Water Quality
Water Pollution
Preserving Clean Water
The National Environment Agency (NEA) regulates water pollution and quality in Singapore's sewerage system, as well as inland water bodies and coastal areas. Given Singapore's limited water resources, it is critical that water pollution and quality are carefully monitored and regulated.
The control of soil pollution is also an important aspect since pollutants in the soil are likely to make their way into the water system as run-off or groundwater. Soil pollution control in Singapore primarily focuses on the proper use of approved pesticides to combat termites in soil. More details can be found here.
Sewerage System
Singapore's public sewerage system serves all industrial estates and almost all residential premises. The Public Utilities Board (PUB) administers the Sewerage and Drainage Act (SDA) and the Sewerage and Drainage (Trade Effluent) Regulations to regulate the sewerage system and the treatment and discharge of industrial wastewater into public sewers, respectively.
All wastewater is required to be discharged into the public sewerage system. The discharge of wastewater into open drains, canals and rivers is regulated by the Environmental Protection and Management Act (EPMA) and the Environmental Protection and Management (Trade Effluent) Regulations. The EPMA and its Regulations are administered by NEA’s Pollution Control Department (PCD).
Industrial wastewater must be treated to specified standards before being discharged into a sewer or watercourse (if the public sewer is not available).
More information on the required standards can be found here.
Additionally, industries generating large quantities of acidic effluent are required to install a pH monitoring and shut-off control system to prevent the discharge of acidic effluent into public sewers.
Industries may apply to PUB for permission to directly discharge their trade effluent containing biodegradable pollutants into public sewers with a tariff payment. The tariff determined by their biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS) loading exceeding the allowable standards.
Inland and Coastal Waters
The water quality of both inland water bodies and coastal areas is regularly monitored. For inland water bodies, the parameters monitored include pH, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, ammonia and sulphide. Coastal water samples are analysed for metals, total organic carbon, and other physical, chemical and bacteriological parameters.