Water & Wastewater Asia November/December 2019

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CONTENTS 

WATER & WASTEWATER ASIA • NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2019 

04 Editor’s Note 

50 SWA Newsletter 

63 Events Calendar 

64 Advertisers’ Index 

IN PERSON 

14 A look at ANDRITZ’s high performing 

C-Press screw press 

16 De Nora’s new CEO will see the company 

surging forward 

18 Ecolab: Credible, Reliable, Water stewards 

20 Going deeper with Perma-Liner 

FROM THE GROUND 

22 Xylem modernises island resort with robust 

wastewater management solutions 

25 SUEZ modular water treatment plants in 

urban water systems 

28 Echologics ® ePulse ® Acoustic Technology helps 

German water utility assess asset health and 

predict network failures 

30 Reliable chloramination reduces maintenance and 

improves quality for water corporation 

INSIGHT 

31 Strategic alliances: Driving innovation in the 

water industry 

32 Diehl Metering: “Water at the very heart 

of our mission” 

34 Huba Control: Specialists in pressure measuring 

technique, since 1945 

36 Technology meets sustainability 

38 Continuous microbial monitoring: On site, real time 

& fully automated 

40 Maxing out brine recovery with the MAX H₂O 

DESALTER 

42 Resource recovery from pharmaceutical industrial 

effluents using the Improved Membrane Distillation 

(IMD) System TS-30 

45 Intelligent control of water infrastructures: 

Digitisation is finding its way into water supply 

OPINON 

48 Industry 4.0 in the wastewater sector: 

When digitalisation meets process engineering 

TECH ROUND UP 

54 No harm, no foul with FORTILIFE 

57 Plug and work with electric drives 

58 Introducing Hitachi Zosen’s Marimo: Small, 

hardy and high performance 

59 SHOW REVIEWS

CONGRATULATIONS 

to 

 

Opening of the World’s Largest Ceramic 

Membrane Water Treatment Plant 

on 29 August 2019 

at Choa Chu Kang Water Works, Singapore 

From your partners for 

advanced and sustainable 

water treatment technologies

EDITOR’S 

NOTE 

THE POWER OF DATA 

We have once again reached the last issue of the year! In this issue, we are looking at 

the push towards digital transformaon. 

At a media briefing hosted during AVEVA’s annual customer conference, Craig Resnick, vice 

president of ARC Advisory Group, said, “Despite the transformaonal road not being a 

straight path, digital transformaon is a key driver of change that opens new opportunies 

for companies to grow and create value…” (p.60). 

The benefits for this are endless. For instance, according to Bernd Marx, soluon manager 

of Endress+Hauser, process events are detected early on and counter-measures can be 

implemented quickly (p.48). 

In fact, the company’s Liquiline Control plaorm offer users a cung-edge soluon to control 

the wastewater process as it enables efficient regulaon of the sludge acvaon process and 

precise dosing of precipitants for phosphate eliminaon. The plaorm is being connuously 

enhanced and will soon be able to control flocculant metering for sludge dewatering and 

disinfecon processes. 

PANG YANRONG 

Editor 

LET'S CONNECT! 

 

@waterwastewaterasia 

Such is the power of data. For Sentosa, it is home to an excing array of themed aracons, 

lush rainforests, golden sandy beaches, luxury residences, and world-renowned golf courses. 

Collecvely, this patch of paradise welcomed an impressive total of 19.1 million guests 

in 2017 and 2018. 

The island’s complex pumping system, designed in the 90s, and its programmable logic 

controller (PLC) algorithm was no longer fully suited for its current applicaon. And so, 

Sentosa Development Corporaon (SDC) turned to Xylem to upgrade the enre system, 

including their pumps (p.22). 

The new system helped lower SDC’s energy bills and reduce unplanned maintenance costs. 

In addion, a monitoring controller was installed to pull the system together. 

The water and wastewater industry is moving forward in the uptake of digital transformaon. 

It’ll be interesng to see what this would bring in 2020. 

Water & Wastewater Asia 

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Water & Wastewater Asia • November / December 2019

NEWS | 5 

Singapore’s advanced wastewater treatment process, 

digital capabilities win engineering award 

THE Integrated Validation Plant (IVP) at 

Ulu Pandan is the winner of the Engineering 

Project Category, for the Institution of 

Engineers Singapore (IES) Prestigious 

Engineering Achievement Awards 2019. 

The IVP is a testament to Singapore’s 

foresight to integrate advance wastewater 

treatment technologies with digital 

capabilities to minimise risks posed by 

extreme weather while enhancing water 

sustainability. 

The Black & Veatch + AECOM Joint Venture 

serves as the consultant for the Ulu Pandan 

IVP, working closely with PUB, Singapore’s 

national water agency. 

The full-scale demonstration plant, which 

went operational in 2017, has a treatment 

capacity of 12,500 cubic metres per day, 

and serves to validate state-of-the-art 

design concepts for the future Tuas Water 

Reclamation Plant (Tuas WRP). 

The Ulu Pandan IVP tests and validates 

advanced wastewater treatment 

technologies, allowing PUB to mitigate any 

operating risks before incorporating these 

technologies at a larger scale at Tuas WRP. 

