Singapore’s ceramic MBR plant awarded Industrial Water Project of the Year at Global Water Awards 2015

PUB, Singapore’s national water agency, and Meiden Singapore have announced that their ceramic MBR plant, coupled with an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB), has been awarded the Industrial Water Project of the Year at 2015 Global Water Awards.

The plant, with a capacity of one million gallons (ie 4,550 cubic metres), is sited at PUB’s Jurong Water Reclamation Plant in Singapore. It was constructed and is operated by Meiden Singapore, treating and recycling industrial used water in a more energy-efficient and cost-effective manner.

The reclamation of industrial used water has conventionally been considered challenging because of the high organic loading in industrial used water. The combined use of UASB and MBR technologies can achieve a consistent, high-quality output of recycled water. As a pretreatment system, the UASB can remove organic contaminants efficiently while the downstream ceramic MBR can produce a higher yield and more consistent water quality. The biogas generation from UASB can also be utilised for in-house power generation.

This project was supported with grant from the Technology Pioneer (TechPioneer) Scheme, which is administered by Singapore’s Environment and Water Industry Programme Office.

Each year, the coveted Global Water Awards are presented at the Global Water Summit. The 2015 Global Water Awards was presented by José Manuel Barroso, the 11th President of the European Commission (2004-2014) and the Prime Minister of Portugal from 2002−2004 in Athens, Greece.

'To ensure the long-term sustainability of Singapore’s water resources, we have been working with private and public sector partners to test-bed potential industrial water solutions such as the ceramic MBR technology that can allow us to reap energy and cost efficiencies in this area. This award is a testament to the progress we have made in the R&D of industrial water solutions and will certainly spur us on as we continue to explore more breakthroughs in this area,' said Harry Seah, PUB’s Chief Technology Officer.

Yuji Hamasaki, President of Meidensha Corporation, said, 'I am delighted that we have been awarded the Industrial Water Project of the Year and I express my gratitude to PUB, EDB, and the Singapore government.'