to form a reservoir in five years' time, the PUB said in
its annual report released recently.
Studies are being done on how the reservoirs, which will be
downstream of the Lower Seletar Reservoir, can be created, the PUB
said in its annual report for this year released recently.
The two reservoirs will capture water from HDB towns and other
built-up areas.
But it is not clear whether the PUB will treat the water with the
Newater technology that will be used in the Marina Bay
reservoir.
Tenders will close next week for building the Marina Barrage, a dam
across the Marina Channel which will create a mini-reservoir in the
downtown area in three years' time.
The PUB had said that it would have to use the Newater purification
method because the normal treatment method for natural reservoir
water is not good enough.
CLEANING UP THE CITY'S WATERWAYS
SUNDAYS can be a big stink for about 60 volunteers of an
environmental group, Waterways Watch Society.
It is not unusual for them to fish out even dead dogs and turtles
from the Singapore, Kallang and Geylang rivers when they take
turns, in two boats, to clean up the city's waterways.
What's commonplace are styrofoam lunch boxes, beer cans and fallen
tree branches.
Their two-hour weekly effort produced a pile of about 4,000 pieces
of litter in just one year, said its chairman Eugene Heng.
The former bank executive said the society was set up six years ago
because its members - from scuba-divers and fishermen to IT and
financial consultants - were all worried about the trash building
up in their beloved waters.
Said Mr Heng, 55: 'All of us have a passion to keep the waters
clean. If you think about the rubbish that we pick up and all of
that going back to the reservoirs... we're going to be drinking all
of that in that sense.'
Mr Heng believes it is his society's mission to spread the word
around and educate others: 'Keeping our waters pristine, that has
to be a partnership between the people and the authorities.'
To find out more about the society, visit www.wws.org.sg
Water run off from urban areas contains chemicals and leaked sewage
not found in natural reservoirs.
Meanwhile, the consultant for PUB on the Marina Barrage, Dr Brendan
Harley, assured yesterday that the membrane technology will be able
to clean the run-off from the urban areas.
A consultant to Singapore on flood and stormwater management for
the past 20 years, who is here for a conference on water
management, Dr Harley said the barrage will almost certainly
eliminate the threat of flooding in the city especially during the
November-to-March north-east monsoon.
In March, high tides that coincided with heavy rainfall caused
damage to businesses and households in the east.
Other low-lying areas like Chinatown, Geylang, Tanjong Katong, Joo
Chiat, Rochor and Hougang are also especially susceptible to the
waters.
Said Dr Harley, 58: 'With the Marina Barrage, I think the
probability of any more floods in the downtown area is very, very
small... almost zero.'
He added that Singapore has been uniquely successful in developing
its waterways for both flood control as well as diverting them into
a water resource.
'There're very few places that actually deliberately set off
capturing good quality urban run-off.'
However, Dr Harley did caution that one problem Singapore would
need to address is the soil erosion that could result in silt
building up in the reservoirs - most often seen in the murky,
turbid brown colours that canals seem to be filled with - a lot of
which comes from construction sites.
Related links
Click to view enlarged graphic in PDF format.
'The barrage catchment is a much older urban area, there are leaky
sewers, a lot of small businesses which throw a lot of waste into
the drains,' he said.
'We have to educate the people to stop doing that.'