Expected to complete in 2025, Tuas WRP 

will be part of the Deep Tunnel Sewerage 

System (DTSS) Phase 2, constructed to meet 

Singapore’s used water collection, treatment 

and disposal needs. 

The Prestigious Engineering Achievement 

Awards was presented during the World 

Engineers Summit 2019 Conference Dinner 

in Singapore, graced by Dr Amy Khor, 

Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for 

the Environment and Water Resources. 

The IVP’s compact design saves on land 

uptake in land-scarce Singapore, providing 

more space for alternative uses. Its energy 

efficient treatment processes save on energy 

consumption and results in a lower carbon 

footprint. By adopting full automation 

and data analytics to reduce manpower 

requirements, the IVP is on track to achieve 

autonomous operation through digital 

application. 

“Singapore continues to find success in 

applying water innovations in unconventional 

and new ways. The Institution of 

Engineers Singapore award recognises 

Singapore’s achievements in identifying 

new opportunities and efficiencies through 

reframing core processes. We are confident 

that the insights gained from the IVP will 

serve to enhance operational efficiency, 

performance predictability and maintenance 

planning,” said William Yong, managing 

director, Southeast Asia, Water, Black & 

Veatch. 

“Together with Black & Veatch, AECOM 

is honoured to have been awarded the 

prestigious Institution of Engineers 

Singapore award. This is a testament of our 

joint venture’s strength in collaboration and 

synergy. We look forward to setting the pace 

for more breakthroughs in water innovation 

to help Singapore better harness its water 

infrastructure in a more sustainable and 

cost-effective way,” said Billy Wong, regional 

executive for Southeast Asia at AECOM. 

WWA 


6 | NEWS 

New protection module for water and 

wastewater applications 

The new Amacontrol III module from KSB Group 

offers numerous protection and monitoring 

functions for your pumps and submersible mixers. 

Photo credit: © KSB SE & Co. KGaA 

LAUNCHED in mid-2019, the new Amacontrol 

III module from KSB Group offers new 

protection and monitoring functions for 

pumps and submersible mixers used in a wide 

range of applications. 

The Amacontrol III monitors the phase 

sequence and detects any phase failures, 

overvoltage/undervoltage or voltage 

asymmetry that may occur. It can also monitor 

temperature sensors, two conductance 

sensors for leakage monitoring and a 4-20 mA 

vibration signal. Additional functions include 

logging the frequency of starts, recording the 

number of operating hours and detecting any 

failures of connected sensors. 

A fault relay and warning relay ensure the units 

are reliably stopped or, respectively, a warning 

is emitted. The integrated diagnosis function 

provides operating data, fault lists, a fault 

counter, information on operating periods, 

start/stop cycles, current measurement 

values and a detailed fault analysis for 

the most recent fault (all measured values 

within a pre-defined time frame). This 

makes it possible to control the monitored 

units via an app on a smartphone or tablet 

computer and evaluate the data supplied 

by the protection module. 

Using the available accessories, the 

data can also be sent to an existing 

data recording system or to a cloud for 

evaluation there. 

The device is mounted in the control 

cabinet on a 35 mm standard rail and wired 

with removable spring-loaded terminals. 

The module requires either a supply voltage 

of 24V DC or single-phase AC from 115 to 

230V and a frequency of 50 to 60Hz. 

The modules supplied by KSB are preset 

with all the values required for operation. 

WWA 

Evoqua to divest MEMCOR ® product line 

EVOQUA WATER TECHNOLOGIES 

has announced an agreement to divest 

its MEMCOR ® membrane product line to 

DuPont Safety & Construction. The transaction, 

which includes the product line’s global 

workforce, its manufacturing site in Windsor, 

Australia, associated operations and 

intellectual property is expected to close by 

the end of 2019, subjected to customary terms 

and closing conditions. 

The sale of Memcor allows Evoqua to focus 

on core products and solutions in line with 

its strategy towards digitally enabled, 

recurring revenue-based businesses. 

Evoqua will continue to design, source 

and assemble membrane-based systems 

for customers, incorporating best-in-class 

component technologies from partners like 

DuPont whose core competence resides in 

membrane development and manufacturing. 

“This transaction is an excellent opportunity 

for Memcor and its employees to align with 

DuPont’s strength in membrane development 

and material science,” said Ron Keating, 

CEO of Evoqua. 

“Evoqua’s strategy is to source components that 

we can incorporate into innovative products, 

and integrated solutions and services, that align 

with our strengths. We are confident that 

the Memcor product line will thrive under 

DuPont’s leadership and we look forward 

to continuing our decades long business 

relationship to bring integrated membranebased 

systems and solutions to the 

marketplace.” 

The Memcor product line represents more 

than 30 years of expertise in membranes 

and systems for municipal drinking 

water, wastewater reuse and wastewater 

applications. Memcor products are also 

used as pre-treatment to reverse osmosis in 

industrial applications. 

Evoqua and DuPont have a legacy of deep 

collaboration in ion exchange and reverse 

osmosis with DuPont supplying materials 

for Evoqua’s system. That collaboration will 

now extend to low pressure membranes 

and strengthen the strategic partnership 

between the two companies. 

