SIWW2011 Blue Paper

BluePaper Singapore International Water Week 2011

CONTENTS 01 A Note from Professor Tommy Koh 02 THE WATER CONVERSATION WITH SINGAPORE’S PRIME MINISTER 05 VOICES FROM THE MINISTERS 09 THE WATER-ENERGY NEXUS CHALLENGE 12 VOICES FROM THE DELEGATES 15 CLOSING THOUGHTS

A note from Professor Tommy Koh Dear Friends I was pleased to serve once again as the Chairperson of the Water Leaders Summit at the Singapore International Water Week 2011. The Singapore International Water Week is the global platform that brings policymakers, industry leaders, experts and practitioners together to address challenges, showcase technologies, discover opportunities and celebrate achievements in the water world.

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his year’s Singapore International Water Week, which comprised various pillar events including the Water Leaders Summit, Water Convention, Business Forums, Water Expo and the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize Award Ceremony, saw very strong participation with 13,500 participants from 99 countries and economies. To further add to the buzz of the Water Week, there were more than 130 co-located events including the inaugural Southeast Asia Water Ministers Forum and the World Cities Summit Mayors’ Forum.

This year, we are very honoured to have the Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, as the speaker for the inaugural Water Conversation - a newly introduced segment of the Water Leaders Summit. One of my key takeaways from the inspiring conversation is that, no matter how big your odds are, if you have the political will, the support of your people, and if you are open to new technologies and good ideas, you will succeed in overcoming your challenges.

I am also greatly encouraged by the fact that water and water security have been progressively elevated on the agenda and priorities of political leaders, both at the local

and national levels. This can be seen from the participation of a President, a Prime Minister, a deputy Prime Minister and many other Ministers at this year’s Water Week.

Singapore International Water Week’s Blue Paper documents the key discussions at the Water Leaders Summit as well as the inaugural Southeast Asia Water Ministers Forum. Despite the multi-faceted nature of water challenges, we hope that the water leaders from all sectors - the government, industry, research institutes, international organisations and civil society - can continue to work together to overcome these challenges and bring about sustainable water solutions.

With best wishes.

Professor Tommy Koh Chairperson Singapore International Water Week 2011 Water Leaders Summit

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The Water Conversation with Singapore’s Prime Minister Sometimes reminiscing, sometimes looking into the future but always with a pragmatism typical of the country’s leaders, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong took questions from the delegates of Singapore International Water Week at the Water Conversation, a new segment introduced as part of the Water Leaders Summit in 2011.

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rofessor Tommy Koh, the Chairperson of the Water Leaders Summit and Singapore’s Ambassador-at-Large, moderated the Water Conversation and put the first question to PM Lee - What are the three most important lessons that you could share on how Singapore managed to overcome the challenge of water and sanitation?

Strategy, Mobilisation & Technology “We started off with the approach that water is a strategic necessity for Singapore,” explained PM Lee. He said that the country’s leaders were always aware that their land area was limited and though there was plenty of rainfall, there was just not enough space to store it. There were two water agreements with Malaysia, one set to expire in August 2011 and another in 2061. “We decided that we had to make an enormous effort on a national basis to become more selfsufficient,” said the Prime Minister. “Making water not just a matter of price or convenience but a strategic necessity,” was the first lesson that PM Lee shared with the delegates of the water week.

“Secondly we mobilised our machinery in order to make all the parts come together at work.” According to the PM, the importance of water had to be transmitted to all segments of society through a sustained public education programme.

Every generation has to understand afresh that water is an extremely valuable resource and that water catchments have to be protected from pollution.

Taking maximum advantage of technology to harness and manage water resources was the third important lesson that PM Lee shared during his conversation with the SIWW delegates.

Thus, membrane technologies such as reverse osmosis and other state-of-the-art technological solutions began to be adopted by Singapore in its quest for water security.

Get the Pricing Right When questioned about Singapore’s water pricing policy, the PM dwelt at length on the rationale of full cost recovery through tariffs and the concept of marginal pricing.

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“If you give it for free no one will bother to put off the tap,” asserted PM Lee. “Pricing is a very important part of managing the demand for water,” he said. Explaining that marginal cost was the cost of producing the next drop of clean water after all the rainwater and runoff had been collected, the PM said that only such a pricing policy would truly reflect the scarcity value of water. Thus, a conservation tax is imposed as a percentage of the total water consumption.

Acknowledging that low-income families may find it challenging to pay their water bills, the PM said his government paid cash grants directly into the utility accounts of poor households.

In this manner, every household is able to afford a regular supply of water and sanitation services. Also, everyone will know what the water is worth. Professor Koh brought attention to the fact that despite the full-cost pricing, the water bills remain affordable in Singapore, at typically less than 3% of household income even for poorer households.

The PM stressed that pricing alone could not be a complete strategy. The value of water has to penetrate into the mindsets of people, whether it is in the context of using water-efficient fixtures or in the awareness that even a small piece of litter could be washed away by the rain and find its way into the Marina Bay. “Every drop of water counts and even if it’s a lot of trouble to save this I want you to have it in your mind and to treat water as something very precious,” said PM Lee.

Opportunities Thrive when Governments Provide the Framework “As countries prosper, incomes rise, the demand for a higher quality of life including a reliable, potable source of water becomes very strong,” said PM Lee in response to a question about opportunities in the water-related professions.

He opined that if governments provide the right framework, there can be tremendous opportunities for technologies to grow and fill the need for managing water. An honest and effective government would gradually make water accessible and affordable to all.

But, in the absence of effective water governance, while the better-off would get more expensive bottled water delivered to their homes for drinking and cooking, the poor would manage with dirty water.

“Water is an enormous growth industry. But you need to have the political pre-conditions,” said PM Lee.

Moving Towards Water Security Step by Step Once water is seen as a strategic priority and not just an economic resource, everything else falls into place. “We had to build up our self sufficiency,” said PM Lee. “No effort could be spared to achieve this.” He was speaking in response to a question asking how Singapore had looked towards the future while formulating water policies.

The PM acknowledged that the absence of agriculture in Singapore made it much easier than in other countries where farmers regarded water as an entitlement. He recounted how the country’s reservoirs were built, homes were connected to sewers and how cleanliness in catchment areas was enforced.

“We kept a watch on new technologies and as they became viable we adopted them,” said the PM. He pointed out how several of the technologies in use in Singapore today were not viable in the 1960s. Indeed, much of the country’s achievements were made possible only by technologies which fructified at the right time.

“For years it was a dream to clean up the Singapore River and dam it,” said the PM. The river had become a receptacle for solid and liquid wastes. It had no fish and no one could imagine drinking from the river. “But, because we made many efforts, spent many years cleaning up the city, moving out the pig farms, moving out the polluting industries, enforcing pollution standards - gradually we cleaned up the river,” said

PM Lee. Even then, according to him, it was not possible to use the water until membrane technology came along.

The PM recounted that 15 years ago, water tariffs were a third of what they are today. “We knew we couldn’t jump overnight. But we did it over three years. We introduced offsets for the lower income groups so that they would not be adversely affected. We went on a public education exercise and explained to people that it was necessary to be self-sufficient and safe. I think Singaporeans got the message and we managed to get it through.”

