The Western Water Catchment is a planning area located in the West Region of Singapore. The planning area borders Tuas and Pioneer to its south, Sungei Kadut, Choa Chu Kang and Tengah to its east, Jurong West to its southeast, Lim Chu Kang to its north and the Straits of Johor to its west.
It is the largest planning area by land area at approximately , which is slightly larger than San Marino and covers nearly an eleventh of Singapore Island. As one of the two main water catchments in the country alongside the Central Water Catchment, the area currently houses four reservoirs: Tengeh Reservoir, Poyan Reservoir, Murai Reservoir and Sarimbun Reservoir. Despite its large land size in a local context, it remains sparsely populated and has one of the lowest population densities in Singapore. This is because the planning area is mostly rural, being heavily utilised for military purposes.
A significant portion of the Western Water Catchment serves as a live firing area used by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) for training purposes. The SAFTI Live Firing Area originally commenced operations in 1968 and underwent a comprehensive revamp in 2008. Meanwhile, the eastern sector began operations in 2002 and has since been extended to encompass Lim Chu Kang Tracks 11 and 13.
History
The Western Water Catchment has a military past with the Pasir Laba area being used as the Pasir Laba Battery for the defence of Singapore. The battery was involved in the defence of Singapore during World War II and was subsequently destroyed by the British forces to deny usage of it by the Japanese army.
After World War II, squatter settlements moved in around Pasir Laba Road. In the 1960s, these squatter settlements were removed by the government so that a military camp, Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute (SAFTI), could be constructed for the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) to use as a training and live firing ground. On 18 June 1966, SAFTI was officially opened.
In 1980, other military units were moved to the SAFTI premise but only the Officer Cadet School was allowed to use the name "SAFTI" for its location while the other units were based in Pasir Laba Camp. On 31 May 1986, Pasir Laba Camp was renamed SAFTI. In June 1995, when the Officer Cadet School moved to a new complex, the SAFTI Military Institute, at Upper Jurong Road, the camp was reverted to its old name as Pasir Laba Camp. +DateEvent1967Drawing out of SAFTI Live Firing Area, and before this date, most residents and occupants living within the affected boundaries were shifted to Boon Lay as its pioneer residents and factories there were relocated to the Jurong Industrial Area, leaving only a few villages behind. There are 504 warning signs in the vicinity.14 July 1968Four villagers died and nine others were injured in the live-firing area (near Kampong Berih, one of many rural villages in the area) and seven other villagers snuck into Pasir Laba (on the coastline of the Johor Straits) by sampans to pick durians and rambutans from the many fruit trees in the forest there. These villagers were injured by mortar rounds in their attempt to collect fruits.Trespassers at firing ground: 4 die, 15 July 1968 There are many cases of trespassers in the live firing area.1970sDemolition of Pasir Laba Battery, located at Wrexham and Bajau area. Several of the WWII gun battery historical remains were seen at the junction of Wrexham Drive and Wrexham Road.1994Remaining villages behind such as Kampong Berih and Chua Chu Kang Village were all gone.July 2022TRMC has put up additional sign depicting "No Unauthorised Photography or Filming" under the Infrastructure Protection Act.November 2024TRMC has put up the new generation of Live Firing Area sign depicting "Force May Be Used - No Entry Beyond This Sign" and instead of deadly skull and crossbone, a toxic substance was used instead to deter trespassers, and the yellow extra instruction sign saying "Do Not Go Beyond This Point - Live Firing Area: KEEP CLEAR" was briefly replaced by "Trespassers Will Be Handed to the Police".
Districts There are 21 districts in Western Water Catchment. Except for Cleantech, Murai North, Nanyang Bridge, Nanyang Crescent, Nanyang Gateway and part of Peng Kang Hill (NTU), visiting to these districts and unauthorised photography or filming in these districts is not allowed by law. Deadly force may be used against trespassers, security guard or military gate warden will ask trespassers to leave, if not police will be called.
Ama Keng Bahtera Bajau Cleantech Jalan Bahar Kapal Kranji Camp Lorong Danau Murai Murai North (Opened from 10 January 2025) Nanyang Bridge Nanyang Crescent Nanyang Gateway Pasir Laba Peng Kang Hill Poyan SAFTI City Sarimbun Sungei Gedong Thousand Oaks Wrexham
Infrastructure
Military There are seven main military bases in the Western Water Catchment. These include Pasir Laba Camp, Choa Chu Kang Camp at Lorong Danau (where the RSAF's 201 Squadron is based; it has Fighter control, SAM control, Surveillance and ASP), Sungei Gedong Camp (HQ Armour), Kranji Camp II & III, Mowbray Camp (SAF MP Command) and Tengah Air Base. A military aerostat, widely referred to as a blimp locally, is tethered to the ground at Choa Chu Kang Camp as part of testing for use as long-range air defence radar in Singapore. Additionally, there are various live-firing ranges in the Western Water Catchment; these include the Multi-Mission Range Complex, MATADOR Range, M203 Range, several SAFTI ranges and the Poyan 300m Range.
The SAFTI City Urban Training Facility, located in Old Choa Chu Kang Road, was officially opened on 19 March 2025. It was operational since October 2024. The facility simulates a densely built-up town with an integrated transport hub and has a training area for island defence scenarios. The facility has three decommissioned MRT trains, two decommissioned buses, two decommissioned taxis, offices, hospitals and residential buildings.