“This agreement is the culmination of 

a long-standing mutually beneficial 

relationship,” said HP Nanda, global vice 

president and general manager of DuPont 

Water Solutions. 

“This transaction further complements 

both companies’ strengths to focus 

more effectively on what each does best. 

The addition of Evoqua’s ultrafiltration 

portfolio opens additional market 

spaces for DuPont including membrane 

bioreactors, submerged and pressurised 

ultrafiltration systems bringing more 

choice and opportunity for customers.” WWA 


NEWS | 7 

LACROIX Sofrel a hit 

at IWWEF 

LACROIX SOFREL, a French company with over 40 years of 

expertise in the remote management of water and energy 

networks, exhibited at IWWEF (Indonesian Water & Wastewater 

Expo & Forum) in Jakarta Convention Center from 18 to 20 

September. The company was located at its Indonesian partner 

booth, PT Protech Automation Solution, an automation solution 

provider specialised in measurement and data acquisition. 

IWWEF Exhibition is organised by PERPAMSI, the Indonesia Water 

Supply Association. Visitors are mainly from PDAMs, the largest 

water users in Indonesia, and private water companies. 

At the show, PT Protech A. S. introduced and shared its booth with 

four main companies: LACROIX Sofrel, SIEMENS, PROGEA and DE 

NORA. PT Protech presented its new realisation, the latest PDAM 

Makassar project with 3D images, on a big screen, which involved 

Siemens flow meters, Sofrel Data Loggers and Remote Terminal 

Units and Progea SCADA software. 

The booth and Makassar 3D image project received the most 

attention from visitors and customers. 

LACROIX Sofrel demonstrated its telemetry solution by introducing 

the different range of products such as its IoT Data loggers with 

Sofrel LS and LT for water network performance and monitoring, 

as well as its Remote Terminal Units such as the Sofrel AS for 

modular telemetry and remote control of water and wastewater 

facilities. WWA 

The LACROIX Sofrel team at IWWEF 


8 | NEWS 

PUB opens world’s largest ceramic membrane 

water treatment plant 

SINGAPORE’S national water agency, PUB, 

has unveiled its latest state-of-the-art 

water treatment plant at Choa Chu Kang 

Waterworks (CCKWW), which houses the 

largest ceramic membrane system in the 

world. Minister for the Environment and 

Water Resources, Mr Masagos Zulkifli, 

officiated the opening of the new facility. 

In addition to the large-scale deployment 

of ceramic filtration membranes in CCKWW, 

ozone-biological activated carbon filters were 

also added to strengthen the disinfection 

and treatment process. PUB’s continuous 

R&D and innovation efforts to improve the 

efficiency of its water treatment process 

and operations ensures that it continues to 

provide safe drinking water for Singapore. 

Ceramic membrane technology is one of 

the latest breakthroughs in membrane 

technology, being more energy-efficient 

with a smaller land footprint, and costefficient 

with a longer lifespan. They are 

highly durable and expected to last 20 years, 

while polymeric membranes have to be 

replaced every five years. Water loss is also 

significantly reduced with the use of ceramic 

membranes, from five to one per cent. 

Along with other guests of honour, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Mr Masagos 

Zulkifli was present at the launch ceremony 

According to CCKWW General Manager 

Elaine Quek, there are key differences 

between polymeric and ceramic membranes, 

“There’s a material difference, polymeric 

membranes use polymers whereas 

ceramic membranes use a hard ceramic 

material. So, polymeric membranes are 

less resistant to harsh chemicals while 

ceramic membranes can withstand a wide 

range of pH values, and we can use different 

kinds of acids to clean the membranes. 

Pore size and distribution is also slightly 

different.” 

The first ceramic membrane demonstration 

plant was built at CCKWW in 2011 after the 

initial pilot project at Bedok NEWater Factory 

showed promising results. Built at the cost 

of SG$5 million and with a daily capacity 

of 1.2 million litres, the rigorous 18-month 

trial validated the efficiency and reliability of 

ceramic membrane use in water treatment. 

PUB then decided to deploy ceramic 

membranes on a larger scale in 2016. 

This saw the construction of a new facility, 

installation of ceramic membranes and the 

inclusion of ozone-BAC treatment for the 

plant. Construction work took about three 

years at the cost of SG$162 million. 

The ceramic membranes used at CCKWW 

The PUB will progressively incorporate 

advanced water treatment processes in 

the other five water treatment plants in 

Singapore (Bedok Avenue, Bukit Timah, 

Chestnut Avenue, Lower Seletar, and 

Woodleigh Waterworks) when they are due 

for upgrades. For start, Chestnut Avenue 

Waterworks and Woodleigh Waterworks 

are currently undergoing upgrading to 

include ozone-BAC treatment in the water 

treatment process, and this is expected to be 

completed by the end of 2019. WWA 


NEWS | 9 

Maynilad allots P53 billion for new sewer lines 

MAYNILAD WATER SERVICES, Inc. has allocated more than P53.4 

billion (S$1.4 billion) to install new sewer lines spanning up to 425 

kilometres starting next year until the end of its concession in 2037 

to ensure the provision of sewerage services for its customers in 

the west zone. 