Looking at the Water Cycle as a Whole Many years ago, Singapore’s water supply was managed by the former Public Utilities Board and sanitation was under the sewerage department in a different ministry – the Ministry of Environment. But when NEWater projects were started, it became clear that used water which was purified to produce drinking water could no longer remain under the purview of just the sewerage department.

“To make two different ministries work together and optimise the whole water cycle is not easy,” said PM Lee. “So we decided to put them together. Today PUB is an integrated water management agency which covers the water cycle as a whole.

And you can optimise it because you are responsible for water treatment, sewage treatment as well as NEWater production.

You have every incentive to optimise the whole cycle.”

Long Term View on Technology When asked whether there were any magic solutions to solve the world’s water and sanitation problems, PM Lee responded that if a long-term view was taken, desalination and water reuse technologies could be a workable solution.

“There are no magic solutions but I think if you take a 50-year perspective, the technologies of desalination and

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NEWater will surely improve year by year. Technology is not static. There is a lot of research being done - new materials, new processes and new ways to optimise the technologies are emerging. So the membranes get cheaper and they last longer. They need less energy to force the water through.

So the costs have been gradually coming down over time.”

By 2061, Singapore might rely on NEWater to the extent of 50% of its water supply. “If I can recycle half my water and then recycle half of that half again and half of that half again, I can actually recycle every drop of water twice and double my water supply,” declared the PM. The PM spoke about the many technological research programmes being undertaken in Singapore, which help to manage water even better than before. The variable salinity plant being tested in Singapore will be able to purify both low-salinity waters and high-salinity waters in the same plant, thereby tapping on more estuarine water. “Maybe we can extend our catchment from two-thirds to three-fourths of Singapore,” he said.

Earlier, at the opening ceremony of the water week, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister informed delegates that the National Research Foundation, which had committed S$330 million in 2006 to promote R&D in the water sector, will now allocate a further S$140 million to top up this budget. “We are hopeful that with these investments, we will achieve our goal of growing the value-added contribution from this sector from S$0.5 billion in 2003 to S$1.7 billion by 2015, and doubling jobs in the sector to 11,000 by then,” said DPM Shanmugaratnam.

Helping the Cause of Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries It was natural that the PM of a country which has successfully solved its water and sanitation problems would be asked by many delegates how it can play a larger role and help other countries achieve similar success.

“We have technical cooperation programmes with many countries,” said PM Lee. “We are happy to host them, to show how we do it and talk to them on how they might do it. The main challenges are within each of these countries.

The main challenges are not technical, are not even economic.

They are really political and social. To get people to accept them to get the rules enforced, to make the framework within which the system can operate. That I am afraid each country has to do for itself.”

Professor Koh remarked that Singapore’s Temasek Foundation along with the Institute of Water Policy (in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy) would train 700 water leaders over the next ten years.

When asked whether Singapore could do more to help the 1.84 billion in Asia without safe sanitation, PM Lee said, “we will try our best but our resources are limited”.

“This is something governments have to do; they have to invest in infrastructure projects; they can use taxpayers money; they can have private partnerships, they can get foreign investors or they can have World Bank projects. The scale is enormous but the governments must make it a priority.”

Key Messages from the Water Conversation • The role of water as a strategic necessity has to be understood by all segments of society – government, private sector, the general public and even children.

• Water should be priced not just to reflect the cost of production and delivery but also its scarcity value. The poorer segments of society can be given assistance to pay their utility bills.

• When governments provide the enabling framework, water can become a growth industry.

• Over the long-term, desalination and water reuse technologies have tremendous potential to tackle water challenges.

• Only by looking at the water cycle as a whole can there be an incentive to optimise it. Integrated water resources management allows water to be used more efficiently.

• Every country has to solve its water challenges on its own – others can help with their expertise and investments but unless governments make it a priority and lay the framework, the international community can only offer limited support.

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Voices from the Ministers The Water Ministers’ Plenary with the theme of “Sustainable Water Solutions for a Changing Urban Environment” saw ministers from different regions sharing their experiences with delegates.

Congo The challenge of providing access to adequate and reliable drinking water for the Sub-Saharan African countries was articulated by Denis Sassou Nguesso, President, Republic of Congo. According to him, water issues are accentuated on the account of “galloping democracy, uncontrolled urbanisation, pollution and increase in vulnerabilities due to climate change”. The President said that a huge water rehabilitation programme has been launched by his government, including construction of new plants, modernisation of water storage and distribution systems over the national territory. A law had been introduced in 2003 to regulate the water sector while opening it to private participation.

Mauritius Dr Ahmed Rashid Beebeejaun, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Energy and Public Utilities of Mauritius, said the small island state was facing very daunting challenges in its water sector. With a population of about 1.2 million and a population density of 629 persons per square kilometre, the island relies on groundwater for 50% of its water supply, while the rest comes from surface water.

“The demand for water has evolved significantly over the years as a consequence of improvements in the quality of life, and requirements of the new economic sectors such as manufacturing, financial services, tourism and information and communication technology,” informed the minister. He said that the growth of urban regions has been accompanied by expanding water needs, with particular problems for the vulnerable groups, especially those in informal settlements.

Water tariffs have traditionally been kept low.

Climate change has also become a reality for Mauritius with drastic changes in rainfall and increased vulnerability to natural disasters such as cyclones, rising sea levels, flash floods and droughts.

While some areas of Mauritius receive 24 hours of continuous water supply, other areas receive just a few hours of intermittent supply. “Most of the water pipes are made of asbestos cement and are old,” said Minister Beebeejaun.

“The investment required for reducing non-revenue water is massive in terms of renewal of the water distribution

infrastructure and introduction of new metering technologies as well as reducing demand.”

The Minister hoped that cooperation with Singapore would help Mauritius define strategies for optimising resources, long term planning of water demand, reducing water losses, developing the legal framework, strengthening of water governance and building technical capacity.

Cambodia Dr Mok Mareth, Senior Minister and Minister of Environment of Cambodia informed that the country’s water and wastewater treatment infrastructure remained limited to the urban areas of Phnom Penh, the capital city. He drew attention to the phenomenal success of Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA), which had become a full cost-recovery unit with a merit-based management structure.

He said that Cambodia’s Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy (MIME) which is in charge of urban water supply was trying to replicate the success of PPWSA in other states.

Efforts are ongoing to set up an independent regulator for the water sector and to involve the private sector in implementing projects.

The next challenge for PPWSA is to set up a sewage treatment system and prevent more than 200,000 tons of sewage from polluting the swamps of Cambodia. “Only Siem Reap and Preah Sihanouk provinces have public wastewater treatment plants,” said the Minister. However, since 2010, a number of sewers have been built or repaired. With financial assistance from the Japanese government, several drainage systems have been restored in the city and suburban areas of Phnom Penh.

The Minister spoke at length about the problems of waste accumulation in the country’s capital. He said that 1,100 tonnes of public waste was being generated everyday, of which 63% was organic. Also, about 1,700 tonnes of medical and hazardous wastes was being generated every year, some of which was incinerated, and the rest was illegally disposed into unsanitary landfills. This was having an adverse impact on groundwater and soil. To address this problem, the Phnom Penh Municipality engages the services of the private sector.

