REDUCTION OF SEDIMENT-LADEN WATER FROM CONSTRUCITON SITES INTO WATERWAYS:- A GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRY APPROACH

Water is a strategic resource for Singapore due to its small land mass and more than half of the mainland serves as catchment for raw water, including construction sites. Construction site typically involves earthworks and in conjunction with the frequent and intense rainstorm in Singapore, produce runoff of high turbidity due to suspended sediments. The resulting high concentration of suspended sediment in construction site runoff very often leads to aesthetically unpleasant reservoirs and potentially increases the treatment cost of raw water. To mitigate this, the local standard requires the discharged concentration of total suspended solids of construction runoff leaving a construction site to be less than 50mg/l which is a very high standard. This paper will present, examine and discuss particular issues and practices of Singapore's construction industry in meeting this requirement. The focus will be on two areas: Government lead initiatives and industry practices. How the government agencies worked together with the industry professionals to develop a system to ensure meeting of the standard is discussed. In addition, the types of industry practices, including various Best Management Practice to reduce erosion in construction sites and implement effective sedimentation on construction sites are examined.