More measures to help households save water
About 10,000 new HDB flats to be built with water-saving devices, toilet bowls in low-income homes to be replaced with more efficient ones
About 10,000 new Housing Board flats which will be built over the next few years will have water-saving devices installed on shower heads.
This is part of several measures introduced by Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli yesterday to help households reduce their water usage in light of a 30 per cent hike in water prices.
These devices provide information on how much water a person is using while they are showering.
A study that national water agency PUB did with the National University of Singapore, involving 550 households over half a year, found that a person could save up to five litres of water a day using such a device.
Participants used 20 litres of water a shower on average initially, but reduced their usage by 3.8 litres (about 20 per cent) a shower by the end of the study.
To help low-income households cope with the water price hike, PUB will also replace their 9-litre toilet bowls with new ones that are more water-efficient, and can reduce water usage by up to 10 per cent.
From April 2019, PUB will raise the minimum standard under the Mandatory Water Efficiency Labelling Scheme to the "two ticks" category for sales, supply and installation of all water fittings.
The scheme rates products by their water efficiency using a range of ticks from zero to four.
By next month, products under the "zero ticks" category will be phased out.
Mr Masagos said dishwashers will also require this labelling requirement from October next year.
The ministry said households here used 148 litres of water a person each day last year, which is down from 151 litres in 2015 - but said the target is to reduce it to 140 litres by 2030.
Said Mr Masagos: "My ministry and PUB have a suite of measures - in addition to right pricing - to promote greater water savings for households and businesses...
"Our water story is not concluded; it is not history. Instead, the water story is a living story and continues to be written by all Singaporeans today, whether in producing it, or conserving it."
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