Units for generating biogas from waste have been set up and the public is being involved in keeping urban spaces clean.

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Brunei Darussalam “Ours is the least populated among Southeast Asian countries but at 450 litres per capita per day, we have one of the highest per capita consumptions in the region,” informed YB Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman, Minister of Development of Brunei Darussalam.

The country is confronted with a continuous increase in demand for water and sanitation services as well as competing land uses as the population grows in the capital district. To meet this demand, the government has built barrages, extended water distribution networks, centralised sewerage systems and solid waste disposal systems. “The government initiated stringent control through land use acts, environmental acts and development control acts,” informed the Minister. He also stressed on the importance of sustainable development.

According to the Minister, a slew of measures such as metering, leakage control in water mains, installation of water-efficient fixtures and packaged membrane bioreactor systems for buildings have been introduced in Brunei. Public private partnerships are being encouraged in the water sector.

However, tariffs have been kept low through subsidies provided by the government. “Water is being taken for granted, which is acting as an impediment to any conservation programme,” revealed the Minister. “We may not be able to do much with the current generation, but we are working hard to make the new generation aware of the amount of water we have wasted all these years.”

Inviting the international community to share expertise to help build efficient drinking water and used water management systems in Brunei, the Minister praised the role of SIWW in helping water professionals connect together.

India India’s Water Resources Minister Salman Khurshid described the complexity of a federal government, where the treatment and supply of water falls under the purview of states. Also, the system of property rights entails that an individual owning a piece of property could exploit the groundwater that lay below the property. “Whose water is it anyway?” was the line used by the Minister to highlight the dilemma.

“The big challenge in our country is to map the aquifers and to see how much they are being recharged,” said Minister

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Khurshid. According to him, shallow aquifers would be mapped first, and subsequently with the help of technologies used for oil-drilling, the deep aquifers would also be mapped.

The Minister announced that an outstanding piece of legislation on food security would soon be introduced in India to ensure that food at affordable prices would be supplied to more than 70% of the population. “When we say food security, we have to think of water security,” asserted the Minister. Informing that 80% of India’s water is used for agriculture, he said that a new climate change action plan aims to increase India’s water use efficiency in agriculture.

The Minister said that a new rural employment guarantee programme was being implemented which would guarantee employment for 150 days in a year, and most of the activity would go towards creating and revitalising water storage structures. He also spoke about the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and its strong focus on water and sanitation.

Promising to involve all stakeholders in formulating policies for India’s water resources, the Minister said the huge projected growth of cities with over a million people presented several opportunities for the future.

Indonesia “Over the past decades, Indonesia has been challenged by the task of providing safe water and sanitation and these challenges are getting more crucial,” said Ir Djoko Kirmanto, Minister of Public Works, Republic of Indonesia. “Inadequate protection of catchment areas, increased pollution from households and industries along with over-exploitation of water resources has led to a decrease in the carrying capacity of freshwater,” he said.

According to the minister, climate change will also exacerbate the situation in the future. He highlighted the high amounts of water losses in the distribution system and the need to rehabilitate old pipes.

Access to basic sanitation in Indonesia is available to only 51% of the population, and mainly provided through onsite systems. There are plans to increase this coverage to 62% by 2015 in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The minister said there was a need for offsite sanitation systems especially in big cities to control pollution of water bodies. Citing a lack of both technical and managerial

capacity to meet the demand for water and sanitation services, the Minister said the government had enacted several laws and regulations to meet the challenges.

The private sector is being encouraged to participate in the urban water sector projects. “In an attempt to increase the role of the private sector and to create a conducive business climate, the government has established the Indonesia Infrastructure Guarantee Fund which will provide security for the private sector,” said Minister Kirmanto. In August 2010, a new Indonesian financial institution was launched — PT Indonesia Infrastructure Finance (IIF) with the objective of providing long-term rupiah financing and advisory services to private infrastructure projects in Indonesia.

“A substantial investment of US$7.2 billion is required to meet the MDGs for water and sanitation,” said the Minister.

“About US$4.1 billion will be financed by the government budget while the rest is expected from PPPs, private operator schemes and community participation.”

Malaysia “The four key challenges are to promote efficiency and effectiveness in the industry, to derive a sustainable business model in the long term, to adequately address the long-term funding issue and to promote efficient customer relations management.” said Malaysia’s YB Dato’ Sri Peter Chin Fah Kui, Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water. He was referring to Malaysia’s water services sector, which is currently undergoing a major reform with the objective of creating an efficient and sustainable industry.

The Minister remarked that reforming the industry sector alone will not solve the sustainability challenge. “The issue of decreasing quality and quantity of water resources is a global phenomenon, which also affects Malaysia as water resources are currently under threat of depletion, pollution and climate change.”

Minister Chin spoke about Malaysia’s Non-Revenue Water (NRW) Programme to reduce wastage and to optimise water usage in major urban centres such as the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya and also in the State of Selangor. The programme includes the establishment of District Metering Zone, Pressure Management Area, Active Leakage Monitoring and Control, and Meter and Pipes

Replacement Programme. The country is working with the private sector to reduce NRW. “Despite the NRW rate being reduced from 43% in 2004 to 32% in 2009, the major urban areas are still expected to face water shortage in the near future,” said the Minister.

In order to ameliorate the situation, Malaysia is embarking on the Inter-State Raw Water Transfer Project from the State of Pahang to Selangor. With the completion of this project in 2014, the State of Selangor, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur will be able to receive an additional 1,890 million litres of raw water daily.

Expressing his appreciation of Singapore’s full cost recovery of water services, Minister Chin said that Malaysia also endeavours to achieve the same, but it will not be easy.

However, he hoped that the cost of processing raw water will become cheaper with an improvement in quality brought by stricter monitoring of used water discharges.

Sri Lanka After long years of internal strife, Sri Lanka is enjoying peace again. “Due to the social unrest and hardships which my country faced over the last three decades, there have been several lapses and a lack of focus on water resource management,” said Dinesh Gunawardena, Minister of Water Supply & Drainage, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. However, with the establishment of a Ministry of Water Supply and Drainage, he said “protection of water resources and environment has been given very high priority” by his government.

While the problems faced by Sri Lanka are similar to other Asian countries – contamination of water resources by domestic, industrial and agricultural wastes, leaky pipes and sewers, unprotected catchments and proliferation of high-rise condominiums, there is one silver lining in the cloud. The Minister pointed out that the rate of rural-urban migration in Sri Lanka is far lower than its Asian counterparts.

“We have already established a comprehensive National Policy for Drinking Water and a separate National Policy on Sanitation,” said Minister Gunawardena. “Both policies are directed to harmonise development with environmental protection while enhancing the quality of life and social welfare of the people.”

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A number of regulations have been put in place to ensure compliance with water safety. With the assistance of multilateral donors, the high rates of NRW in Colombo’s water distribution system are being addressed. The private sector is encouraged to participate in capital investment and operations.

