SINGAPORE - A total of 23 organisations were recognised on Wednesday by the Public Utilities Board (PUB) for their water saving initiatives.
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The national water agency, PUB recognised 23 recipients in the Industry, Building and School sectors for their exemplary performance in water efficiency. These recipients are the first to be recognised under the enhanced certification of Water Efficient Building (WEB) and received their certificates from Ms Grace Fu, Minister, Prime Minister's Office, Second Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, at a certificate presentation ceremony today.
The WEB Certification, which began in 2004, has now added two new tiers of certification: the Gold and Silver Categories. Three organisations received the Gold and 20 took the Silver Certification. The certifications are valid for a period of 3 years.
Bagging the Gold Certification in the Industry Sector are Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Company Pte Ltd (SSMC) and Philips Lumileds Singapore. For the Building Sector, the Environment Building was certified. These are also the pioneer batch of organisations which have been certified to Singapore Standard SS 577:2012 Water Efficiency Management Systems (WEMS), jointly launched this March by the Singapore Standards Council, which is managed under the aegis of SPRING Singapore, and PUB.
Recipients under the Silver Category have also shown much commitment by putting in place monitoring systems to track and minimise water wastage and leakage.
"While Singapore has put in place a strategy for sustainable water supply today, water remains a precious resource and every individual and organisation should continue to use water wisely. The proportion of water demand by the non-domestic sector may grow from the current 55 per cent to about 70 per cent in 50 years' time. We are pleased that leading organisations in non-domestic sector has responded to our call to instil water conservation practices into their management and business processes," said Mr Chong Hou Chun, Director of Water Supply Department, PUB.
Mr Chong added: "To further encourage and help the non-domestic sector with their water efficiency efforts, SPRING Singapore and PUB are expanding the scope of the Capability Development Grant and Water Efficiency Fund, respectively."
Winning Gold
Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Company Pte Ltd (SSMC), a wafer fabrication plant, has recycled 68 per cent of their used water through various water efficiency initiatives, making them one of the highest water savers in their sector.
"Water Efficient Building (GOLD) certification provides opportunities for SSMC to achieve sound water efficiency performance in a systematic manner. Water conservation work is not seen as a cost to SSMC. With the great partnership we have with PUB towards sustainable development, it is our belief that we should fulfil our commitment to give back to society as much as we can," said Mr Jagadish CV, CEO of SSMC.
Philips Lumileds Singapore manufactures high-power LEDs which requires large amount of water. They have put in place a water efficiency management system and have recycled 43 per cent of their used water.
"Philips Lumileds believes in finding ways to balance environmental impact and economic growth. We are delighted to be certified to Singapore Standard SS 577:2012 Water Efficiency Management Systems and to receive the Water Efficient Building Gold certificate. PUB has been a close working partner in helping us meet our water efficiency goals," said Mr James Day, Manufacturing Director Philips Lumileds Singapore.
The Environment Building has put in place a structured process to track and monitor water efficiency performance. They have achieved the top 10 per cent water efficiency performance compared with similar sized buildings.
Funding Schemes
SPRING Singapore is collaborating with PUB to promote the adoption of Water Efficiency Management Systems (WEMS) among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Funding will now be available under SPRING's Capability Development Grant to support SMEs that wish to adopt SS 577:2012, by subsidising their project implementation costs for manpower, consultancy and certification.
PUB will supplement this effort by expanding the scope of its Water Efficiency Fund with added financial support to cover consultancy and certification costs for other customers including non-SMEs. Please refer to Annex 2 for details.
Since March 2013, PUB has also increased its funding under the Water Efficiency Fund from 50 per cent to 90 per cent to help customers get certified under the Gold/Silver WEB Certification. Customers can tap on this fund to install a private metering system in different areas within their premises. This can help them better monitor their water usage and conduct water audits.
Industries, buildings and schools who are interested to find out more on WEB Gold/Silver Certification can contact PUB.