We came across a claim that has been circulating on social media, including Instagram, Facebook, Threads and LinkedIn, that Singapore’s drains are fitted with hidden nets to prevent plastic waste from falling into our drainage system.

This claim has been circulated widely, framed as an example of innovative environmental practice that other governments should adopt.

The spread of this claim across multiple platforms prompted us to take a closer look at whether Singapore’s drains actually work this way, and where this idea originally came from.

The images accompanying the claim shows what appears to be a net fitted beneath a street drain grate, filled with plastic bottles and waste. Some versions feature vehicles resembling SBS Transit buses and ComfortDelGro taxis alongside illegible street signs, while others show roads and vehicles that bear little resemblance to Singapore at all.

A reverse image search using Google Lens traced the images to multiple recirculated versions across social media platforms, but could not identify an original source, a common characteristic of AI-generated images that have no verifiable point of origin.

We then ran the images through Hive Moderation, an online AI detection tool, which returned a probability of between 99.7% and 99.9% that the images are AI-generated, confirming they are not photographs of an actual Singapore drain.

While the image appears to be AI-generated, the concept it depicts is real, just not from Singapore.

In  2018, the City of Kwinana, a suburb in Perth, Western Australia, installed two drainage nets at pipe outlets in the Henley Nature Reserve. Within three months, the nets had collected 370kg of waste, including plastic food wrappers and bottles. A further three nets were installed during the 2019/20 financial year to intercept solid waste such as food wrappers, drink bottles, and cans carried by the piped drainage system. Critically, the nets in Kwinana were fitted to the mouths of stormwater drainpipe outlets, not beneath individual street grates as the circulating image suggests.

What does Singapore actually do?

Singapore does have its own infrastructure to manage litter in its waterways. The Public Utilities Board (PUB), Singapore’s national water agency, places litter collection devices such as float booms, litter traps and gratingsat strategic locations of major rivers, canals and drains to ensure they remain free-flowing.

Regular cleansing of drains, canals and waterways is conducted by the Department of Public Cleanliness, a unit within the National Environment Agency (NEA), with contractors deployed island-wide. Moreover, Singapore’s robust waste management system and strict anti-littering regulations limit the leakage of plastic waste into the environment significantly.

Singapore’s approach to keeping waterways clean is well-documented, built on a combination of litter traps and booms in canals and rivers, anti-littering enforcement, and regular drain cleansing, rather than hidden nets beneath individual street grates.

Therefore, we rate this claim as likely false.

This claim illustrates how AI-generated images may lend false credibility to inaccurate claims, particularly when the underlying idea feels plausible. The concept of nets catching plastic waste in drains is not unreasonable, which is likely why many might have shared it in good faith.

Not all AI-generated images are created with malicious intent. As AI tools become increasingly prevalent and accessible, more people might be using them to visualise genuine ideas, including those who want to communicate an idea but may not have the technical means to do so otherwise. The problem arises when AI-generated visuals are mistaken for photographic evidence. Regardless of intent, it is good practice to check whether an image can be traced to an original source, and whether the accompanying claim is supported by credible evidence.