“We have developed a water pricing policy where provision of subsidy to the marginalised poor is encouraged while ensuring the sustainability of the industrial and commercial sectors,” said the Minister.

When it comes to rural community-based management systems, Sri Lanka has much to share with the world, which was highlighted by the Minister.

China Ren Xianshao, Commissioner, Haihe River Water Conservancy Commission, People’s Republic of China, dwelt on the

challenges which China is facing today. These include untreated used water, natural calamities such as flooding, disappearing wetlands and falling groundwater tables. He said that water had been elevated to a national security issue and the investments in the sector had doubled in the recent years. The Chinese government is working on used water treatment technologies, flood prevention plans, river water basin studies and many other strategies with the single objective of conserving water resources.

World Water Council Loic Fauchon, President of World Water Council stated that if the crucial linkage between water and sanitation was ignored, mega-cities could become ‘ticking sanitary bombs’ in the future. He urged water leaders to treat water and sanitation as ‘planetary priorities’ and asked them to actively participate in the World Water Forum 2012 to be held in Marseilles.

Key Messages from the Water Ministers Plenary • The demand for a safe and reliable supply of water as well as its disposal has dramatically outstripped supply as populations are multiplying and cities are expanding.

• Many Asian and African governments are trying to create a favourable regulatory climate to allow the private sector to participate in various capacities and to rein in the gargantuan water and sanitation deficits.

• Tackling non-revenue water (NRW) has been recognised by the Ministers as one of the first steps towards managing the water challenges and many countries have embarked on NRW reduction projects.

• Pricing water to reflect its value while subsidising the poor at the same time is acknowledged by the Ministers as a necessity but it is a challenge to change tariff structures quickly.

• Food security is linked to water security.

• The ownership and management of water resources by the different states in a federal political system such as in India and Malaysia adds a new complexity to the challenges.

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The Water-Energy Nexus Challenge Energy and water are intimately linked. Thermal power plants fired by coal, natural gas or oil as well as nuclear power plants require large amounts of water.

Hydropower uses water itself to generate energy. Meanwhile, the transmission, treatment and distribution of water also require large amounts of energy.

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he water-energy nexus was always known but never an area of focus until recent times. “The economic development of nations depends on a sustainable supply of both energy and water; these two critical resources are inextricably linked and interconnected. The production of energy requires large volumes of water while the treatment, distribution of water and particularly generation of fresh water by desalination is equally dependent upon readily available, low-cost and efficient use of energy. Water and energy are intimately linked in all phases of their existence with important implications for technology development goals and programs. It is critically important that water and energy issues be viewed and managed in a holistic way.”, said Leon Awerbuch, President of Leading Edge Technologies and past President of the International Desalination Association.

He chaired the Water Leaders Roundtable themed Water in the Changing Urban Environment: the Water-Energy Nexus Challenge during the Singapore International Water Week.

Historically, water and energy have been managed separately but with rapid urbanisation, increasing population and economic growth, it is becoming imperative to consider them together.

Ignore Nexus at Your Own Peril Peter Gleick, Founder of Pacific Institute in California reminisced that a few years ago in the US, a conscious policy decision was made to produce more biofuels. It stemmed from a laudable objective to depend less on imports and more on domestic production. Thus the technologies to produce biofuels were quickly developed and subsidised.

“That energy decision was made without thinking of the implication on water and food,” said Dr Gleick. It soon led to “water constraints, changes in food production and a global impact on food prices.”

Another example of a blinkered energy policy was the recent decision to expand the production of natural gas. Since the

production of natural gas leads to lower emissions of carbon dioxide, it was perceived to have a “climate advantage”.

However, it uses the process of fracking that can impact both water quality and availability. Thus, “an energy policy that on its own makes sense might not make sense when considered along with water and other factors,” said Dr Gleick.

If we integrate energy, water, food and climate policies, there are more advantages of efficiency than by merely considering each of them separately. “Some of the most important energy efficiency improvements that we can make are improvements in water-use efficiency,” said Dr Gleick.

He referred to a recent California study which showed that cutting down on the use of hot water could achieve huge savings in energy. A shower for five minutes in hot water uses the same energy as a 60W incandescent bulb uses in 14 hours.

Similarly, using dry cooling rather than wet cooling in the process industries can reduce water demands.

Opportunities in a Rapidly Urbanising World Andrew Grant, Director, McKinsey & Company noted that across the spectrum of water utilities (including both drinking and used water facilities) around the world, given the same technologies and facilities, there was extremely high variability in performance compared to any other industry. This held great significance for improving performance in terms of the energy-water nexus.

He informed the audience that wastewater potentially contains ten times the energy needed to clean it. At a commercial level, about four times the energy needed to purify the wastewater could be obtained from the water itself. “Thus, we are looking at some wastewater plants and utilities which are targeting energy neutrality and actually going to the next level which is to return energy to the grid, that is being energy positive,” he said.

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Also, the world has entered an unprecedented level of urbanisation. Currently the world is urbanising at the rate of 1.3 million people per week (with people moving to cities) and by 2030, China will have its first billion population in urban areas. The pace of scale-up of urban infrastructure is enormous. According to Mr Grant, this presents great opportunities to bring water and energy solutions together in a way that has not been done before. Many companies such as Siemens and GE are engaged in both energy and water.

The private sector which is being involved early on in the planning of infrastructure is looking at water and energy in a more integrated, coordinated and systematic way.

Governments are beginning to use the concepts of risk and resilience in order to examine their water security, energy security and food security. Thus, the energy-water nexus has “entered the discourse” of governments and is becoming a part of the strategic agenda, which will eventually lead to more adaptability in a changing world.

Alberta’s Water-Oil Sands-Food Nexus Alexander Zehnder, Director of Alberta Water Research Institute gave insights into the Alberta province in Canada which is known for its large reserves of oil sands. The oil sands, which will be able to provide liquid fuel for the next 50 to 100 years, form an important part of Alberta’s economy. The US, as the world’s largest oil consumer has encouraged the growth of oil sands development in neighbouring Canada.

The water-based extraction process for oil sands uses enormous amounts of water (about two to four barrels of water for each barrel of oil produced) as well as energy. The oil sands industry produces massive amounts of wastewater, known as ‘tailings’. Already, two toxic tailings dumps from Canadian oil sands mines are said to be visible from space with the naked eye. The oil sands industry is said to produce 5% of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Meanwhile, the province is also a major exporter of wheat.

Thus, the reliability and quality of water supplies will play a big role in determining Alberta’s economy. “The nexus of water-energy-food is critical to the survival of Alberta,” said Dr Zehnder.

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Saudi Arabia – Where Power and Desalination Meet For many years, Saudi Arabia and its neighbours in the Middle East have been integrating power and water generation through desalination in order to derive higher efficiencies.

Thamer S Al-Sharhan, President & CEO, Marafiq Power and Water Utility Company informed the Water Leaders Roundtable that he was often asked whether the easy availability of oil made it easy to not worry about energy efficiency in desalination. However, he said there were three regulators monitoring the power and water utility – one for quality of services, one for energy (fuel) and one for environment.

