THE PUB is calling for public tender for Singapore's fifth NEWater plant. It's also expanding the NEWater network of pipelines to serve more customers.

The national water agency is advancing plans to build a fifth NEWater plant at Changi. With a capacity of 50 millon gallons of NEWater a day (mgd), the Changi NEWater plant will be Singapore's largest.

In anticipation of this bigger output and to serve even more customers, PUB is expanding the NEWater network of pipelines.

Tenders have been called for the Changi NEWater plant which will be designed, built, owned and operated (DBOO) by the private sector.

This will be the third and largest water DBOO project, the first two being the SingSpring Desalination Plant and the Keppel Seghers Ulu Pandan NEWater Plant which were opened in Sep 2005 and March 2007 respectively.

The Changi NEWater plant, which will be completed in 2010, will be constructed within the Changi Water Reclamation Plant. It will use the same established NEWater technology that was developed by PUB.

What makes it different from the other four NEWater Plants is that its main process facilities will be built on the rooftop of the Changi Water Reclamation Plant.

This not only saves land but also the cost of laying pipes to convey the treated used water from the water reclamation plant to the NEWater plant to be used as feedwater.

As such, PUB is expecting competitive bids from both local and international water companies in this tender.

PUB will also be calling 20 tenders to expand the NEWater network of pipelines in Singapore. NEWater serves mainly industrial and commercial customers and is supplied to these customers via a separate network from that of potable water.

About 87 km of NEWater pipelines will be laid from the Changi NEWater Plant to Jurong, Tuas, Jurong Island and the city areas, which will in turn be connected to the current network of pipelines in Bedok, Seletar, Kranji and Ulu Pandan.

PUB has called the first tender to supply a pipeline on 31 August 2007 while another 15 tenders will be called by the end of the year.

The Changi NEWater plant is yet another Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) between PUB and the private sector.

PUB has been sharing its NEWater technology with the private sector so that they can also have a stake in Singapore's water management.

NEWater from this plant, supplied to PUB over 25 years, will meet the same high stringent quality standards as those from PUB's four other NEWater plants.

The plant will have an initial capacity of 15 mgd by 2009, ramping up to its full capacity of 50 mgd by 2010.

The combined capacities of the four NEWater plants already meet 15 per cent of Singapore's water demand, a target originally set to be met by 2010. More than 220 customers are served by the four plants today.

With the new plant at Changi and the expansion of the Kranji and Bedok NEWater plants, the total capacity will meet about 30 per cent of Singapore's total water demand by 2011.

The tender for the Changi NEWater plant will close on Nov 22 this year, with a project presentation and site tour on Sep 12. The first pipeline supply tender will close on Sep 20 this year.

More information on the various tenders is available on PUB's website www.pub.gov.sg under the section 'Forthcoming Tenders'.