Singapore to triple desalination capacity by 2013

Singapore: Singapore is more than three times its desalinated water capacity in two years, when the second and largest desalination plant in the country begins to work, the government said on Monday.
Council Utilities (PUB), in a statement said that a local firm Hyflux won the award for the construction of the plant, said the facility water is expected to be operational in 2013.
Hyflux in a separate statement, said the project, which also includes the building of power stations, worth Sg $ 890 million ($ 704 million) and construction is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2011.
PUB said the new plant will produce 70 million imperial gallons (MGD), or 318,500 cubic meters of water per day, more than three times the existing capacity of desalination of the city-state of 30mgd to 100 MGD.
He said that the plant will "improve stability of the drought, water supply in Singapore, as well as to ensure the reliability for water users in Singapore."
The new plant will use membrane technology and create their own power on the ground for the process of removing salt, which makes seawater potable.
Singapore announced last June that it was directed at its Desalination capacity is nearly ten times and meet 30 percent of water demand of its population by 2060.
Desalinated water - is more expensive to manufacture than the reclaimed wastewater - now provides 10 percent of needs in Singapore, and local catchments and imported water from neighboring Malaysia account for the rest.
Singapore lacks natural resources including water, used to depend heavily on Malaysia for water in addition to its limited network of reservoirs, but in recent years has developed desalination and water recycling to reduce our dependence on foreign sources. - (AFP)