“There are certain occasions when we get the fuel allocated but we do not get the environmental permit to operate,” explained Mr Al-Sharhan. “We have to make sure we get the consensus of all three regulators.”

All producers of water and power in the kingdom are closely regulated by the fuel regulator, which ensures that energy-efficiency standards are met. There is an incentive to conserve every drop of fuel used in desalination. This stems from a realisation that if fuel is consumed as freely as it has been in the past, then a time will come when there will be no fuel left to export, and most of it will be used just to desalinate water.

The head of Marafiq stated that his multi-utilities company is generally conservative; however, it is driven to adopt the most advanced energy and water technologies. The company made the decision to adopt the MED (Multi Effect Distillation) process on an unprecedented scale of 800,000 m3/day, which led to a revitalisation of the technology. The Gain Output Ratio of the MED plants, one of the indicators of efficiency has been consistently improving from eight to 10 and soon will reach 13 to 16 tonnes of water per ton of exhausted steam.

The Challenge to Halve Energy for Desalination In 2008 Singapore’s Environment and Water Industry Programme Office (EWI) offered a S$4 million research grant to develop an innovative seawater desalination technology, which could cut energy consumption by at least 50% compared to existing desalination technologies.

EWI’s challenge required demonstration of energy consumption of 1.5 kWh/m3, which is about half of what has been demonstrated with the best available technology.

Lukas Loeffler, CEO of Siemens Water Technologies informed the audience that his company took up the challenge and began investigating Electrodialysis and Continuous Electrodeionisation to achieve a power consumption value

of 1.5 kWh/m3 or less. The project culminated with achieving the target and the setting up of a 50 m3/day demonstration plant. Siemens is getting ready to set up a full-scale pilot plant in 2013.

Also, Dr Loeffler informed that research on a “green” solution for wastewater treatment is another innovative project underway at Siemens’ global R&D centre. This new process, which extracts energy from municipal wastewater, will result in a 50% lower sludge yield. Energy content in wastewater is harvested as biogas and converted to energy to create a plant that approaches energy independence. The lower sludge produced will mean a lower sludge handling cost for customers and less sent to the landfill. To further develop this process on a larger scale, a pilot plant is soon scheduled to begin treating used water for approximately 2,000 residents in Singapore.

Key Messages from the Water Leaders Roundtable on Energy-Water Nexus • There is an urgent need for governments and policymakers to take the lead in addressing the water-energy nexus by coming up with policies and regulatory frameworks to foster integrated water-energy planning and management. If we integrate energy, water, food and climate policies, there are more advantages of efficiency than by merely considering each of them separately.

• With a massive scale of urbanisation in progress, there are opportunities to bring together water and energy solutions in a way that has not been done before.

• As the market for renewable sources of energy grows, there is a need to assess their water budget and efficiency.

• Through R&D and innovation solutions, the industry can also help to maximize water-energy efficiency by exploring untapped opportunities.

• With technologies, there are opportunities to reduce the energy currently needed for seawater desalination by half and to generate energy from wastewater.

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Voices From the Delegates The discussions at the Water Leaders Summit were not restricted to the public ones on the stage. Many delegates with myriad connections to the water sector also had interesting perspectives to share.

The Venture Capitalist Perspective “The water sector has the right ingredients to attract venture capital finance: an increasing scarcity in its fundamental resource both in terms of quantity and quality,” says Helge Daebel from Zurich-based Emerald Technology Ventures.

“Due to historical reasons, the sector still shows a fairly big technology gap resulting in significant inefficiencies in using this resource.”

According to Mr Daebel, dedicated public equity water funds and large companies continue to look for stakes in the water space, providing a fertile landscape for venture capitalists to exit their investments. At the same time, the sector is fairly complex in different dimensions. It is very fragmented in terms of geography, supply chain, customers and even in terms of the value proposition of a single technology.

This complexity is the main reason why not many venture capitalists are active in the space.

The ‘C’ Word Cannot be Brushed Under the Carpet It has often been said that the water crisis is a governance crisis with corruption at its core. There is no question that corruption exists everywhere and not just in developing countries or only in the water sector. But knowing that 1.2 billion people in the world are without access to clean water and 2.6 billion people are without access to safe sanitation, the ‘C’ word has to be openly discussed and combated.

“If you just talk about corruption without a forensic approach, then you are not getting anywhere,” said Ravi Narayanan, Chairman of Water Integrity Network (WIN). “There are many specific tools and techniques to assess the lack of integrity which can be applied to policy-making as well as implementation and monitoring,” he said.

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Building coalitions with like-minded organisations and cutting across sectors is an important objective of WIN. “One organisation alone cannot do it so the idea is not to have a centralised organisation; rather it is to try and develop coalitions at the local, national and global scale,” said Mr Narayanan, who is also Vice-Chair of Asia Pacific Water Forum.

Empowering Users Leads to More Informed Water Management “When we say public, we assume they are misinformed or ill-informed,” said Dr Mihir Shah, Member, Planning Commission, Government of India. “But we have concrete experience that once the people are empowered and they feel it is their water, they are the first ones to come forward and start paying for water.”

According to Dr Shah, empowerment often comes from having the right data about water resources so that users can make informed decisions.

India is embarking on a new strategy in water resource management during the coming 12th five-year plan.

Agriculture takes up more than 80% of India’s water and 60% of this comes from mining of groundwater, which is rapidly depleting aquifers. Thus, it is imperative to improve irrigation efficiency and make more water as well as energy available for India’s growing urban conglomerations. A massive programme to map India’s aquifers is on the cards.

“Our irrigation bureaucracy has been using a narrow engineering approach. What is happening is that dams built to benefit desert areas are captured by the upper reach farmers who grow water intensive crops. What we need is social mobilisation, getting farmers together and empowering them. They make excellent decisions about pricing of water which determines the cropping pattern.”

Public and Private – the Twain Shall Meet “There is a natural synergy between the public and private sectors,” said Glen Daigger, President of International Water Association. “Each sector can and must play important roles in delivering safe water and sanitation, and each can bring unique capabilities.” According to Dr Daigger, the private sector often brings a broader perspective and more diverse range of capabilities than any public entity can acquire.

“However, what the public sector cannot transfer to the private sector is the requirement to mobilise political will and the requisite commitment and resources to serve citizens within the geography they are responsible for,” he said.

Jean Michel-Herrewyn, CEO of Veolia Water objects to the ideological opposition of privatisation by some sections of society and calls for an informed debate. “It is perfectly alright for people to question their politicians about their objectives and plans, but to ideologically oppose without understanding the trade-offs does not make sense,” he explained. “As a private company, we know how to do our job and we also believe in transparently answering people’s questions,” he said.

‘Privatisation’ has become a word that is charged with emotion for some, but deprived of any useful meaning,” explained Jack Moss from AquaFed - The International Federation of Private Water Operators. According to him, there is no clear boundary in practice between public and private operators.

Private operators work under one of many available structures to perform very specific tasks under the authority and control of public bodies. They are often used as “change agents” to inject new know-how, technologies, management techniques, finance and customer-related performances into services that

for one reason or another are in difficulty. “They frequently work alongside the existing service and once they have achieved their mission, they move on to other contracts with different objectives,” said Mr Moss.

