page_title: Water supply and sanitation in Singapore
section_title: Responsibility for water supply and sanitation
hierarchical_section_title: Water supply and sanitation in Singapore / Responsibility for water supply and sanitation
caption_attribution_description: English: Environment Building.
context_page_description: Water supply and sanitation in Singapore is characterised by a number of achievements in the challenging environment of a densely populated island. Access to water is universal, affordable, efficient and of high quality. Innovative integrated water management approaches such as the reuse of reclaimed water, the establishment of protected areas in urban rainwater catchments and the use of estuaries as freshwater reservoirs have been introduced along with seawater desalination in order to reduce the country's dependence on water imported from neighbouring country, Malaysia.
  Singapore's approach does not rely only on physical infrastructure, but it also emphasizes proper legislation and enforcement, water pricing, public education as well as research and development. In 2007 Singapore's water and sanitation utility, the Public Utilities Board, received the Stockholm Industry Water Award for its holistic approach to water resources management.
context_section_description: Within the government of Singapore the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources is in charge of policy setting for water and sanitation. The Public Utilities Board, a statutory board under the Ministry, is in charge of providing drinking water as well as of sanitation and stormwater drainage. It also monitors compliance of potential polluters on the basis of the Sewerage and Drainage Act. PUB this is both a service provider and a regulator, but its regulatory role only encompasses other entities. The National Environment Agency monitors PUB's compliance with environmental as well as drinking water quality standards on the basis of the Environmental and Public Health Act. Legislation is effectively implemented, with heavy fines, and the various agencies in charge of water work together in a coordinated manner under a common framework.
caption: The headquarters of the Public Utilities Board.
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