D. J. Murnane

David Joseph Murnane (1892 – 1953) was the longest serving^[1] Municipal Water Engineer in Singapore from 1925^[2] to 1947.

Early life

Born in Coolock, Dublin, Ireland in 1892, Murnane was the third son of David and Mary (nee Cummins) Murnane.^[3] At the time of the 1901 census the family lived in Carrick on Suir, Co Tipperary; their religion was recorded as Roman Catholic and occupation of Murnane's father was given as head constable in the Royal Irish Constabulary.^[4] David was an engineering graduate of Queen's University Belfast. When he applied for membership of the Institute of Civil Engineers in 1917 he gave his home address as Dunsany, Co. Meath.

Murnane joined the Royal Engineers and served in Gallipoli in the First World War; there he suffered typhoid as a result of drinking water from poisoned wells. He was commended for conspicuous gallantry in action in 1916^[5] and was promoted to the rank of Captain in the Royal Engineers in 1918.

Work on Singapore water supply projects

Murnane joined the Municipal Water Department in 1920 and he became the head of the department in 1925. During his time Singapore began importing water from Gunong Pulai in Johor under a 1927 agreement with the Sultan of Johore. Raw water began to flow on 2 June 1927 and as a result the "danger of a water famine in Singapore ... had practically disappeared".^[6] The import of filtered water from newly built reservoirs in Gunong Pulai began on 31 December 1929^[7] This water flowed by gravity to the Pearl's Hill Reservoir about 33 miles away. At that time the population of Singapore was 525,000 and water consumption was 16.5 million gallons per day. The total project cost was $16.2 million^[8] a tremendous investment which would cause Singapore water rates to be the highest in Malaya.

The Gunong Pulai water supply project was reviewed favourably in 1928 by a visiting independent commissioner from Burma who said it was the biggest municipal project he had heard of in the Orient.^[9] The Municipal Treasurer reported in 1930 a very high standard of financial control for the project.

By 1938, Singapore needed additional water supply for the growing population and Murnane was responsible for a major $5.5 million investment which involved a new 39" duplicate pipeline from Gunong Pulai to Singapore, a doubling of water treatment capacity in the Johor reservoirs, and the building of a large new permanent reservoir in Seletar in Singapore. By this date water consumption in Singapore was 21 million gallons per day. The Sunday Times on 2 April 1939 has lots of photos of construction work including one of Murnane supervising the works which involved 1,400 workers installing  2 ¹⁄₂-ton lengths of pipe^[10]

Murnane was already planning a second major water supply project in Johore, this time tapping the Johore river near Kota Tinggi. He oversaw a one year experiment which demonstrated the river water could be turned into "pure sparkling drinking water". The municipality of Singapore either approved or was about to approve the project in 1941 but stopped because of the war. After the war Murnane made the case for the $40 million investment in the Johor river water supply project which was ultimately undertaken under by his successor F. G. Hill^[11]

When the Royal Engineers destroyed the causeway on 31 January 1942 – intending to slow the invading Japanese forces – it cut the water pipelines installed by the water department. Murnane remained at his post and was interned in Singapore during the war (Changi prisoner of war camp^[12]); he returned to work after the war whereupon he picked up projects begun before the war including the expansion of the Gunong Pulai water supply project and the new Johore river water supply project. The newspaper report on his retirement, aged 55, on 10 May 1947 after 27 years' service, summarises the highlights of his career.^[13] There is no mention of any family members.

He gave a talk to the Singapore Rotary Club in 1932 about a favourite subject – 'the most plentiful thing on earth" – water. He ends with the surprising statement that "No town in the world takes greater precautions to ensure the purity of its [water] supply [than Singapore]; no town in the world has a purer or safer supply [than Singapore]".^[14] 'The traveller coming to Singapore is indeed surprised to hear that we drink water from the tap; it is something unusual for this part of the world'.^[15] In a vote of thanks the municipal water engineer was described as 'the one man who is probably more responsible than any other for our health, which is the keystone of our happiness.'

Under Murnane, the quality of the water supply improved. All mains water in Singapore was filtered for the first time in 1927^[16] and he dealt with the problem of seasonal water discolouration around the same time. At the end of his career he declared that water purity was tested "50–60 times daily" and was always found to be pure.^[17] He had an interest in "research and development" and in 1932 he reported the excellent results of a 2-year test of a specially made rubber pipe that was submerged in the sea for 2 years.^[18] The water department tested the performance of copper pipes under local conditions and these were approved as safe for use in as water pipes in 1932.

