♪ ♪ singapore is a small island city state with a population of more than 5 million people. at firstsight, the country seems to be blessed with rich water resources.

but it's a little known fact that singapore has been battling to deliver enough water to its population for a long time. water channels can be found alongside almost every road. precious rainwater is collected in catchments to ensure not a single drop is wasted. processing plants have been constructed to turn seawater into drinking water. currently two plants process around 25% of singapore's water. why has the country invested so

much in securing its water resources. this is the strait of jahor which runs between singapore and malaysia. it is here we find the reason why singapore is striving to secure an independent water supply. in the 1960s, the country signed two agreements with malaysia to import the necessary volume of water through the pipes stretching across the strait. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our guest of honor. he was known as singapore's founding father. for half a century after independence, he believed the country's most pressing issue was water supply. >> a few years after

commissioner from singapore said if he doesn't do what i want, i'll switch out the water supply. so i knew that unless i could become less dependent, at that time i did not believe i could be totally independent but less dependent on supplies, i would always be a satellite. >> singapore is now deeply committed to achieving independence in its supply of water. using the latest technology, waste water from homes and factories is transformed into clean water. known as newater, it already accounts for 30% of the country's water supply.

>> i love it. i love it. >> in this episode of "asia insight," we follow singapore's effort to secure an independent domestic water supply. singapore lies at the southern tip of the malay peninsula. it consists of around 60 islands of various sizes and is completely surrounded by sea. the country's highest point is only 163 meters above sea level, and because of its flat terrain, there are few natural reservoirs. that's why local people have always struggled to secure enough water.

♪ >> this is a state-made video encouraging citizens to save water. ♪ ♪ sham too your hair, turn off the tap five-minute shower is all that you need ♪ >> three, two, one! >> the government has campaigned for many years to raise public awareness about water conservation. yong kim chang is 72 years old.

he lives with his wife in public housing. as his wife works five days a week at a supermarket, freelance varnisher yeo is usually in charge of the cooking. he shows us how he saves water. by attaching a filter to the tap, consumption can be reduced to around half of the original volume. washing vegetables in a bowl is another way of saving water.

>> it's not cheap you know. it's not cheap at all. so i have to save water to save money. and you save the country as well. >> he shows us his water bill. >> he uses around 30 cubic meters a month and the bill is taxed at 30%. if consumption exceeds 40 cubic meters a month, not only does the basic charge rise, the bill is taxed at 45%. he also recycles leftover water from the washing machine to clean the hallway.

businesses make efforts to reduce water consumption as well. this office building in the central business district has more than 40 floors. water is needed to wash the car park. and to keep the plants in the building's garden green. all of this water comes from tanks that collect and filter waste water from air conditioning units. the units produce five cubic meters of water every day. this is the building's control room. >> good morning.

>> security camera images, as well as electricity and gas usage, are monitored 24 hours a day. this screen shows the volume of water being used by the building's toilets. it displays the volume of water used in both male and female toilets on each floor. the office building was completed in 2011. ever since, measuring devices have been used to check for leakages and heavy water usage. as a result of its efforts, the building was rewarded in 2014 with a certification for a fish and water usage from the

-- efficient water usage from the government. >> most of the singapore new buildings have installed efficient tax and if abusing the water, he will come back to the same thing, because when i was young, singapore, we had water rationing when we had no water at home. we need to carry buckets and go downstairs and collect water from the rain. so the younger generation have to control. and the older generation now, we have to educate them why water is important. >> this is one of singapore's governmental organizations, the

public utilities board, or p.u.b. since independence the board has controlled the supply of the nation's electricity, gas and water. in 1995, the electricity and gas divisions were privatized and now the board is principally responsible for conserving the conservation of water and carrying out other activities to safeguard the domestic water supply. >> the board's main role is to make sure singapore has enough water for many, many years to come, all right. that's why the plan 50 years, 100 years, ahead. we've already planned by 2060 to increase our supply of water, as well as new water. >> just before independence, in

1961 and 1962, singapore signed two agreements regarding its water supply with malaysia. one expired in 2011 and the other one carried on until 2061. the agreements were regarded as vital to singapore's survival. however, at times, these agreements have been a source of dispute between the two countries. >> a few days after independence, the prime minister of malaysia told the british high commissioner, if singapore doesn't do what i want, i'll switch out the water supply. so i knew that unless i could become less dependent -- at that time i did not believe i could become totally independent, but less dependent on malaysian supplies.

i will always be a satellite. so the quest began for water independence. from day one. >> he died in march 2015. one of the major policy goals was to reduce the volume of water imported from malaysia and achieve a self-sufficient water supply. this is a satellite image of water pipes carrying water from malaysia to singapore. half a century after independence, singapore achiefs its necessary water supply by combining four major water sources. here's a breakdown. water imported from malaysia and rain water account for 45% of the supply.

processed seawater accounts for 25%. reprocessed waste water known as newater, makes up 30%. the singapore government aims to become completely independent from malaysia by 2016. increasing newater's share to 55%. and process seawater share to 30%. securing the remainder of the supply from rain water and other sources. harry sia is the chief of the public utility board's technical division and was entrusted with the development of newater in 1998 and has been at the forefront of those efforts for nearly 20 years.

>> singapore is actually a very small country. if we were to set our fate, we would not survive. newater is key in our whole water strategy. it's the only way that we can all come our lands, our streams. >> the government first began to experiment with reprocessing wastewater during the 1970s. however, the plan was soon scrapped because membrane technology was still in its early stages and because of the huge costs involved. in later years, affordable filtration membrane technology was developed, and the government relaunched its water processing plant.

