History

Singapore's first reservoir was the MacRitchie reservoir, which was built by the British in 1867. Subsequently, as Singapore developed into a modern city, more sources of water were needed to sustain the city’s growth. Thus two local reservoirs were added to the rapidly modernising colonial city. After independence in 1965, the Public Utilities Board took over the control of basic supplies including water. From then on, there have been many developments and improvements to increase the water supply for Singapore. The 1960s and 1970s saw great development for Singapore. In order to maintain that, many big water projects were embarked upon to increase the water supply. Examples of these projects included the Kranji-Pandan Scheme, the Upper Pierce Project and the Western Catchment Water Scheme.

In 2001 the Public Utilities Board, which had previously been in charge of water supply only, was given the responsibility for sanitation as well which had previously been directly provided by the Ministry of Environment. The change facilitated the implementation of an integrated water management approach. In 2002 Singapore inaugurated its first reclaimed water plant after a monitoring period of two years to ensure safe water quality. In 2005 it opened its first desalination plant. By the time the long-term water supply agreement with Malaysia expires in 2061, Singapore wants to be self-sufficient in terms of water supply, with reclaimed water meeting 40% and desalination 30% of its needs in addition to the 20% supplied by internal catchments.