1932 was not an easy time in Singapore which suffered the effects of the global trade depression. Murnane was active in making an appeal for relief funds in his capacity as President of the Singapore Municipal Employees Co-operative Thrift and Loan Society Limited. He raised $300 monthly through a 20c monthly voluntary contribution from municipal employees to assist indebted members "make the slate clean" and to alleviate "sufferings and even starvation".^[19] He was also President of the St Patricks' Society of Singapore in 1937^[20]

There was public disquiet about Singapore water charges which were the highest of any town in Malaya on account of "the high overhead cost of the Johore supply scheme".^[21] For a discussion of the impact of water charges on the poor in Singapore in 1936 (who were considered by one commentator as wasteful in their use of water), a comparison of water charges in other towns and cities in Malaya and a discussion on why the water department should not be a profit-oriented trading department, see extensive footnote.^[22] The exact date when water metering was introduced in Singapore is not known but it had started in the early 1920s. A flat water meter rental charge of 50 cents per month was being levied on all households in 1935, "a trifling sum to the rich man but a heavy drain on the income of a poor man".^[23]

It is often assumed that Singapore's focus on water conservation and efficiency is a recent phenomenon. According to The Sunday Times of 26 June 1938 (which has a photograph of Murnane and coverage of the major $5.5 million water supply project): "Singapore uses less water per head than any other city in the East. This is not because whisky soda is preferred to whisky ayer, but because the city is fully metered and the people have been trained not to waste water".^[24] The water department was committed to data collection and benchmarking itself against other cities even in the 1930s.

Interestingly, the eve of Chinese New Year had the highest daily water consumption in the year (on account of house cleaning and washing activity) while the first day of Chinese New Year had the lowest consumption. No surprise then that the water department under Murnane undertook major water mains interconnection works on the first day of Chinese New Year.

Murnane and the surrender of Singapore by General Percival to the Japanese

Murnane had an important role leading up to the surrender to the Japanese on 15 February 1942, referred to by Churchill as the worst disaster and the greatest capitulation in British military history. The Municipal Water Engineer was called in to advise General Arthur Percival on the state of the water supply on 14 February 1942 following Japanese extensive shelling in the city. Although Japanese forces were by then in control of Bukit Timah hill as well as MacRitichie and Peirce reservoirs they did not shut off the water supply to the city. According to oral history records quoted by Louis Allen (author of Singapore 1941–42), Murnane asked for and was promised by General Percival "ten lorries and a hundred Royal Engineers" so he could fix the water supply leaks caused by Japanese bombing and shelling. He had got one tenth of what he asked for when Percival surrendered to the Japanese on 15 February 1942.^[25] The involvement of David Murnane in the critical final hours before surrender is confirmed by General Percival himself in his published Despatches, no 567, dated 14 February 1942.^[26] On the day of surrender The Sunday Times was reduced to one page; it included the plaintive headline "Fill your baths" and a plea to "conserve water very carefully and to use every receptacle possible – bottles, baths etc".^[27] In the post-war Percival Report (written in 1946, published in 1948) the "imminent collapse" of the water supply, estimated by Murnane on 14 February to occur within 24–48 hours, was highlighted as a direct cause for surrender.^[28]

The reservoir on Jalan Kampong Chantek / Rifle Range Road

Aerial photo of Murnane Service Reservoir 1958 from New Zealand Engineering

The Murnane Service Reservoir, named after him, is a service reservoir located near the Bukit Timah Expressway and the Pan Island Expressway in Singapore. Built at a cost of $5.5 million the reservoir supplements and provides backup water supply for the western regions of Singapore. The first section, with storage capacity of 16 million gallons, was opened in 1956 by the then Singapore Governor Sir Robert Black. At the time it was 'believed to be the largest covered service reservoir in the world' with eventual capacity of 56 million gallons of water.^[29]

There is a detailed engineering description of the reservoir and Singapore's water supply needs in the New Zealand Engineering journal in 1958^[30] and we can surmise that the conception and design of the reservoir was started when David Murnane was the Water Engineer: "Murnane Reservoir, now completed and in service, holds 57 million gallons of water, which is equal at present to one day's supply for Singapore, and is intended to be a reserve to balance the periods of low and high demands and also to provide a supply on the Island during a temporary interference with the flow of water from South Johore in the Federation of Malaya, whence most of the Island's water comes. The Reservoir is named after D. J. Murnane who was Water Engineer of Singapore from 1925 to 1947. The work was planned immediately after the War as part of an overall expansion of the water supply system, designed to increase the safe available capacity of the system from 30 million to 100 million gallons per day. Active work on the overall scheme was commenced in 1949 at which point the demand was 30 million gallons per day."

A World Health Organisation water sanitation seminar held in Singapore in December 1957 made a field visit to the reservoir (see page 50).^[31] "This is believed to be the biggest covered service reservoir in the world, and the visit provided an impressive experience. The reservoir when full carries a 20 ft. depth of water over an area of 13 acres. It is in two sections containing respectively 16 and 40 million gallons, the total being equal to one day's supply to the whole of Singapore. The roof of the reservoir is formed of reinforced concrete arches of 40 ft. 9 in. span and only 3 in. thick, supported on concrete columns. At the time of the visit both sections were empty for cleaning and it was therefore possible for the party to enter the resevolr and appreciate its magnitude."

Death

A son of Ireland, a veteran of the Great War, an internment camp detainee of the Japanese in the Second World War and a pioneer of Singapore's water supply, Murnane died in 1953 in Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa. Shortly afterwards, it was agreed that the new reservoir on Jalan Kampong Chantek in Singapore would be named in his honour. His newspaper death notice indicates he received the Military Cross.^[32]

References