Many individuals have complained that desalination plants are ugly and very “industrial-looking” structures, but Singapore hopes to buck this trend with its recently unveiled sleek modern design for the Keppel Marina East development.

National water agency PUB and Keppel Infrastructure announced, as part of a ground-breaking ceremony at the Marina Barrage, the new, sleek modern design that is a total break-away from the normal design for conventional water treatment plants.

Keppel Infrastructure, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Marina East Water, signed the 25-year Water Purchase Agreement with PUB for the Keppel Marina East Desalination Plant in January 2017.

The Keppel Marina East Desalination Plant is the first of its kind in Singapore, and will be delivered under a Design, Build, Own and Operate (DBOO) model as a large-scale dual-mode desalination plant that can treat both seawater and freshwater.

The design is eco-friendly and pleasing to the eye, in that all of the plant’s water treatment equipment will be located underground; this will be topped off by a 20,000 square metre roof of gently sloping lush green lawn which, it is envisioned, will be available for community recreational use.

The lawn will also be water-wise as it will be irrigated by collected rainwater, which will also be utilised to support the facility’s water features and landscaping needs.

Water to be treated will, depending on weather conditions, be channelled either from the sea or from the Marina Reservoir to the plant.

Dr Ong Tiong Guan, CEO of Keppel Infrastructure, said: “By challenging conventional ideas of a desalination plant and re-imagining how an infrastructure facility should look and function, Keppel Infrastructure aims to demonstrate that engineering and design excellence can go hand-in-hand as we push for sustainable urbanisation.”

Construction is expected to be completed in 2020.

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