Faced with the huge real needs for better performance right across the sector, decision makers are realising that the private sector has much to offer. The private sector operators are now seen as a tool, or set of tools, that are among the options that governments can use to meet the challenges they face.

Not Toilets but Total Sanitation as a Sustainable Business “Total sanitation should include used water management and not be equated with provision of household toilets alone,” said Anand Chiplunkar of Asian Development Bank (ADB). “[Furthermore], it is not just centralised used water management approach but viewing sanitation as an investment dead end by the financial and policy decisionmakers that has resulted in poor investments in the sanitation sector,” he said.

Studies by the Water and Sanitation Programme have shown that a lack of adequate investment in sanitation can result in 2-7% loss of Gross Domestic Product. For India this is estimated to be US$53.8 billion, equivalent to 6.4% of the GDP (2006). By focusing on solutions and technologies that have been demonstrated as sustainable, ADB and partners are envisioning a revolution in used water management.

This spawns business opportunities that can earn revenues to service investments. “With the potential to bring in lowcarbon solutions and water security measures in a world facing climate change, I would stress that sanitation is indeed a sustainable business,” said Dr Chiplunkar.

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Have a Vision and Work Towards It “Slightly over 10 years ago when I joined National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), it was slated for bankruptcy and hence privatisation or just liquidation,” recalls William Muhairwe, Managing Director of NWSC. According to him, the corporation was not able to meet its operational costs, let alone depreciation. The situation was “pathetic” and workers, some of whom were highly qualified were demoralised.

talk now, we are able to meet all our costs and depreciation, and even post a profit,” says Dr Muhairwe, whose book Making Public Enterprises Work was launched last year.

Now the new vision of the Ugandan utility is to be “one of the leading utilities in the world” using all innovative managerial solutions available. It is already on the international scene offering our assistance to “sister utility companies in Africa, Asia and Latin America in terms of partnerships and consultancy”.

Under Dr Muhairwe’s leadership, the utility envisioned becoming “the pride of the water sector in Africa”. “As we

Key Messages from the Delegates • Despite the increasing allure of water investments for venture capitalists, the complex nature of the sector makes it difficult for many players.

• Empowering users with good data can lead to informed decision-making.

• Faced with the huge needs for better performance across the water sector, decision makers realise that using the services of the private sector is one of the sensible options that governments can adopt to meet the challenges.

• Sanitation should not be viewed as an investment dead-end by financial and policy decision-makers, but rather as a sustainable business.

• Strong coalitions have to be built between various organisations and institutions to fight the menace of corruption in the water sector.

• Even a failed utility can be transformed by running it on corporate principles, bringing in financial sustainability and by motivating staff with good leadership.

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Closing Thoughts “We should continue to work hard in order to get water and sanitation on the personal agenda of our presidents and prime ministers,” said Professor Koh to the audience at the closing session of the Water Leaders Summit. Meanwhile, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore’s Minister for the Environment and Water Resources reflected on the important factors that have helped Singapore overcome its water challenges.

Rational decision-making Given the fact that there is a tight nexus between food, water and energy and that in Singapore all these life-sustaining elements are imported, it has helped us focus our minds on these issues to make rational decisions. One key element of this rational decision making has been to get the price right. The price reflects the true cost and includes the cost of energy, land and all the other elements that should be taken into account.

“We had that advantage of not having the luxury to procrastinate or to fudge issues but to make some hard-ball decisions for the past five decades,” said Dr Balakrishnan.

Integration In Singapore, the national water agency PUB is in charge of potable water supply, drainage, as well as sanitation. Energy was separated into a different ministry at a later stage. “But the advantage of having a well organised system, without cost subsidies, and with rational decision making, is that we have been able to make sure that the energy and the water equation for Singapore, continues to be coordinated and delivered in an integrated form,” said Dr Balakrishnan. Also, the private sector works very closely with the public sector.

is well-known. Great emphasis has been placed on research and innovations. In order to build an ecosystem of research organisations, corporate R&D centres and universities as well as to nurture a spirit of innovation, Singapore has long been building ties with the best in other countries.

Sharing data at data.gov.sg “A theme which arose from the discussion that I heard this morning was the need to share data,” said Dr Balakrishnan.

“If you go to this website called data.gov.sg, which was launched just a few weeks ago, you will realise that the Singapore government is making available as many data sets as possible both in historical and real time, and inviting the private sector and academics to use this data to create new applications, as well as to sift out new insights which might be useful to us in policy making. The point is that sharing data and creating open platforms, allows greater innovation, and more interesting solutions which will ultimately benefit the end user.”

Security and Resilience The discussions on climate change during the water week are a stark reminder that one-in-hundred year events might now occur at time intervals considerably less that that onein-hundred.

“The point is whether we like it or not, we have to get used to a more turbulent ride,” said Dr Balakrishnan. “There is a need therefore, for us to insure ourselves, wherever possible, wherever sensible, against these events. At some point, the cost is going to be paid. There is a need to factor into our plans the cost of insurance and the necessary arrangements, the infrastructure and technology to deal with these events.”

An ear to the ground for new technologies Ever since Singapore began to manage its water as a strategic asset, it embarked on a trajectory of leading-edge technologies in water and used water. The role of technology in helping the country move towards self-sufficiency in water

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Southeast Asia Water Ministers Forum The Southeast Asia Water Ministers Forum (SEAWMF) held on the 4th of July, was organised jointly by Singapore’s Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources and PUB. The SEAWMF set the tone for Singapore International Water Week 2011.

The theme for this year’s forum was “Sustainable Water Solutions for a Changing Urban Environment”.

Water Leaders and dignitaries from 15 countries in Southeast Asia as well as international organisations spoke about the challenges and sustainable best practices in water management in their respective regions.

The agenda for discussion was benchmarked by Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore’s recently-appointed Minister for the Environment and Water Resources and Professor Seetharam Kallidaikurichi, Director, Institute of Water Policy. Both the speakers eloquently highlighted the dynamic nature of the water crisis in the background of climate change and called for greater participation and knowledge-sharing between nations in Southeast Asia and other regions.

“There are many good reasons for Asian leaders to be optimistic about delivering better water and sanitation services in our countries,” remarked Dr Seetharam. He highlighted the experiences of eight Asian cities, in which the water service providers transformed themselves into role models through corporatisation and good leadership.

From the speeches at the forum, it was evident that many of the challenges in the region were similar – excessive urbanisation, poverty, high non-revenue water, depleting groundwater, inability to secure full-cost recovery of water services, and inadequate sanitation leading to pollution of water bodies. In countries with federal structures, changing the existing pattern of water management is imbued with more layers of complexity. Governments throughout the region are struggling even just to maintain status-quo in the face of ever-increasing populations.

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Yet, there were some small successes to share with each other, such as community participation in Sri Lanka’s sanitation and rainwater harvesting; Cambodia’s steps towards a climate change–resilient future; Malaysia’s water reforms; Brunei’s upgrading of water facilities; Tuvalu’s compost toilet project and Indian city Nagpur’s move towards a public-privatepartnership in water management.

