PUB's Marina Barrage bags Design award

The national water agency’s project was recognised for using a strategy of creating estuarine reservoirs by damming major rivers.

The Public Utilities Board’s (PUB) Marina Barrage and Variable Salinity Plant bagged the 2010 International Water Association’s (IWA) Asia Pacific Regional Project Innovation Awards in the Design and Applied Research categories, respectively, a report from PUB said.

With no natural aquifers and lakes as well as little land to collect rainwater, Singapore’s strategy has been to create estuarine reservoirs by damming major rivers. The Marina Reservoir, together with the newly completed Punggol and Serangoon Reservoirs are probably the last of these estuarine reservoirs.

With all the major rivers already dammed to create reservoirs, the next step for Singapore to collect every drop of rain is to tap the minor catchments. PUB has pioneered a technology known as the Variable Salinity Plant to harness water from the remaining streams and rivulets near the shoreline. Due to their small sizes, it is not feasible to create conventional reservoirs out of these streams and rivulets.

The Variable Salinity Plant and Marina Barrage which creates the Marina Reservoir are examples of PUB’s innovative solutions to meet the country’s challenge in ensuring water sustainability. Apart from augmenting Singapore water supply, the Marina Barrage also helps in flood control and offers a host of recreational possibilities such as boating and wind surfing.