“Sewer pipes have to be laid at a lower depth compared to water 

pipes — some as deep as fourteen meters below ground level — so 

wastewater projects take a longer time to complete,” said Randolph 

T. Estrellado, Maynilad chief operating officer, in a statement. 

He warned that the installation of the sewer network may cause some 

inconvenience to motorists. 

“To minimise traffic congestion in our project sites, we will use 

trenchless technology where feasible, although said technology 

will significantly increase the cost to install the sewer network,” 

he said. 

working together can we truly realise the goal of rehabilitating the 

Manila Bay,” said Ramoncito S. Fernandez, Maynilad president and 

chief executive officer. 

The west zone concessionaire operates and maintains 588 kilometres 

of sewer lines and 22 wastewater facilities that have a combined 

treatment capacity of about 664,000 cubic meters per day. 

Maynilad’s statement on its capital outlay to install new sewer lines 

comes after it filed a motion for consideration on the Supreme Court 

decision to impose a P921 million fine on the company for failing to 

connect all existing sewage lines to the available sewerage system 

within five years from the effectivity of the Clean Water Act, or from 

May 6, 2004. WWA 

Maynilad said the new sewer lines, to be laid in various portions 

of the west concession from Caloocan to Cavite over the next 18 

years, will enable the company to catch wastewater generated 

by its over 9.6 million customers, and convey it to sewage 

treatment plants. 

It said about 20 per cent of Maynilad’s water-served population 

are currently connected to the sewer network. The share came 

from only six per cent before the privatisation of MWSS operations 

in 1997, Maynilad said, adding that those that are unconnected 

are provided septic tank cleaning services by Maynilad. 

Maynilad said it is now laying sewer lines in Valenzuela, Cavite 

City, Las Piñas, and in barangays Cupang and Tunasan in 

Muntinlupa. It recently completed sewerage projects such as 

the those in Pasay and Parañaque. 

The company said under its approved business plan, it still has 

to spend almost P200 billion for wastewater projects from 2019 

until the end of the concession period in 2037. 

“With the invaluable assistance of local government units and 

the relevant government agencies, we can facilitate completion 

of our sewerage projects despite the difficulties posed by rightof-way 

conflicts and lack of land for treatment facilities. Only by 


10 | NEWS 

Siemens and Grundfos sign digital partnership to tackle 

global water challenges and save energy 

SIEMENS AND GRUNDFOS have signed a 

digital partnership framework for strategic 

cooperation between the two companies. 

The new partnership focuses on the 

complementary products and solutions 

provided by both parties in three main areas: 

Water and wastewater applications, industrial 

automation and building technology. 

By combining their complementary 

expertise and knowledge in a long-term 

co-development digital partnership, both 

Siemens and Grundfos will benefit customers 

by creating synergies that extend beyond 

the sum of their parts. Both parties are 

entering into this partnership with the aim 

of achieving sustainable global change by 

joining forces in digital solutions. 

“We are delighted to be further extending our 

collaboration with Grundfos,” stated Klaus 

Helmrich, member of the Managing Board of 

Siemens AG and CEO of Digital Industries. 

“Siemens and Grundfos are combining the 

competences of both companies in order to 

support our joint customer base in their digital 

transformation and in the implementation of 

intelligent solutions. Solutions from our 

Digital Enterprise portfolio can be used, for 

example, to increase the uptime of pumps 

and motors and to optimise their operation. 

Our MindSphere open cloud-based IoT 

operating system combined with Grundfos 

IoT solutions can optimise pump and motor 

schedules in order to maximise uptime and 

minimise energy consumption.” 

In addition, MindSphere can be used 

to acquire data and knowledge, which 

enables the operation of buildings in a 

more user-friendly and efficient way. 

“Our purpose is to pioneer solutions that 

contribute to solving the world’s water and 

climate challenges. To live up to that purpose, 

we are on a major digital transformation 

journey to supplement our pump solutions 

business by also becoming a digital solution 

and service provider. Partnering with 

Siemens is a big step in this direction,” 

said Mads Nipper, CEO, Grundfos. 

He added, “Our companies have a strong 

position based on quality offerings and we 

want to strengthen this position by adding a 

digital layer. Ten percent of all electric energy 

in the world is used by pumps. Through this 

partnership we can provide intelligent, efficient 

solutions for reducing energy consumption, 

making a substantial difference when it comes 

to combatting climate change.” 

Siemens and Grundfos pledge to lead the way 

on global sustainability and share the aim 

of making a positive impact on Sustainable 

Development Goals 6 (Clean water and 

sanitation) and 13 (Climate action). 

By 2030, Grundfos aspires to be Climate 

Positive, and the company aims to halve 

its own water consumption by 2025. By 

2030, Grundfos will have contributed to 

providing safely managed drinking water 

to 300 million people in need. In addition, 

through water efficiency and water treatment, 

the company will have saved 50 billion 

cubic metres of fresh water. WWA 

Singapore International Water Week announces 

new managing director 

The Singapore International Water Week’s 

new managing director, Ryan Yuen 

THE Singapore International Water Week 

(SIWW) has announced Ryan Yuen as its 

new managing director. Yuen is taking over 

from Bernard Tan, who previously presided 

over the role. 

