Operations at PUB’s Johor River Waterworks resume, after one-day suspension due to water pollution incident

Water supply in Singapore was not affected as PUB had stepped up production at local plants to meet demand, it said, adding that it was monitoring the raw water quality in the Johor River closely. It said that operations would resume when checks show that the quality is back to normal.

Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) also said in a Facebook post on Saturday that agencies were closely monitoring the East Johor Strait following two pollution incidents.

One of the incidents affected the Johor River and was caused by sand mining activities.

NEA said it was in touch with Johor’s Department of Environment and that the incident was “contained and stopped”.

It also gave details of a palm oil spill in Johor coastal waters, which was also contained. The two incidents are not connected.

Under the 1962 Water Agreement, Singapore can draw up to 250 million gallons of water a day from the Johor River. Singapore is obliged to provide Johor with treated water up to 2 per cent of the water imported.

The Linggiu Reservoir, located upstream of the Johor River Waterworks, releases water into the Johor River to supplement its flow.

Currently, water demand in Singapore stands at about 440 million gallons a day.