NEWater, Singapore's Recycled Water (PUB)
NEWater is high-grade reclaimed water from PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency, made from treated used water in a three-step purification process at 4 plants (PUB).
Image: NASA (iss073e0763866, Singapore at night, Sept. 21, 2025).
Last reviewed: 1 source cited
Singapore cleans its used water until it is ultra-clean, then uses it again.
On Aug. 9, 2002, 60,000 people at the National Day Parade toasted the nation with bottles of NEWater (PUB).
Explain Like I'm 10
- Singapore is a small island without much room to store rain.
- So it takes water that has already been used, cleans it with special filters and ultraviolet light, and makes it ultra-clean.
- Factories use most of it, and in dry spells some is added to reservoirs.
The Five W's of NEWater
What
NEWater: treated used water purified by microfiltration or ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet disinfection.
When
PUB set up a test team in 1998, built a demonstration plant in 2000 and launched NEWater to the public in 2002.
Where
Singapore, where 4 NEWater plants are in operation today.
Why
To help close the water loop and strengthen Singapore's water resilience (PUB).
Impact Statement
Government solution · active
Experts found NEWater's quality consistently safe and well within WHO and USEPA drinking water requirements (PUB).
Source: PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency, NEWater
For Further Information: PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency, NEWater
The biggest users are wafer fabrication plants, which need water quality even more stringent than drinking water (PUB).
How This Saves People & the Planet
For People
In dry periods, NEWater is added to reservoirs, then treated again at waterworks before it reaches homes as tap water (PUB).
Source: PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency, NEWater
For Nature
By recycling treated used water, NEWater helps close the water loop (PUB).
Learn More About NEWater
Want to go deeper? PUB tells the full NEWater story.
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