The SIWW is the leading global platform for 

business, technology, and solutions in the 

water industry, and celebrated its 10 th year 

anniversary in 2018. Aside from his role as 

the show’s managing director, Yuen also 

holds the position of deputy director (Industry 

and Technology Collaboration Department) 

in PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency. 

Yuen is trained as a civil engineer from the 

National University of Singapore with a 

Bachelor degree (civil engineering, with first 

class honours) on a Singapore Government 

scholarship. 

Throughout his career, Yuen has taken 

on leadership roles in policy, strategy, 

business development, communications, 

public engagement and outreach, and 

regional operations. 

Having worked in the public service, private 

and non-profit sectors, he has built up an 

extensive network of contacts with local and 

international government officials, industry 

and business leaders and international 

organisations. He is experienced in leading 

global teams across different countries with a 

proven track record in delivering results. WWA 


NEWS | 11 

BASF to sell its ultrafiltration membrane business 

to DuPont 

BASF AND DUPONT SAFETY & 

CONSTRUCTION (DUPONT) recently 

announced that the companies have signed 

an agreement where BASF will sell its 

ultrafiltration membrane business to DuPont. 

The divesture includes the shares of inge 

GmbH, the business’ international sales 

force, its headquarters and production 

site in Greifenberg, Germany, and certain 

intellectual property currently owned by 

BASF SE. Financial details of the transaction 

are not being disclosed. 

“The inge team has done a great job in 

developing the ultrafiltration membrane 

technology into a well-established player 

in the market. However, synergies with 

BASF are very limited,” said Anup Kothari, 

president, Performance Chemicals, BASF. 

“For the ultrafiltration membrane business, 

becoming part of DuPont, a strategic buyer, 

provides strong value creation potential 

and will enable it to reach the next level of 

growth.” 

“As a global leader in innovative water 

solutions, we are continually looking for 

ways to help our customers solve water 

challenges around the world,” said Rose Lee, 

president, DuPont Safety & Construction. 

“This technology in combination with 

inge’s expert team further broadens our 

portfolio and enhances our ability to design 

tailored, integrated solutions for drinking 

water, industrial and waste water treatment 

applications globally.” 

Pending approval by the relevant authorities, 

closing is anticipated by the end of 2019. 

WWA 


14 | IN PERSON 

ANDRITZ Regional Sales Manager (Asia) Krystal Kong at the INDOWATER exhibition 

A look at ANDRITZ’s high-performing C-Press screw press 

Compact, efficient and easy to maintain, ANDRITZ explains how its C-Press screw press helps 

to reduce operating costs. 

The C-Press is the latest result of more than 20 years of 

experience in designing and manufacturing screw presses 

in ANDRITZ. By combining multiple ANDRITZ separation 

dewatering technologies, its uniquely compact design and purposedeveloped 

features enable easy, operator-free sludge dewatering 

operations together with low energy and maintenance costs as well 

as consistent performance compared to other sludge dewatering 

technologies. 

The ANDRITZ C-Press screw press can handle sludge capacity inlets 

from 1-50m 3 /h and from 50 to 900kg DS/h. In addition to a long 

machine lifecycle, the C-Press also offers the advantages of easy 

operation and low maintenance as well as the benefits of its dual 

cleaning system to optimise and decrease water consumption by 

up to 50 per cent during continuous dewatering and even during 

the cleaning phases. 

According to ANDRITZ regional sales manager (Asia), Krystal Kong, 

the C-Press is unique in the way it reduces the cost of ownership. 

“Our C-Press screw press has very low power consumption, and this 

is where our technology comes into its own. In the modern world, we 

are looking at renewable energy and reduced energy costs, which 

our high-performance C-Press can achieve. 

The C-Press is used in filtration/separation technology where 

there is a filter medium, and the filter medium uses a basket with two 

perforated plates (screen and support cage) of different mesh sizes. 

This is how the solids are separated from the liquids. The screw press 

also operates at very low speed, providing good dewatering at very 

high efficiency.” 

The compact design of the screw press is another reason why the 

C-Press is the choice of many: By maximising the open filtration area 

of the basket, the C-Press screw press offers a high specific capacity 

and capture rate compared to equivalent technologies. The screw 

velocity is adjusted automatically according to feed fluctuation to 

ensure a constant feed flow while delivering optimal performance in 

terms of dryness and capture rate, even during washing sequences. 

Kong explained further, “Our screw press is designed for operation with 

simple maintenance, with the basket of the screw press being built 

in four segments for easy dismantling and fast maintenance without 

having to remove the screw from the main machine frame. This means 

that we only need to replace the screen (internal segment) that is worn 

if the basket needs repairs. There is no need to replace the entire basket, 

so this design generates very low maintenance costs. The machine 

also has very compact dimensions although it is very robust.” 


IN PERSON | 15 

“ The Asian market has been very 

welcoming in terms of looking at the screw press as a 

dewatering tool, and the market is very receptive 

of the screw press nowadays. 

