Dr. Seán Ó hÓgáin:

Singapore was depending on Malaysia. It was a problem of politics and history. Singapore left the Federation of Malaya. I do not think it went down very well. Its main supply of water was a river. There was a threat to cut off that supply, or to charge Singapore extra for it. The authorities in Singapore got together and decided to do something about the matter. They realised that they did not have a sufficiently large catchment area. Singapore is very small. It has a population of approximately 5 million. I cannot remember what size the island is. The authorities there examined how they could improve the water supply. Their initial approach involved the protection of the catchment. This meant that all the bad industries - the piggeries, etc. - were moved out of an area. All of the water that was falling in that area was harvested. They continued to scratch their heads over a period of time. It was suggested that as the water was being treated anyway, it should be taken from unprotected sources. It now takes water from parks and sidewalks, etc.