Water System on Pulau Ubin

The supply of water from the wells is highly unreliable. There have been instances where some of the wells have dried up during the drought season, which left the residents of Pulau Ubin having to rely on drawing water from their neighbours’ wells (Tan 1981). Many wells throughout Pulau Ubin have also permanently dried up. 

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Water scarcity and inconsistency is not the only issue faced by the residents of Pulau Ubin. In 2016, water from the wells of Pulau Ubin were collected, sampled and tested by the National Environmental Agency (NEA). Test samples of well water showed traces of total coliform bacteria, including E. coli bacteria, that could result in symptoms such as nausea, diarrhoea and fever, leading the NEA to declare that well water from Pulau Ubin is no longer considered as potable water. 

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NEA further outlined that the water from the wells should be thoroughly boiled before it can be considered safe for consumption. Upon the revelation of the incident, stall owners and business operators at the Pekan Ubin area reported a fall of up to 30% in their business when news broke about the water safety concerns. The state then provided water filtration systems to the businesses in order to mitigate the issue. Dr Maliki Osman, Member of Parliament for Siglap GRC, the electoral ward to which Pulau Ubin belongs, mentioned that the initiative strikes “a balance between the modern facilities (and) to keep (the island) as rustic as possible (Ng 2016)”. 

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The residents living in the less accessible parts of Pulau Ubin were not provided with such water filtration systems, while the modern facilities seem to only benefit the area of Pekan Ubin, where most outsiders and visitors to Pulau Ubin will tend to be at.