” 

HOW IT WORKS 

The flocculated sludge is fed into the 

screw press, where it is thickened and 

compressed gradually along the length 

of the machine. A screw conveys the 

product through the machine at low speed 

(0.1 to 1 rpm), and the conical screw shaft 

makes it possible to increase the pressure 

gradually. A pneumatic counter-pressure 

device prevents the product from moving too 

quickly, squeezing the product and achieving 

maximum possible dryness. 

The screw speed is adjusted continuously 

and automatically to maintain a constant 

feed pressure, while a dual cleaning device 

cleans the thickening and squeezing zones 

separately from time to time to ensure 

constant dewatering efficiency while 

reducing water consumption by up to 

50 per cent. 

Kong elaborated, “One of the ways in which 

the C-Press reduces the overall cost of 

ownership is through maintenance and 

operating costs; for example power, cleaning 

water, polymer and chemicals consumption. 

If we compare our screw press to other 

dewatering technologies in terms of power 

consumption for such a large flow capacity, 

it only uses up to three kilowatts per hour. As 

the press only rotates at a very low speed, 

the amount of flocculant and chemicals used 

is also much lesser than on other dewatering 

equipment.” 

The key benefits of the ANDRITZ C-Press 

include: 

• Enclosed system to minimise odour 

emissions and ensure cleanliness 

• Very low noise emissions


De Nora’s new CEO will see the 

company surging forward 

Dr Mirka Wilderer recently joined global leader of sustainable technologies, 

De Nora, as their new chief executive officer (CEO). Her new role sees her replacing 

retiring predecessor, Theo Brandes. 

De Nora Water Technologies is a leader in disinfection and 

filtration technologies, with a global footprint that includes 

offices in Europe, United States, Japan, China, Singapore, and 

Brazil. In her new role, Dr Wilderer is committed to bolstering the 

company’s revenue growth with geographic and application market 

expansion, technology advancements, and improved processes that 

will bring an enhanced 21 st century experience to De Nora Water 

Technologies global customer base. 

Dr Mirka Wilderer, De Nora’s new CEO 



Thank you for doing this interview with us. You’ve been in the water 

& wastewater industry for a long time, why did you choose to stay 

in this industry? 

DR W I’ve spent most of my life surrounded by people with a passion 

and pride for caring for water, beginning with my parents who were 

both devoted water professionals. My father, who has been doing 

research in the field for many years, was awarded the Stockholm 

Water Prize in 2003 — the most prestigious award honouring 

outstanding achievements in the sustainable use and protection of 

the world's water resources. 

Naturally, this influence has drawn me to the water industry working 

across four continents, with the aim of preserving one of our world’s 

most precious resources. Water plays an intrinsic role in everything 

we do — whether it is on a municipal level through the water we 

drink, to driving economic growth behind our industries. However, 

all this takes place amidst dwindling water resources due to climate 

change. The sense of fulfilment I get from my ongoing work to ensure 

water access to all and taking care of the environment, is what will 

drive me to stay in this industry for a very long time. 

Could you share with us a little about your career background? 

DR W I have undertaken several management roles in the water 

industry in multiple markets across Europe, Asia, and the United 

States in the last 15 years. I joined De Nora in February 2019 as the 

Global Integration Director, before being appointed as CEO in June. 

What’s been a career high for you? 

DR W I am fortunate to have had a number of highlights in my career, 

but being given the opportunity to lead the De Nora team is definitely 

one of them. I am honoured to be a part of a company with a truly 

global footprint — a presence around the world including emerging 

markets like China, Japan, and Brazil. 

In just the few months I have joined the business, it is evident to me 

that our people are talented and passionate about the importance of 

providing safe and sustainable water access, for businesses as well 

as individuals, and there are considerable efforts in place right now 

for ongoing product and service development to address the needs 

of our customers and to strategically fill the gaps in our portfolio. 

I see huge potential for De Nora Water Technologies to not only 

become a partner of choice but also a recognised thought leader 

with innovative offerings in the space. I am excited to take the reins 

of an organisation with values like quality, innovation, diversity and 

sustainability as such an intrinsic part of the business. 

De Nora is a leader in disinfection and filtration technologies, can 

you briefly outline your plans for the company with a specific focus 

on any new launches and project announcements? 

DR W In the immediate term, a key priority is certainly the integration 

of De Nora MIOX as well as De Nora Neptune. We had acquired the 

two U.S.-based companies earlier this year as part of our strategy 

to strengthen our growing portfolio. 

MIOX is an industry leader in electrochemical generation for water 

disinfection; and Neptune Enterprises specialises in “on-the-fly” frac 

water treatment and cost-effective produced water recycling in the 

unconventional oil and gas industry. 

We want to ensure a seamless transition for our customers, and that 

we fully leverage the synergies of the combined approach. 

In the short and medium term, we are looking to expand our reach 

by further penetrating the markets we already serve, and continue 

to grow the strengths of the De Nora group through product and 

service development, as well as improvement of internal processes 

to further enrich the experience for our customers. 

One approach is expanding our service capabilities and digital 

solutions — both through in-house development and acquisitions. 

Helping our customers expand the lifecycle of their equipment is 

a huge trend. We are looking to align our support and services to 

provide customers with the best economics, and leverage automation 

to improve and optimise their operations. 

How do you think your experience will push De Nora forward? 

