United Engineers Limited, through a 20/80 consortium between its wholly-owned environmental engineering subsidiary UE NEWater Pte Ltd and Beijing Enterprises Water Group, has been selected as the preferred bidder to design, build, own and operate the second NEWater plant at Changi, Singapore.

The team beat out competition from 4 other bidders that submitted proposals in May 2014. National water agency PUB invited local and international companies to submit proposals for the construction of the second Newater Plant at Changi in December 2013.

The project will have a daily production capacity of 228,000 m³ and is expected to be completed in late 2016. Newater currently meets 30% of Singapore's water demand, and this is set to increase up to 55% in the longer term.

Like the first Changi Newater Plant, the second plant will be constructed under a Design, Build, Own and Operate (DBOO) arrangement and utilise the same proven Newater process that was developed by PUB. The plant's main process facilities will be built mostly on the rooftop of the Changi Water Reclamation Plant. This not only saves land but also the cost of laying pipes to convey the treated used water from the water reclamation plant to the Newater plant.

The successful bidder will enter into a 25-year Newater agreement, commencing from 2016. The Newater agreement will set out the tariff structure, terms and conditions for the supply and purchase of water from Newater.

The total project investment is estimated from US$150 to US$180 million.

Newater is one of the four sources of water under Singapore's Public Utilities Board PUB's Four National Taps, a long term water supply strategy to ensure a robust and sustainable supply of water. The other three sources in the country are water from local catchments, imported water from Johor (Malaysia) and desalinated water.