The message from Ms Ursula Schaefer-Preuss, Vice President (Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development) from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) was that its support came in the form of an integrated package of policy support, capacity building, sector reform and investments into the water sector. The rationale for this integrated package is to address the water sector in its entirety and not rush to finance investment projects just to build infrastructure. ADB intends to sustain water investments at a total of US$20-$25 billion by the end of 2020.

Mr James Adams, Vice President (East Asia and Pacific Region) from the World Bank, highlighted that the bank had significantly increased lending to all water sub-sectors over the 2003-2010 period, including water supply and sanitation, irrigation and drainage, hydropower and flood protection.

During the period, annual financing in water supply and sanitation increased from US$1.8 billion to US$5.7 billion.

Singapore’s success in overcoming its water challenges was lauded by visiting dignitaries and held up as an inspiration for other countries.

As the curtains came down on SEAWMF, it was obvious that policy-makers would need to summon tremendous will and work closely with other ministries in order to bring about the much-needed transformation of the region’s water and sanitation sectors.

Dr James Barnard delivers the Singapore Water Lecture ‘Population Explosion Leading to Pressure on Food and Water’ was the subject of the Singapore Water Lecture, which is delivered every year by the winner of the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize. This year, the honour went to the ‘Father’ of the ‘Biological Nutrient Removal’ (BNR) process - Dr James Barnard.

Dr Barnard recalled that in the 1970s, a number of reservoirs in South Africa began to turn green with excessive growth of algae, creating huge dead zones of fish. While watching one such algae-covered reservoir, Dr Barnard said he made the decision to come out of the box of civil engineering and explore the world of microbiological processes.

In the BNR process, nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are biologically removed from used water in order to prevent them from causing excessive algae growth in receiving waters.

This is important as urban over-population has led to large amounts of untreated used water packed with nutrients pouring into water bodies, making them less fit for human, animal or agricultural use. Dr Barnard recollected how his successful pilot work in a laboratory was quickly scaled up in just three months and the first BNR plant was opened in Goudkoppies, Johannesburg. It was a fascinating example of not just innovation but how quickly the innovation was adopted by a utility.

Looking at the future of BNR, Dr Barnard mentioned two developments; first the membrane tank which could deliver very low nitrogen and phosphorus levels through efficient solid-liquids separation and second, utilising the BNR plants as biological fuel cells which could deliver power. Dr Barnard asserted that we should not look at used water as a nuisance but as a resource.

Examining the linkages between the looming food crisis and water security, Dr Barnard also pointed out that the US and Canada once accounted for two-thirds of the world’s surplus food. Now, with 40% of the grains in the US being used for biofuels, the safety net of food reserves has disappeared.

Dr Barnard also cautioned the audience about unsustainable farming and gave the example of Saudi Arabia which is selfsufficient in wheat but depends on aquifers that might be depleted within 20 years. He elaborated upon the natural cycles of working nitrogen and phosphorus back into the ground and how modern agricultural practices have broken that cycle.

An important aspect highlighted by Dr Barnard was that the world’s phosphorus deposits were mainly concentrated in Morocco and China and that the world had to look very seriously at phosphorus recovery for use in agriculture. He said that 15% of fertiliser can be produced in the US by simply reusing farm products rather than mining for phosphorus.

Technologies to recover phosphorus from used water are already being applied in Japan. Dr Barnard suggested that even where sludge was being incinerated, phosphorus could be recovered from the ash which could then be stored to form large deposits of phosphorus for the future.

Dr Barnard also urged the world to look at the option of urine-separated toilets or the “ultimate nutrient recycle”, since urine could very easily be converted to fertilisers. He concluded with a call for restoring the natural cycles of nitrogen and phosphorus and thereby bringing the earth back into balance.

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Workshop: Managing Risk for a Climate-Resilient Future CH2M Hill and Singapore International Water Week jointly organised a workshop - Managing Risk for a Climate-Resilient Future - as part of the Water Leaders Summit 2011, where practical strategies were explored for managing uncertainties around future climate conditions.

There is a growing realisation that the long term sustainability of our water supplies, food, ecosystems and infrastructure rely on the ability to make defensible assessments of climaterelated risks and translate those into sustainable management plans and infrastructure decisions.

The delegates were informed that the “climate shift” that is being observed could result in up to 40% deficit in food, energy and water within the next three decades. The responsibility for “adaptability” and “resilience” to climate change lies on the shoulders of water leaders. Hence, there is a need for water leaders to understand the nature of climate change, assess the risks and develop strategies to make their communities climate-resilient.

The need and approach to bridge the gap between the associated uncertainties in climate science and the local vulnerabilities and adaptation needs of cities were highlighted.

Local scale climate scenarios for cities in Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East were presented to underline current climate trends so as to establish the background for discussions on practical approaches to adaptation and the related governance and institutional challenges.

It was pointed out that our response should not just focus on science and engineering, but also socio-economic impacts of policies and how to transfer plans to actions. A “total water” approach considering the entire built and natural water loop is also critical. Finally, cities need to “mainstream” the integration of climate considerations into the planning processes and develop policies and prioritised adaptation actions that are flexible enough to accommodate the possible climate scenarios both in the short and long term.

During the panel discussion, some of the following points were brought to the fore:

1. Take a pragmatic approach to build capabilities, bridge knowledge gaps, and effectively organise for action, analysis and decision-making.

2. Seek innovation and collaboration across various institutions and sectors.

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3. Engage and educate the public about what needs to be done.

4. Develop plans using best current knowledge and update it with ongoing scientific, societal and environmental development.

5. Develop new water resources such as reuse and desalination, but look into balancing the associated economic and environment costs by taking a multidimensional approach. This will involve all government sectors and communities to explore new aspects in water supply and water demand management, energy production as well as in environmental conservation.

6. Invest in water to protect ecosystems, cities and society, but take a holistic approach to address the nexus of energy, water and food. Strategies need to be integrated into both national policies and sub-national levels to tackle issues on the local scale.

7. Create policies that are adaptive (technically, socially and politically) and increase a city’s structural capacity, coping capacity, recovery capacity and adaptative capacity.

8. Explore both structural and non-structural plans to increase the resilience of water infrastructure. Identify infrastructure re-development opportunities in a longterm planning horizon to incorporate adaption measures in a cost-effective manner.

9. Tap on the financing experience of international financing institutes to access “green” or “climate” funds to develop policies, principles and strategies to implement adaptation plans, and find ways to mobilise private sector funds.

10. Advocate greater collaboration in developing usable knowledge, identifying no-regrets investments in water resource management, increasing resilience of communities, targeting both mitigation and adaptation, and accessing financing options.

The workshop closed with the conclusion that while many uncertainties remain, we already know enough to take action and the time for action is now.

Water Pressures Workshop – How to Adapt and Lead in a Changing Urban Environment A high-level “Water Pressures” workshop jointly organised

by Black & Veatch and Singapore International Water Week, as part of the Water Leaders Summit, featured approximately 110 global industry leaders from more than 20 countries.