Half of the Western Water Catchment lies within the SAFTI Live Firing Area boundary. The boundary is within Bahtera Track, Lim Chu Kang Road, New Lim Chu Kang Road, Jalan Bahar, Nanyang Avenue, Nanyang Crescent, Nanyang Drive, PIE, Singapore Rail Test Centre, Tengeh Reservoir and Straits of Johor.
In the Murai area, there are more military training areas which are the Murai Urban Live Firing Facility (MULFAC), Murai Urban Training Facility (MUTF) and MEXCON. These will be affected under the proposed Lim Chu Kang Road realignment project for the expanded Tengah Air Base, along with the construction of the new SAFTI City Urban Training Facility. The facility was located within an existing training area in Lim Chu Kang, in the vicinity of Jalan Murai. The MUTF is built to resemble a typical town, and has features such as single-level houses; a commercial district comprising multi-function, multi-storey buildings; a residential district; as well as an industrial district. The MUTF was permanently closed in 26 August 2022 to be given for the construction of the new Lim Chu Kang Road and Tengah Airbase, with training being shifted to SAFTI City.
Since 8 June 2025, the SAFTI Live Firing Area (North) and SAFTI Live Firing Area (South) were renamed into Training Plot "L", Training Plot "M" and Training Plot "P" respectively. The SAFTI City acts as a central division between Training Plot P and Training Plot M. The move is to provide more consistent naming in line with all military training plots designated by law, and even the Central Water Catchment's live firing plots such as Woodcutters Trail, Nee Soon and Mandai Ranges were also given Training Plot "C" respectively.
Tengah Air Base
Tengah Air Base is a military airbase of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and is the most significant airfield operated by the RSAF, as it hosts the bulk of its fixed wing frontline squadrons. The base is home to most of the RSAF's airborne early warning and control (AEWC) assets, its F-16C/D Fighting Falcons as well as a large proportion of its UAVs.
Before Singapore's independence, the site operated as a flying Royal Air Force station known as RAF Tengah.O'Brien, Terence. Chasing After Danger: A Combat Pilot's War Over Europe and the Far East, 1939-42. Collins 1990 London. 177, 179. The base is currently undergoing expansion to accommodate additional aircraft, equipment and infrastructure following the planned full decommissioning of Paya Lebar Airbase in the 2030s.
Home Team Academy Western Water Catchment houses the Home Team Academy (HTA), which is located along Old Choa Chu Kang Road, and the Civil Defence Academy (CDA), which is located along Jalan Bahar, next to the Muslim cemetery. The SPF ProCom (Protective Security Command) camp is located at Mowbray road, adjacent to the SAF Mowbray Camp.
Education Western Water Catchment houses the main campus of Nanyang Technological University and National Institute of Education, located at the boundary with Jurong West.
Cemetery Western Water Catchment houses the Choa Chu Kang Cemetery, which is the largest cemetery in Singapore. It is located at the junction of the Old Choa Chu Kang Road, Lim Chu Kang Road and Jalan Bahar. Within its grounds, are several columbaria, including the state-run Choa Chu Kang Columbarium, and two private facilities, namely The Garden of Remembrance, a Christian columbarium and Ji Le Memorial Park, a Buddhist facility.
Reservoirs This water catchment has 4 reservoirs. There are two road connections to connect reservoirs – Wrexham Road from Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim to Wrexham Avenue for connecting via Tengeh Reservoir, and Lim Chu Kang Coast Road to cross via Poyan Reservoir, Murai Reservoir, Sarimbun Reservoir and ending at Jalan Kapal.
Tengeh Reservoir
Tengeh Reservoir (Malay: Tadahan Air Tengeh; Chinese: 登格蓄水池) was formerly a river, Sungei Tengeh, which emptied into the Straits of Johor and was dammed to become a reservoir in the early 1980s (which is part of Western Water Catchment Scheme). It is located at Wrexham and Bajau districts. Construction of the reservoir began on 11 March 1977.
Tengeh Reservoir is part of the SAFTI Live Firing Area (South), now known as Training Plot P from 8 June 2025 and has restricted access since 19 January 1992. It is accessible from the side road of Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim called Wrexham Road and running through the Wrexham Bridge via TRMC Gate A. It is also accessible from another side road of PIE/Upper Jurong Road called Pasir Laba Road and running through the Wrexham Drive via TRMC Gate B. In 1993, MINDEF, Singapore Immigration and Public Works Department had constructed Wrexham Bridge to allow primary shortcut for military vehicles to enter via TRMC Gate A while retaining the flexibility of vehicles entering the side road for MediaCorp Tuas TV World (renamed to Police Tactical Training Village before being demolished in 2024) and Sembcorp Tuas Floating Farm. It was completed on 15 December 1997. The Wrexham Bridge is a suspension bridge.
The southern side of Tengeh Reservoir is the Raffles Country Club, and the golf areas can see the reservoir clearly. The Raffles Country Club construction began on 29 October 1987. The government of Singapore has made the second large acquisition of land for the project by requiring Raffles Country Club to vacate its plot as the site offers the "most suitable location" to run the HSR tracks after the bridge crossing and to place the tunnel portal leading to the tunnels that would take the HSR to the Jurong East terminus. The site has to be vacated by July 31, 2018, to be used for HSR crossover tracks and a siding facility to temporarily house a train near the border for safety or operational reasons. It is renamed to Singapore Rail Test Centre, the northern perimeter is called Peng Kang View from May 2024. Peng Kang View also has built a new Instrumented Battle Circuit (IBAC).