Tap 1: Local catchment area

 I have finally arrived in Singapore. Today, I called the PUB 24-hour call center to ask for 1 type of the national taps which was Local catchment area.Local catchment area is one of the most effective way and the cheapest tap to increase supply of water in Singapore. I also found out both advantages and disadvantages of local catchment areas.

Brief introduction of local catchment area

You may wondered what is catchment area. Catchment area is an area where rainfall is collected.In addition, storm water collection ponds have also been constructed in some housing estates. These ponds also collect rainwater. Rainwater is collected through a comprehensive network of drains, canals, rivers and storm water collection ponds before it is channeled to Singapore's 17 reservoirs for storage. Catchment areas allows Singapore to store much more water during high or low rainfall season.

Advantage

Firstly,Local catchment area is one of the most cheapest tap as rainwater is easier and cheaper to purify as it cleaner than used water and it also does not contain salt.Secondly, Catchment area can also increase the amount of  rainwater collected and hence  it will provide a ready source of usable water.Thirdly ,more areas of greenery can be conserved in the process.

Disadvantage

1)Not viable for small countries due to lack of land.

2)Less land will be available for other purposes such as building houses and industries

3)Ineffective in time of drought

List of  catchment area in Singapore:

Reservoirs:

• Bedok Reservoir
• Marina Reservoir
• Punggol Reservoir
• Kranji Reservoir
• Jurong Lake Reservoir
• MacRitchie Reservoir

Rivers:

• Sungei api api
• Sungei Tampines
• Singapore River
• Rochor River
• Geylang River

 I would advise you to look at these website which will show a map of water catchment areas in Singapore http://www.pub.gov.sg/LongTermWaterPlans/wfall.html

Some of these informations are adapted from http://www.pub.gov.sg/water/Pages/LocalCatchment.aspx