12 internationally renowned chairpersons led delegates through a total of 25 rapid-fire conversations focused on three pressures that the water sector is facing today: Policy Pressures, Innovation Pressures and Public Pressures.

will for change. That takes strong partnership between policy makers, industry leaders and the public; but it’s necessary to ensure a safe, reliable water supply for future generations.

Titled “Water Pressures” – How to Adapt and Lead in a Changing Urban Environment, the one and a half hour workshop yielded nearly a dozen hours of invaluable discussion. Participants helped identify solutions to these three key challenges that the industry must solve in a collaborative way. Full results are available on www.waterdialogue.com, the main thoughtleadership site for Black & Veatch’s award-winning, global Water Dialogue series.

1. Oil the wheels of innovation by creating policies that promote investment in technologies to reduce costs, improve efficiency and drive new revenue streams

Several common themes emerged during all 25 conversations because of the inter-related nature of policy, innovation and public pressures. In all three pressure groups, pricing water to reflect its true value was considered a critical cornerstone for success. Making sure that the full costs of water service are transparent to the public will help them to accept tariff increases for sound infrastructure investments.

Another common point was that innovation not just in technology, but also in policy-making and community outreach, can help to reduce costs, improve efficiency and drive new revenue streams. Setting a broad framework for innovation and allowing the private sector to determine the most cost-effective solution in each particular situation can benefit all stakeholders.

Participants in all groups also emphasised the importance of educating the public, particularly youth, on the importance of water. Consumers’ receptivity to that type of messaging shouldn’t be underestimated and increased awareness is sustainable, so governments should take a more active role in communication.

At the conclusion of the event, each chairperson summarised key findings from their groups’ discussions. These findings included the following recommendations for addressing all three pressures:

2. Collaborate with technology partners to determine the most cost-effective, creative solutions 3. Allow for additional investment in water by utilising technology to improve revenue collection and detection of non-revenue water 4. Ensure the price of water reflects its true value 5. Engage multiple stakeholders in designing transparent processes for mitigating policy pressures 6. Create the political environment that facilitates the implementation of difficult but necessary water policies 7. Don’t underestimate community support for tough water policies 8. Communicate how water is a critical resource by having strong leaders deliver messages in the right format with the appropriate level of language 9. Remember that changing public perception is an important first step for technology adoption 10. Educate the public, particularly youth, about the close links between water and health and the impact of water on energy and food

Finally, even today’s most challenging pressures for the world’s water leaders, whether they come from developing or developed nations, can be overcome by creating the political

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Acknowledgements The organisers of the Singapore International Water Week 2011 would like to thank the chairpersons and speakers of the Water Leaders Summit, our strategic partners, the International Desalination Association and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, as well as all the delegates for their kind contributions and participation in the discussion sessions. We would also like to acknowledge the contributions from Sahana Singh, Editor, Asian Water Magazine as well as the following note-takers from the Institute of Water Policy: Muhammad Ibnur Rashad bin Zainal Abidin, Veerappan s/o Swaminathan, Sanchita Talukdar, Christian Leusder Juergen and Chong Su Li. Water Conversation Chairperson: • Prof Tommy Koh, Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore Speaker: • Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister, Republic of Singapore

Water Ministers’ Plenary Chairperson: • Prof Tommy Koh, Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore

• HE Shri Salman Khurshid, Minister for Water Resources, Republic of India • HE Ir. Djoko Kirmanto, Dipl.HE., Minister of Public Works, Republic of Indonesia • YB Dato’ Sri’ Peter Chin Fah Kui, Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water, Malaysia • The Hon Dinesh Gunawardena, Minister of Water Supply and Drainage, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka • Mr Ren Xianshao, Commissioner, Haihe River Water Conservancy Commission, People’s Republic of China

Speaker:

• Mr Loic Fauchon, President, World Water Council, France

• HE Denis Sassou Nguesso, President, Republic of the Congo

The Singapore Water Lecture

• The Hon. Dr Ahmed Rashid Beebeejaun GCSK, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Energy and Public Utilities, Republic of Mauritius • YB Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman, Minister of Development, Brunei Darussalam • HE Dr Mareth Mok, Senior Minister and Minister for Environment, Kingdom of Cambodia

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Chairperson: • Prof Kishore Mahbubani, Dean, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Speaker: • Dr James L. Barnard, Pr.Eng., Global Practice Technology Leader, Black & Veatch Water

Water Leaders’ Roundtable

• Prof Chen Jining, Professor, Tsinghua University

Chairperson:

• Ms Sue Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of the Water Corporation

• Mr Leon Awerbuch, IDA past President, Chairman, IDA Programs & President & CTO, Leading Edge Technologies Panellists: • Mr Andrew Grant, Director, McKinsey & Company • Dr Peter H. Gleick, President & Co-founder, Pacific Institute • Prof Alexander J.B. Zehnder, Scientific Director, Triple Z Ltd • Mr Thamer S. Al-Sharhan, President & Chief Executive Officer, Marafiq • Dr Lukas Loeffler, Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Water Technologies

Water Leaders Summit Workshop organised in partnership with Black & Veatch (“Water Pressures” – How to Adapt and Lead in a Changing Urban Environment) Chairperson: • Mr Dan McCarthy, President and CEO, Black & Veatch Water Panellists: • Mr Khoo Teng Chye, Chief Executive, PUB • Mr Ramesh Negi, CEO, Delhi Jal Board

• Dr William Muhairwe, Managing Director of National Water and Sewerage Corporation of Uganda • Mdm Erna Witoelar, Co-Chair, Governing Board of Asia Pacific Water Forum / UN Special Ambassador for MDGs in Asia & the Pacific • Mr Michael Wehner, Assistant General Manager at Orange County Water District

Water Leaders Summit Workshop organised in partnership with CH2M Hill (“Managing Risk for a ClimateResilient Future”) Chairperson: • Mr Bob Bailey, President, Water Business Group, CH2M HILL Panellists: • Mr Lee McIntire, Chairman & CEO, CH2M HILL • Mr Richard Warrick, Lead Author, IPCC Working Groups 1 and 2; Professor of Climate Adaptation, Sunshine Coast University; Chairman, CLIMsystems • LG(NS) Desmond Kuek, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Singapore • HE Razan Al Mubarak, Secretary General of the Environment Agency, Abu Dhabi

• Dipl Ing Walter Kling, Deputy Managing Director, Vienna Waterworks / City of Vienna and IWA Vice President

• Mr Suresh Prabhu, Chairman, Council for Energy, Environment and Water Confederation of Indian Industry

• Mr Anders Berntell, Executive Director, Stockholm International Water Institute

• Mr Paul Belz, General Manager Planning, Queensland Urban Utilities

• Ms Jeanette Brown, President of the Water Environment Federation

• Mr Takashi Hongo, Special Advisor and Head of Environment Finance Engineering Department, Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

• Ms Olivia Lum, founder, group Chief Executive Officer, and President of Hyflux Group • Ms Gretchen McClain, CEO of ITT Fluid and Motion Control

• Mr Harry Baayen, Managing Director, Deltares

• Mr Wouter Lincklaen Arriens, Co-chair, Steering Group on Water and Climate Change

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