where can you find spring water in s'pore?

spring water is defined as where water flows on to the surface of the earth from below the surface. thus it is where the aquifer surface meets the ground surface.

spring water is not the same as mineral water. mineral water tends to contain a higher level of elements that are known as total dissolved solids (tds).

the use of spring water is becoming common in many households in some developed countries. users of the water note that using spring water to brew coffee or tea will result in a more desirable taste for the beverage.

many people who worry about contamination levels in municipal water systems may use spring water for cooking and drinking. for washing and bathing, they still get their water from the taps.

when i lived in a kampong, we had a spring where the water seemed to be gushing out of the ground - just like the one in the top two pictures. the magnitude of the flow was quite substantial. those who lived in the vicinity would wash their clothes and take their bath around the spring. it was a mystery to me then as i often wondered where the water was coming from.

where, in singapore, can you find spring where the water flow is quite substantial? i am not referring to the hot springs at sembawang and on pulau ubin; i am talking about those where the water is clear, cool and fresh.

the top two pictures show a spring at bukit timah nature reserve. this spring is located less than 400m from the start of the kampong trail, just behind the new development that is coming up. up on the hill, there is a smaller spring near the cave path. the third picture shows a spring at bukit batok where private bus drivers collect the water to wash their buses.

spring water for washing motor vehicles

when i lived at hillview housing and development board (hdb) housing estate - now demolished - for a short while in the early 80s, i remember seeing across cars parked by the roadside, usually in the mornings or evenings, near the end of hillview avenue before it joined the former jurong road.





nothing unusual about cars parked by the side of the road except that the owners were seen collecting water from some source nearby, in the drain, to wash their vehicles. the water was clean and the supply of it was continuous. i did not have a car then, so i did not avail myself to this free car-wash.





with the developments and changes in the area, i thought that the flow of water would have been diverted or blocked completely.

today, i decided to deviate from my usual working route at bukit batok nature park. i decided to walk to the heavy vehicle car-park located along bukit batok avenue 2 east, which is actually a continuation of hillview avenue. i remember studying an old map of the area which showed the car-park as part of an old quarry.

it was a discovery walk for me. i discovered that there is still a constant supply of clean water for washing cars and buses from certain points by the sides of the drain around the heavy vehicle car-park.


i spoke to one man who was washing his toyota altis at the car-park and he told me that there is a non-stop supply of clean water from the outlets. day and night, water is gushing out from the ground.

the heavy vehicle car-park is located just before bukit batok nature park along bukit batok east avenue 2.

since i was nearby, i was tempted to wash my car there but changed my mind. after all, it costs 25 cents to wash it myself at my hdb car-park.

my car is not washed on a regular basis. i do not pay the man to wash my car in the car-park because i feel i would be abetting him in stealing water from the hdb. do you find out where he gets his water to wash your car? no, not from the 25-cent source. he has this device which he uses (illegally) to turn on the taps which the hdb cleaners are authorised to use.