Singapore has opened Asia’s largest sea water reverse-osmosis desalination plant in the far south-western edge of the city state.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who opened the Tuaspring Desalination Plant on September 18, called it the latest milestone in the country’s decades-long water journey.

With the capacity to remove dissolved salts from sea water amounting to 70 million gallons daily, the plant will triple the amount of water the country gets from desalination.

The SingSpring, which opened in 2005, can supply up to 30 million. Desalinated water, or treated seawater, is one of Singapore’s four national taps. The three others are imported water from Malaysia, NEWater and water from the reservoirs.

Currently, Singspring produces 10 percent of Singapore’s daily water needs of 400 million gallons. NEWater meets another 30 percent of the needs, with the remaining supply coming from imported water and local catchment.

Singapore plans to extend a deep tunnel sewerage system to the west to reuse more of its wastewater, and to have Newater and desalination meet up to 80 percent of water demand of about 800 million gallons in 2060.

Singapore’s existing bilateral agreement to import water from Johor state of Malaysia will expire in 2061.-VNA