Changi Water Reclamation Plant/ Deep Tunnel Sewerage System/ Sembcorp NEWater Plant

Views of CWRP

The Deep Tunnel Sewerage System (DTSS) is Singapore’s answer to its long term used water needs. This super-highway for the collection, treatment and disposal of Singapore’s used water comprises a 48 km tunnel that stretches from Kranji in the northern part of Singapore to Changi in the eastern part, a centralised water reclamation plant, 60 km of link sewers and a 5 km long deep sea outfall. The deep tunnel works entirely by gravity, eliminating the need for pumping stations, thus reducing the risks of used water overflows.

At the heart of the DTSS is the Changi Water Reclamation Plant (CWRP), one of the largest used water treatment facilities in the world. Sited on 32 hectares of land – one-third the size of a conventional plant – the CWRP features a state-of-the-art, compact and covered used water treatment facility that was commissioned in 2008 with an initial treatment capacity of 800,000 cubic metres of used water per day (m³ per day).

Influent pumps

Sludge Dryers

CWRP’s capacity was further increased by 120,000 m³ per day in 2016, through the retrofitting of Liquids Modules 1 & 2 with membrane bioreactors (MBR).

Views of MBR retrofitted at the Liquids Modules

To enable CWRP to generate more feedstock that can be utilized to produce additional NEWater, a Wet Weather Facility was employed to treat excess influent flows during wet weather events for discharge to the sea. This facility is the first in PUB, treating 44MGD of flow.

View of Wet Weather Facility

To continue meeting with used water projections, CWRP is currently undergoing a more extensive expansion, which will see the addition of another 200,000 m³ per day of treatment capacity. The work will include civil and infrastructural expansion works and the installation of MBR equipment. The MBR treatment module will be increased in two phases of 100,000 m³ per day each, in tandem with used water flow projections and to produce more treated used water effluent for NEWater production.

Views of NEWater Facilities in CWRP