Water Supply

An extract from Edmund Waller (2001) "Landscape Planning in Singapore".

Permanent streams are rather rare at Ubin, but a notable exception is the stream at Kampong Melayu that provides some of the water for the village and formerly for the many houses, now in ruins, which are situated near the banks of the stream. Streams have also been dammed up to provide a water supply for the Outward Bound School.

Other fresh water comes mainly from wells, of which the temple well in the centre of Pulau Ubin Village is a prominent example. Sometimes these wells are too close to the sea and suffer from salt water pollution, though some of the islanders swear that the well water is better than mainland tap water.

Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) water tankers can supplement the fresh water supplies in an emergency, but the existence of a deep marine trench has made it uneconomic to bring a pipeline over from the mainland. The same applies to the supply of electricity.

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References:

Waller, Edmund (2001) "Landscape Planning in Singapore" (Singapore: Singapore University Press) pp.165-171