Each person in Singapore used 154 litres of water a day last year, up from the 141 litres they used daily in 2019.
This figure was revealed by Mr Desmond Tan, Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment, during the debate on his ministry's budget yesterday.
He noted that this increase - which comes after per capita daily water use fell from 148 litres to 141 litres between 2016 and 2019 - was driven by more people staying home during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 154 litres of water used by each person a day last year was derived by averaging out water use over the whole year.
National water agency PUB said monthly water use rose by about 10 per cent from April to July last year, compared with the same period in 2019. "This is likely a result of people staying home during the circuit breaker and the increased frequency of cleaning," it noted.
Even though average water use declined after the circuit breaker, average monthly water consumption has yet to revert to pre-Covid levels, it said.
Mr Tan told Parliament yesterday that Singapore should not let up efforts to conserve water, if it wants to achieve its goal of reducing daily per capita water use to 130 litres by 2030.
"Even as we commission new desalination and Newater plants, new infrastructure cannot keep pace with demand as our economy and population grow ," he said.
To help people better monitor their daily use, PUB will be installing 300,000 smart water meters in new and existing residential, commercial and industrial premises in seven districts islandwide by 2023, said Mr Tan.
He also noted that PUB - an agency under his ministry - will be rolling out new initiatives to get the industrial sector to increase its water efficiency.
Singapore currently consumes about 430 million gallons of water a day, with the industrial sector accounting for more than half of this demand.
From next January, commercial water equipment such as washer extractors, dishwashers and high-pressure washers, as well as toilet bowl flush valves supplied and sold in Singapore, will need to meet minimum water efficiency requirements.