>> this is the one that we in year 2000 we built. >> harry equipped this demo plant with state of the art technology from countries such as the u.s., japan and germany. he combined this technology to carry out rigorous experiments. two years later, he was successful in developing a system for processing wastewater. nhk interviewed harry back in the early 2000s. >> what you see on my left, this is microfiltration unit. we have five units here, and the purpose of this microfiltration unit is to remove all of those

you can see with your eye. basically clean the water before it goes through here. the purpose of this osmosis, because it's so small, it removes all and produces a high quality water that we want. after the reverse osmosis, we have the uv there, which is across here. this is our uv disinfection. the microfiltration and the arrow give you the quality of the water. the uv disinfection is an added barrier. they are doing well. the uv is actually a redundant process. all right? but it's on all the time, even

when they are doing okay. so after this uv, what we do is we will give it to the customer. we give it to the customer and this way we produce a high quality water. we call it newater. >> harry built the demo plant close to a sewage treatment center. he took water treated at the plant and processed it, eventually leading to the production of water pure enough to drink. it is now known as newater. he still fondly remembers the time he gave lieu a tour of the

facilities and explained the treatment process to him. >> i remember one occasion where we brought him to a special place where you see the water being produced and being discharged and discharged into the stream because in the year 2000, we were testing the technology. we wanted to make sure it was safe. so all the water rewee produce, we discharge into the drain. so when he saw the water, scolding saying that -- do something about it. >> in 2001, construction of newater plants began in two locations. the cost was approximately 50 million u.s. dollars. in february of 2003, a ceremony was held to celebrate the opening of the plants, and the production of newater began in earnest.

>> ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment we've been waiting for, the launch of newater. are you ready, sir? >> the prime minister at the time drank newater in front of the media to promote its safety. today there are four newater plants providing 630,000 cubic meters of water per day, 30% of the country's supply. the majority is put to industrial use such as the washing of semiconductors. the rest is sent to reservoirs that store rainwater. it is then processed as regular drinking water and distributed for household use.

underground construction is also currently under way to further increase the ratio of newater. tunnels like this are designed to collect wastewater and carry it efficiently to the plants. >> used water will be channeled from the existing network to the linked sewers and south tunnel via shafts and the used water flows by gravity along the south tunnel which will run underneath major roads. the south tunnel serves as a cost effective super highway built as a gentle gradient. used water is transported entirely by the force of gravity being before pumped up at twice wrp. >> construction began in 2000. the eastern arm of the tunnel is already in operation. and the western arm is scheduled for completion in 2025.

it will be 90 kilometers in length. newater is the flagship in singapore's drive for independent water supply. however, harry points out that simply building facilities will not be enough to encourage wider use of reprocessed water. in 1998 period, san diego, los angeles, and even in florida, they were trying to introduce water reuse, and it failed. failed not because of technology, failed not because they are not committed to using the water, but because of a lot of miscommunication and general acceptance.

as an engineer it's easy for me to get the water safe, but how do we convince that the water is safe? communication is important. >> this is singapore's first ever newater plant. it also runs a visitor center. entrance is free. elementary and junior high school students are encouraged to visit the facility to learn all about newater. >> what is the source of this newater? >> used water. >> that is right. how do we collect the used water? we have a network known as the deep panel system.

we call it the dtss. >> the children are invited to enter a replica of the underground tunnel. at the other end, newater bubbles out. the tour guide explains the treatment process to them. >> we have a small pocket of the treated water that is being sent in to the newater factory, right? now before this treatment, we need to process it. >> this is the microfiltration membrane used in the first stage of processing. it removes all solid matter and

viruses. a reverse osmosis membrane is used in the next stage. even finer membranes ensure only water molecules remain. finally, the water is disinfected using ultraviolet rays, hundreds of times as strong as the sun. the newater is now ready. at the end of the tour, newater is handed out to the students. >> okay, these are just sample bottles of newater. please do take this opportunity to grab one bottle each and try out how newater tastes for yourself. >> harry seah has spent years working on the development and

promotion of newater, but how does he see the future of the technology? >> singapore, we do not have land to store. the whole singapore would become a reservoir. it's not possible. and the rain is dependent on weather. no rain, no water. no rain, no water, right? so it's very dependent and we have our dry season and wet season. if the country were to progress, the water demand has to go up. has to go up. so if we project 50 years down the road, the demand for water will be double. in japan, it doesn't even stop. the housing, right? very small housing, enough car,

they can go on. what is the key to holding. i notice in the end, having a big reservoir, what you see outside is a storage tank. that is our storage. in the way, by moving water in the system, i overcome the land and stream that's required. understand? >> the small, yet affluent city-state of singapore is putting its finest minds to work on achieving a dream of a stable domestic water supply. innovations such as newater may make this dream a reality.

♪ hello. a very warm welcome to you nhk "newsline." it's 9:00 a.m. on thursday in tokyo. i'm miki yamamoto. in an effort to rein in north korea in the wake of its latest nuclear test, the united states is seeking crippling u.n. sanctions. among them an all-in embargo and the freeze on the assets of leader kim jong-un. nhk obtained a draft of the resolution circulated on wed. it would also ban natural gas imports, subject kim to a travel ban and ban countries from hiring and paying north korean