Tapping Indonesia as a future water source would be an extension of Singapore's tradition of relying on its neighbours. In 1991, Singapore signed a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia that would allow it to draw up to 1,000mgd of water from Bintan island in the Riau archipelago and from the Kampar river in Sumatra. While the potential supply is huge, the cost of the infrastructure to transport the water to Singapore will be enormous. On a cubic metre basis, it could multiply the current cost of water by five to eight times.
Desalination appears attractive given Singapore's limitless supply of sea water, but it consumes vast amounts of energy. Preliminary estimates based on current fuel costs suggest that desalinated water could cost seven to eight times more than current supplies.
A joint PUB/MTI team has visited desalination plants in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Malta to examine the feasibility of desalination, but a report isn't expected for at least 18 months. If favourable, PUB officials are talking about having a pilot desalination plant ready six to seven years after that.
Whatever the eventual choice, one thing is certain: Singaporeans will have to face larger bills as the cost of both desalination and supplies from Indonesia make water a more precious commodity.
Posted by Rene Philippine
The importance of electricity and water in a civilized society need not be explained, most of us are well aware of their importance. In fact, one of the parameters to measure whether the economy of a particular country is moving forward is the amount of electricity that it consumes. The importance of water not merely for human consumption but for industrial use is also admitted. Even the making of diodes and other electronic devices needs water in its manufacturing process.
So let me discuss first the power shortage. In Mindanao there are reports that brownouts of 10-12 hours are occuring. To me these are not simply a lack of supply but the situation implies that there has been a lack of will or gross incompetence on the part of those in government who are responsible to provide adequate power service. As those who are in the business of providing electric power know...Mindanao power depends mainly on the Agus river(Lake Lanao) system, and other hydroelectric systems which provide about 75-80 percent of the power. In the Mt. Apo area there is some electricity generated by some geothermal sources. With the El Nino dry spell there is a shortage of water to generate the rated capacity of the power stations. According to experts the ideal power mix is 50 percent hydro and the balance should be from other sources.
Unfortunately our government and public officials in charge of forecasting, planning and constructing new power plants have failed in their assigned tasks and responsibilities. One can recall the blackouts during Mrs. Aquino's administration when she arbitrarily ordered the closure of our Bataan Nuclear plant. Unfortunately again she did not order a replacement generation system to answer for the 650 megawatts shortfall. The other point is that power plants could not be bought off the counter like ordinary merchandise. It takes years to order, construct a power plant. Thus, during President Ramos' tenure in office he had to quickly solve the blackouts by opening the country's power industry to independent power producers(IPP's), who took advantage of the situation by charging higher than normal rates for electricity that was provided on a must pay for a minimum generation charge even if the electricity was not used. Thus the present power problems are rooted in the scrapping of the Bataan Nuclear plant. Today our country has become less competitive because of our high electricity rates that are reported to be second only to Japan.
As for the second shortage which is water I cannot imagine why our country suffers shortfalls from time to time. This year Luzon and Metro Manila was like a big Venice in a huge ocean of water. But, today the authorities talk of shortages of power due to lack of water in the dams, lack of water for irrigation and for human consumption. The problems have been with us for decades. Do we really have a masterplan and a roadmap of how to go about solving such problems?
When I was Governor of Cebu I requested a UN agency to advise us on what to do to solve our water shortages. The UN sent us an Israeli expert, who in the simplest of terms that I can put, said that with the kind of rainfall that we had we should not have any water shortage... If only like in Israel we would prevent the rainwater from flowing back into the sea. He further said "you should build dams and other public works to impound and save the rainwater So there the solutions seems to be that simple... But do our authorities operate along simple solutions or do they prefer complicated ones that cost a fortune? I leave the answer to my readers. You may send your comments and or suggestions to rene.espina@hotmail.com
Poultry appliances & handicraft;: How to make & use labor-saving devices, wth descriptive plans for food & water supply, building & miscellaneous needs; ... treats on artificial incubation & brooding;
Poultry appliances and handicraft: How to make & use labor-saving devices with descriptive plans for food & water supply, building & miscellaneous needs ... treats on artificial incubation & brooding
