[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 the father's occupation was given as head constable in the Royal Irish Constabulary.
[4] Murnane joined the Royal Engineers and served in Gallipoli in the World War I; there he suffered typhoid as a result of drinking water from poisoned wells.
The total project cost was $16.2 million,[9] a tremendous investment which would cause Singapore water rates to be the highest in Malaya.
[10] The Municipal Treasurer reported in 1930 that he found the project was managed to a very high standard in terms of financial controls.
For photographs of the Sultan Ibrahim reservoir at Gunong Pulai, which was handed back by the Singapore Public Utilities Board to Malaysia in 2011, including the commemorative plaque with the names of the key engineering staff, click through the footnote[citation needed] By 1938 Singapore needed additional water supply for the growing population and Murnane was responsible for the long term planning: 'many a water-works engineer spends his time carrying out the plans of his predecessor and thinking out the work to be done by his successor'.
After the war Murnane made the case for the $40 million investment in the Johor river water supply project which was ultimately undertaken by his successor F. G.
He told his audience that 'the traveller coming to Singapore is surprised to hear that we drink water from the tap; it is something unusual for this part of the world'.
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".
[26] David Murnane retired, aged 55, on 10 May 1947 after 27 years' service; it was customary for the local newspaper to summarise the highlights of his career.
[28] He was active for many years in the management of The Singapore Municipal Employees Co-operative Thrift and Loan Society Limited.
[34] While their father was interned by the Japanese in Singapore, Conn was in boarding school in Ireland (Clongowes) and Niall in England (Ampleforth College).
[35] In an effort to slow the Japanese forces' advance into Singapore, Murnane's old regiment, the Royal Engineers, was responsible for destroying the Johor-Singapore Causeway on 31 January 1942.
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, a widespread misconception.
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.
The involvement of David Murnane in the critical final hours before surrender is confirmed by General Percival in his published Despatches, no 567, dated 14 February 1942.
[36] 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.
Built at a cost of $5.5 million, the reservoir supplements and provides backup water supply for the western regions of Singapore.
[41] A World Health Organization water sanitation seminar held in Singapore in December 1957 made a field visit to the reservoir.