NEWater is the brand name given to highly treated reclaimed wastewater produced by Singapore's Public Utilities Board. NEWater is produced by further purifying conventionally treated wastewater through microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet irradiation. The water is potable quality and can be added to drinking water supply reservoirs where it is withdrawn and treated again in conventional water treatment plants before being distributed to consumers. However, most NEWater is currently used for non-drinking purposes, mostly by industries with production requirements for high purity water.
Bottles of NEWater for distribution during the National Day Parade celebrations of 2005 at Marina South
Bottle of NEWater that was given out during NDP 2014.
Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (S.C.A.D.A.) room at a NEWater plant
Bedok NEWater Factory
Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification process that uses a semi-permeable membrane to separate water molecules from other substances. RO applies pressure to overcome osmotic pressure that favors even distributions. RO can remove dissolved or suspended chemical species as well as biological substances, and is used in industrial processes and the production of potable water. RO retains the solute on the pressurized side of the membrane and the purified solvent passes to the other side. It relies on the relative sizes of the various molecules to decide what passes through. "Selective" membranes reject large molecules, while accepting smaller molecules.
RO production train, North Cape Coral Reverse Osmosis Plant
Countertop RO system
The layers of a membrane
Cutaway of a 16" RO tube