From National Security to “Sewage Beer”: How PUB Singapore Turns Climate Risk into Water Strategy
Executive Exchange — Episode feature with Mr. Ong Tze-Ch’in, Chief Executive, PUB Singapore
In this episode of the Exec Exchange, Dr. Piers Clark speaks with Mr. Ong Tze-Ch’in, Chief Executive of PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency. It’s a conversation that makes one thing unmistakably clear: in Singapore, water isn’t just a service. It’s national security and climate adaptation infrastructure rolled into one.
A Utility That Looks Suspiciously Like a Climate Agency
PUB is not your typical water utility.
With a team of around 3,500 people, it is responsible not just for drinking water and wastewater, but for the entire water cycle and its climate risks:
- Supplying potable water
- Collecting and treating used water
- Managing stormwater and flood risk
- Protecting the island against sea level rise
As Ong puts it, PUB doesn’t just see itself as a utility:
“We are a climate adaptation agency. Whether it’s drought, floods, or sea level rise, PUB is going to settle all of that.”
That framing matters. It explains why Singapore has invested in technologies and approaches that other utilities still treat as “innovations” rather than non-negotiables.
Water as National Security: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
Singapore’s water story has always been strategic. From its early years as an independent nation, water has been treated as a sovereign risk — an issue of survival, not convenience.
Ong is very clear that he is “standing on the shoulders of giants”: generations of PUB leaders and engineers who made long-term, sometimes politically tough decisions:
- Aggressively capturing every raindrop in a dense, highly urbanised island
- Building up local catchment to the point where two-thirds of Singapore’s land area now serves as a water catchment
- Diversifying supply so that no single source can hold the country hostage
That strategy has crystallised into Singapore’s well-known “Four National Taps”:
- Local catchment water
- Imported water (from Malaysia)
- NEWater – high-grade recycled water
- Desalinated seawater
There are no glamour projects here. Every “tap” exists because it closes a very specific vulnerability.
NEWater and NEWBrew: Making Reuse Tangible
NEWater is arguably the most famous part of PUB’s story.
- It is high-grade recycled water, produced from used water via advanced treatment.
- Most of it is sold directly via pipelines to industrial customers.
- A portion is blended into reservoirs as indirect potable reuse, then treated again before entering the drinking water system.
For two decades, NEWater has been one of Singapore’s core supply sources. PUB is now doubling down:
- Expanding NEWater production at Changi
- Adding new capacity linked to the Tuas Water Reclamation Plant
- Pushing recycled water to the point where the only real limit is how much used water the population generates.
Then there’s NEWBrew – the craft beer brewed from NEWater in partnership with a local microbrewery.
Ong is refreshingly blunt: NEWBrew is a marketing gimmick, and that’s the point.
- Brewed from freshly produced NEWater
- Canned and handed out at events like Singapore International Water Week and global forums such as COP
- Cheerfully labelled by some as “sewage beer” or “piss beer”
Rather than run from the stigma, PUB leans into it to demystify reuse. If people are willing to drink a beer made from reclaimed water – and discover it tastes like… beer – it becomes a powerful way to shift perceptions about safety and purity.
For utilities struggling with public acceptance of potable reuse, that’s a lesson worth stealing.
Why PUB Shows Up at COP
Ong joined this latest COP (his second) not as a passive observer, but as part of Singapore’s pavilion presence.
COP has two layers:
- The negotiation track, where governments wrangle over commitments like climate finance
- The pavilion “circus”, where countries, cities, companies and NGOs showcase solutions, cut side-deals, and tell their stories
Ong is honest enough to admit he’s “a bit divided” on the circus. But for PUB and Singapore, the pavilion is strategically useful:
- A platform to share Singapore’s water and climate adaptation story
- A place to show, not just tell, via things like NEWBrew
- A way to position water management as central to climate adaptation, not a niche technical topic
And unlike many delegates still talking about what they “plan” to do, PUB turns up to COP with systems already operating at scale: desalination, reuse, fully integrated urban catchment management, coastal defence planning.
Doubling Down on Reuse in a Hotter, Drier World
Looking ahead, PUB is not ripping up its playbook – it’s tightening it.
The four national taps aren’t going away. But the weighting will shift:
- Recycled water (NEWater) will take a bigger role
- Desalination remains a critical climate-independent backstop
- Local catchment will continue to be pushed as far as urban form allows
- Imported water becomes just one piece of a diversified system, not a single point of failure
In a neatly circular way, Singapore’s historic water scarcity has become a strategic advantage: PUB has been planning for a water-stressed world for decades, while many others are only just waking up.
Leadership from a Different Battlefield
Ong’s CV is not standard utility fare: almost 25 years in the Singapore Army, rising to Director of Military Intelligence, followed by a series of senior public service roles. PUB is his fourth posting in six and a half years; he’s been Chief Executive for just one.
The military influence shows up less in rhetoric and more in framing:
water as security, climate response as adaptation strategy, and continuity of institutions across generations.
Asked what advice he’d give to his younger self 20 years ago, his answer is strikingly un-military:
“Enjoy the journey. Don’t worry about how it all turns out… You’ll end up in all kinds of places. You’ll love it.”
For water leaders operating in far more chaotic political environments, there’s something quietly encouraging in that:
you don’t need a perfect, linear career to contribute meaningfully to climate adaptation. You need discipline, yes — but also curiosity, flexibility, and a willingness to say yes to unexpected roles.
What Other Utilities Can Take From PUB
You’re probably not Singapore. You probably don’t have a single national agency controlling the entire water cycle. But you can still borrow from PUB’s playbook:
- Reframe your mandate: You’re not just a water supplier; you’re part of your region’s climate adaptation system.
- Normalize reuse: It’s not a last resort; it’s a core, climate-robust source. And you’ll need smart communications – maybe even your own version of NEWBrew – to bring the public with you.
- Treat water as security, not just service: That shifts investment conversations from “cost” to “sovereign risk mitigation”.
- Think in decades, not election cycles: PUB’s current leadership is very consciously building on long-term decisions made 20–30 years ago.
To dive deeper into PUB’s story, NEWater, NEWBrew, and why a water agency cares so much about COP, listen to this episode of the Exec Exchange with Mr. Ong Tze-Ch’in, Chief Executive of PUB Singapore.