SINGAPORE, July 7, 2011 -- Singapore's national water agency PUB and desalination solutions provider Hyflux broke ground this week for the country's second and largest seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant.

Located in Tuas on the western section of the island, the desalination plant will be constructed under a Design, Build, Own and Operate (DBOO) model and is expected to commence operations in 2013.

Under a Water Purchase Agreement between PUB and Hyflux's wholly-owned subsidiary, Tuaspring Pte Ltd, the desalination plant will supply PUB with 70 million gallons of desalinated water a day over a 25-year period from 2013 to 2038.

The plant will feature the world's second largest ultrafiltration pre-treatment membrane facility, incorporating Hyflux's proprietary Kristal™ ultrafiltration membranes. Following the pre-treatment process, the salt water will undergo a two-pass reverse osmosis treatment process to remove the salt from the water, leaving fresh pure water. This water then undergoes a post-treatment process for re-mineralisation before being delivered to PUB for distribution to households and industries in Singapore.

An on-site combined cycle gas turbine power plant will supply electricity to the desalination plant. Excess power will be sold to the power grid.

According to PUB Chief Executive Khoo Teng Chye, water demand in Singapore is expected to double from its current levels by 2060. "We aim to ramp up desalination capacity to meet 30% of the water demand by then," he said.

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