SINGAPORE - The national water agency aims to improve water use by non-domestic consumers, a group representing nearly three-quarters of demand in the future.
As non-domestic water consumption is expected to increase, the PUB is publishing a guidebook - The Best Practice Guide For Water Efficiency - Buildings - which aims to help these large water users, namely office, hotel and retail buildings, to adopt more water-efficient practices.
Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli announced the guidebook at the inaugural Water Efficiency Awards on Tuesday (Nov 21), and said that PUB will be refining it by seeking views from the industry.
He said: "Non-domestic water demand is expected to increase from 55 per cent of our current water demand to 70 per cent of our future water demand by 2060. Therefore, it is important that our partners in the non-domestic sector join us in this move to conserve water, and reduce water demand."
While a draft copy of the guide is already available on the PUB website, the final version will be launched in 2018 after the consultation period ends this year.
Data from water efficiency management plans currently in force for non-domestic buildings which are large water users was used to develop the guidebook. The data for these buildings, which use 5,000 cubic m of water or more a month, has been submitted to the PUB every year since 2015. This volume is about two Olympic-size swimming pools' worth of water.
With water demand for cooling needs taking up 25 per cent of total water demand for large users, PUB has also published a document to provide developers, building owners and managing agents with guidelines on good cooling tower management.
The Technical Reference for Water Conservation in Cooling Towers is also available online.
Dr Cecilia Tortajada, senior research fellow at the Institute of Water Policy, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said: "The value of best practices and sectorial benchmarks should not be understated."
She said such information was not only essential for self-assessment but could also shape a user's behaviour.
"Best practice guides that are endorsed by the industry can also be valuable guidance for newcomers to build in water-efficient measures at the point of design so that good water management practices can be incorporated from the outset," she said.
A total of 27 organisations from seven categories won the Water Efficiency Awards this year, including Junction 8 shopping centre, Clementi Primary School, Jalan Besar Town Council, and the AXA Tower.
The awards recognise the most water-efficient organisations in terms of their Water Efficiency Index, calculated based on their water efficiency management plans, or if they had the highest water recycling rates.
The awards ceremony was held at the HDB Hub in Toa Payoh.
Congratulating the winners, Mr Masagos said: "By making water conservation a part of your vision and your day-to-day operations, you demonstrate the collective Singaporean DNA for water conservation."
The awards presentation was followed by the Industrial Water Solutions Forum, where firms shared best practices for water management.