DR W I bring to the table a strong track record of successfully 

applying innovative solutions to leading change and managing 

business transformation. I am confident that my leadership skills 

and focus on fostering cross-functional collaboration will spur strong 

growth for De Nora’s water technologies business. 

Beyond that, I am also fortunate to be working with a team of 

experienced professionals who are dedicated in giving their best to 

our customers. It takes a team to build a dream and I believe our 

collective experience and passion will be the engine that pushes 

De Nora forward to become a partner of choice and recognised 

thought leader in the industry. 

Is there anything else you would like to add? 

DR W I have huge ambitions for the business overall, and I want to 

transform De Nora Water Technologies to become that partner of 

choice and recognised thought leader in the water space. This will 

include expanding our region to more applications, industries, and 

geographies. While we drive this growth, we will also make sure that 

we differentiate ourselves by serving the needs of the modern-day 

customer with innovative offerings such as digital and new service 

solutions. WWA 



Ecolab: 

Credible, 

Reliable, 

Water stewards 

Water is a limited resource. In September 2018, Facebook announced that it’ll be investing US$1 billion 

in its first Asian data centre in Singapore. In addition, Google is investing US$850 million investment 

to expand its Singapore data centre as mobile growth, e-commerce and cloud computing demand rise 

across the region. With rapid growth and expansion in the region, there is a rising need for water to keep 

these data centres cool while minimising consumption and maximising reuse and recycling. 

A 

global provider of water, hygiene, and energy technologies and 

services that protect people and vital resources, Ecolab is a 

trusted partner at nearly three million customer locations. The 

company is able to tackle global challenges efficiently and effectively 

while achieving sustainability goals and keeping the environment 

clean and safe, and operation efficient. 

“We are a highly highly innovative company and innovative in a 

couple of ways. Number one, we try to look at what’s happening 

in the environment and the industry that we’re operating in as that 

impacts how we innovate. Second is what’s happening with the natural 

resource that we are working with. So if you look at water, for example, 

which is what I look after, is going in a very specific direction in the last 

couple of decades — in terms of becoming more scarce and not being 

managed well enough,” said Vishal Sharma, senior vice president and 

general manager of Nalco Water Asia Pacific at Ecolab Inc. 

“So it’s things like this that we look at as a company, and that drives 

our company’s innovation engine.” 

ECOLAB’S ABILITY TO ADDRESS WATER SCARCITY 

ISSUES 

Water scarcity challenges are posing serious risk to businesses due 

to the lack of understanding and action in addressing total water 

management. 

In order to address these challenges, Sharma emphasizes the need 

to educate and create awareness in the industry so companies will 

be equipped with the right tools for their businesses. 

“We are looking at how we can bring in the three “R”s — reduce, 

reuse and recycle to every customer we work with,” he said. 

He went on to explain, “It’s really how we can bring the three “R”s 

together with all the innovative technology that we’ve got. Over 

the last decade, we have become more focused on digitalisation 

and brought in digital innovations. We call it ‘connected chemistry’, 

where it’s not just providing on-ground solutions to the customers, 

but also trying to see how we can track data.” 

In fact, just last year, Ecolab managed 48 billion data points across 

40,000 systems. 

“It’s seeing how we can convert the data into meaningful information 

— information that can then be used by us, together with our 

customers, to help make good decisions in managing water today 

and preparing to manage water better tomorrow. So, it’s something 

about today, it’s something about the future,” said Sharma. 

Understanding the need to educate and to help industrial and 

institutional companies to stay ahead of their water challenges, 

Ecolab introduced the Water Risk Monetizer and the Smart Water 

Navigator. 

WATER RISK MONETIZER: ENABLING GROWTH 

“Everyone needs water. It is a right for humanity. But when we look at 

it from an industrial point of view or municipal point of view, are we 

paying enough for that water? And is the cost of water factored in with 

potential scarcity in the future. This is a big question mark,” said Sharma. 



“ 

We want to continue 

being heavily invested in 

innovation and being the 

most innovative out there 

in the marketplace. 

” 

- Vishal Sharma, 

Senior Vice President and General Manager, 

Nalco Water Asia Pacific, Ecolab Inc. 

Ecolab’s Water Risk Monetizer is a free financial modelling tool that 

helps businesses to assess water-related business risks in order to 

understand the gap between what the business pays for water and 

the potential costs of water risks to the business. 

He said, “Companies will typically make investments if the payback 

period is two or three years. So, we develop the tool with Microsoft 

and Trucost, and made it freely available across the internet. 

This tool takes information about the water basin, and specific water 

availability and usage around that organisation, industry, factory or 

wherever it is, and gives a risk-adjusted cost of water. When that 

organisation uses the risk-adjusted cost of water, they are able to 

make the right decision on their capital investment because the 

ROI then pays back. We’ve seen enough cases of manufacturing 

plants having to shut down because they ran out of water or where 

communities have forced factories to move out. We don’t want those 

kind of situations happening anywhere. So, this tool helps them.” 

By assessing and quantifying water risks, and applying the 

information into business decisions, the tool positions industrial and 

institutional companies for growth in a water-scarce world. 

