PUB, the national water agency, thanks Mr Ben Chen Bin for his letter ("Fix water volume and flow of sensor taps"; Forum Online, Jan 23).

We share his view that public hygiene standards are not to be compromised even as we push to save every drop of precious water.

The Code of Practice on Environmental Health stipulates that handwashing basins in public toilets must be equipped with either self-closing delayed-action mechanical or sensor taps. Such taps minimise the need for human contact and, thus, safeguard hygiene standards.

To conserve water, the flow rate for the sensor taps at these basins are set at two litres per minute. A maximum preset timing of not more than 60 seconds is allowed, provided that water supply from the tap is automatically cut off when the hand is moved away from beneath the tap.

We have contacted Mr Chen. PUB welcomes such feedback, and members of the public can report any faulty taps to the buildings' managements or call the PUB 24-hour Call Centre on 1800-CALL-PUB (1800-2255-782).

Michael Toh

Director

Water Supply Network Department

PUB