PM Lee visits Singapore's water facilities in Johor's Linggiu Reservoir

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited Singapore's key water facilities in Johor's Linggiu Reservoir on Thursday.

Mr Lee, who shared photos of his tour on his Facebook page, met the team from Singapore's national water agency, PUB, at the main dam. 

"We owe it to them that Singapore can draw 250 million gallons of water per day from the Johor River," Mr Lee said on his Facebook page. 

He took a boat ride on the Reservoir, which he said is surrounded by a scenic nature reserve. 

Mr Lee, who was briefed on the Johor River Water Works (JRWW) layout, posted a photo of a levelling pole there, which measures the height of the Johor River when it floods. 

He pointed out that the worst flood experienced was in January 2007, which reached 6.7 metres, "way above our heads". 

Mr Lee was accompanied by his wife Ho Ching and Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Dr Vivian Balakrishnan. 

Under the 1962 Water Agreement with Malaysia, PUB can draw up to 250 million gallons of water per day (mgd) from the Johor River through two key facilities in Johor built, operated and maintained by PUB - Johor River Waterwork and Linggiu Reservoir. 

The JRWW was developed in stages and reached its 250 mgd capacity in 2001. 

Raw water from Johor River is treated to World Health Organisation (WHO) standards through stringent processes. 

The waterworks has a computerised system for remote centralised control, bio-sensors and equipment to monitor online the quality of water at different stages of treatment.
Treated water from JRWW is supplied to Singapore via pipelines. 

Along the way, treated water is also supplied to the Johor state government. 

As for Linggiu Reservoir, its job is to regulate and enhance the yield from the Johor River. 

Located some 40 kilometres upstream of JRWW, it started operations on 25 January 1995 under the 1990 Water Agreement. 

The reservoir was created by building a dam across a tributary of the Johor River to discharge water during dry weather to regulate the flow in Johor River and prevent seawater from flowing in at the JRWW point.