Singapore's tap water safe to drink despite haze, says Grace Fu

Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu stated that Singapore’s tap water remains safe to drink despite hazy conditions. Her comments followed the circulation of social media videos and photos showing greyish or blackish rainwater collected in pails after a downpour on Oct. 15. According to Mothership, Fu visited the PUB Water Quality Lab to investigate how haze affects rainwater and drinking water.

Tests conducted by PUB on Oct. 17, when the Pollutant Standards Index was 193, involved samples of tap water, runoff from Yew Tee, and rainwater from Kranji and Ulu Pandan. Fu noted that rainwater collected during haze may be slightly more acidic and contain higher levels of organic matter and particles because it picks up airborne substances as it falls. Mothership reports that the degree of discoloration depends on whether the rainwater was collected via runoff or directly.

Fu emphasized that rainwater should not be used for personal hygiene, cooking, or drinking, regardless of whether it is collected during hazy conditions. Channel News Asia and CNA - Singapore both noted that the Minister's remarks were prompted by the social media videos of discolored rainwater.

Brief written by urgent.news from Channel News Asia, CNA - Singapore, Mothership — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.