In water-stressed Singapore, a search for new solutions to keep the taps flowing

By VICTORIA MILKO and DAVID GOLDMAN

SINGAPORE (AP) — Water has long been a vulnerability for the tropical island nation of Singapore, which gained freedom from neighboring Malaysia in the 1960s. Politics with Malaysia, which still supplies some of its water, and climate change have made Singapore’s quest for water independence much more urgent. Solutions the country now uses now are among the most advanced in the world. They include everything from a technique called “dual water” desalination to rainwater capture and wastewater treatment that uses micro-filtration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet irradiation.