SINGAPORE – Singapore hopes to buck the trend of industrial looking desalination plants and has unveiled a sleek modern design for the Keppel Marina East development.
As part of a groundbreaking ceremony at the Marina Barrage, national water agency PUB and Keppel Infrastructure announced a sleek modern design that breaks away from that of conventional water treatment plants.
All of the plant’s water treatment equipment will be located underground, topped off by a gently sloping green lawn as its roof.
It is envisioned that this 20,000 square metre green space will be able to be used for community recreation.
Collected rainwater will be used to irrigate the green roof and support the facility’s water features and landscaping needs.
The first of its kind in Singapore, the Keppel Marina East Desalination Plant will be delivered under a Design, Build, Own and Operate (DBOO) model as a large-scale dual-mode desalination plant that can treat both seawater and freshwater.
Depending on wet or dry weather conditions, water is channelled either from the Marina Reservoir or the sea to the plant, where it will be treated.
Below, you can see WWi's video interview with Harry Seah, chief technology officer at PUB. From 3.40 he explains more about Singapore's desalination plans and what he calls the variable salinity development at Marina East:
Keppel Infrastructure, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Marina East Water, signed the 25-year Water Purchase Agreement with PUB for the Keppel Marina East Desalination Plant in January 2017.
The open tender attracted 16 bids, with Keppel’s offering of a first-year price of $1.07867 per cubic metre securing the deal.
The ceremony was officiated by Guest of Honour, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Masagos Zulkifli.
Dr Ong Tiong Guan, CEO of Keppel Infrastructure, said: "By challenging conventional ideas of a desalination plant and re-imagining how an infrastructure facility should look and function, Keppel Infrastructure aims to demonstrate that engineering and design excellence can go hand-in-hand as we push for sustainable urbanisation.”
Construction is expected to be completed in 2020.
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