At over 8,000 people per sq km, Singapore is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.
About 30% of the island nation lies less than 5 metres above sea level, making it vulnerable to rising sea levels. It has no natural aquifers or large freshwater lakes and draws up to 50% of its water supply from neighbouring Malaysia, in an agreement that stands to expire in 2061.
Meanwhile, as the population and economy grow, water demand is expected to almost double by 2065.
The country has been working to address this potential crisis since 2003.
The initiative is called NEWater. It consists of recycling and purifying wastewater to high standards, then sending it into reservoirs, where it mixes with the natural supply (although it is allocated for non-potable industrial uses, the long-term aim is to convince people it is safe to drink; as tests have shown it to be).
The government claims that by 2060, NEWater will help meet up to 55% of the country’s water demand.
Rainwater harvesting has been escalated across the country in the last 15 years too, as have experiments with desalination. Taking a leaf out of nature’s playbook, researchers have been working to develop membranes that mimic the high salt-rejection capability of mangrove roots, to filter seawater and reduce energy consumption at such plants. These projects are still in the pilot phase and have not been commercially rolled out yet.
Singapore’s level of water stress, meanwhile, has dropped by 2% between 2015 and 2020, according to a 2023 UN report.
As a small island city-state stretching across 740 sq km, its limited land area remains a core constraint. Meanwhile, the country can draw up to 250 million gallons of water per day from Malaysia, but once the agreement ends in 2061, the terms of renewal are uncertain.