SMART WATER NAVIGATOR: THE ROADMAP TOOL 

FOR BUSINESSES 

The Smart Water Navigator is a holistic approach to corporate water 

management, supported by a practical guide to smart, sustainable 

water practices at facility level. In other words, it is a roadmap for 

business as an online assessment tool. 

“This tool essentially looks at how the water company is doing today: 

How is it managing water, or how close or far the company is from 

best practice, and then provides water management strategies to 

that company in terms of what to do with the water going forward,” 

explained Sharma. 

In the current global water landscape where water scarcity is 

a potential issue, which can become costlier as the years go by, the 

Smart Water Navigator aims to safeguard growth for businesses 

through minimising risk, maximising performance and optimising 

cost. 

BEING THE MOST INNOVATIVE 

The need to know the true cost of water in this water scarce world is 

more important than ever before, and so, companies are encouraged 

to embrace digital transformation in order to face the challenges 

ahead. With this vision in mind, Ecolab aims to continue creating 

value for its customers as well as the planet. 

Sharma said, “It’s about making business successful while doing 

good for the planet. When these two go hand in hand, that’s the 

best place for us to be. And as a company, we’ve been there — we 

have been doing that for the last several decades and would like to 

continue doing that. 

We want to continue being heavily invested in innovation and being 

the most innovative out there in the marketplace.” WWA 



GOING DEEPER 

WITH 

PERMA-LINER 

As far as repairing pipe systems 

go, trenchless technology could be 

revolutionary – Water & Wastewater Asia 

talks to Perma-Liner Industries to 

find out how. 

The Perma-Liner team at INDOWATER 2019, held in Jakarta 

Established in 2014, Perma-Liner Industries (Singapore) provides 

asset owners with Cured-In-Place-Pipe (CIPP) systems designed 

specifically for the municipal, residential and commercial 

market and is supported by a range of updated and newly developed 

trenchless pipe repairing and inspection techniques. 

Today, Perma-Liner is a leading turn-key solution provider for 

underground pipes using CIPP systems. Perma-Liner’s unique 

trenchless technology provides cost-effective and environmentallyfriendly 

solutions to failing underground pipelines. 

actually the lack of data that we have on hand. There is lot of work 

to be done, such as the Pre-CCTV survey of the sewer lines, imputing 

the collected data into a system for future reference and so on. For 

water pipelines in developing countries, I think the biggest challenge 

would be with regards to Non-Revenue Water (NRW). This can be 

addressed by asset owners by adopting recent developments and 

cost-effective technologies that are there in the market. 

As far as trenchless technology goes, Ganesan explained that the market 

will need more time and education to adapt to trenchless solutions. 

CIPP systems involve the insertion of a flexible lining impregnated 

with a thermosetting resin into a cleaned pipe using an inversion 

process (hot water or steam curing). 

As Perma-Liner Industries sales director Sriram Ganesan explained, 

“At Perma-Liner, we investigate, evaluate and create new trenchless 

technologies, and bring about innovative solutions to the field to help 

realise our clients’ boldest visions with a practical approach. With a 

breadth of services and depth of experience we are set to solve the 

most complex of pipeline challenges. We have a solution for most 

underground pipes, ranging from gravity sewers to potable pressure 

water pipes. With our extensive line of trenchless pipe repair systems, 

we can rehabilitate pipes ranging from 50mm to 1200mm in diameter. 

We start up by doing condition assessment of the pipes, and once 

the problems in the pipes are identified and analysed, then we give 

solutions to our clients and asset owners on how to fix the problem 

without having to excavate the pipe or create a mess.” 

CIPP systems aim to fix some of the issues that water and wastewater 

pipes face, such as non-revenue water (NRW). Ganesan elaborated, 

“We are a trenchless company that’s specifically producing a 

method to solve an existing problem in the pipes. For sewer pipes 

in developing countries like Indonesia, the biggest challenge is 

“Trenchless technology has evolved quite a bit, but it’s still a fairly 

new technology in the field when compared to other old trades in 

the market. The main challenge that we face is education – asset 

owners of developing countries need to be educated on trenchless 

technologies in order for them accept an alternative to the traditional 

excavation methods. The asset owners need to analyse the options 

available to solve their problems. Excavation can’t be answer to every 

situation, and building a new pipe is not the answer to everything 

either. Going out and giving the education to the asset owner is 

critical so that they can make the right informed decision.” 

According to Ganesan, other industry challenges include tapping 

into the potential of the water and wastewater market. “Water is the 

biggest challenge of the future for developing countries and managing 

wastewater equally plays an important role in the development as 

well, so there’s a lot of work to be done. A good example will be 

Singapore – it has given a lot of attention into this problem from very 

beginning and Singapore now is in the forefront for managing both 

water and waste water with the latest technologies that is available 

in the market today. If we can pay attention to the problems that are 

ahead of us, we can then can plan for it and overcome it in the future 

and trenchless technology is one such tool for solving problems of 

today and the future for both old and new pipes.” WWA 


22 | FROM THE GROUND 

Xylem modernises 

island resort with 

robust wastewater 

management 

solutions 


FROM THE GROUND | 23 

In a world of ever-changing water challenges, Xylem 

once again shows how it’s able to deliver water 

technology solutions efficiently and effectively. 

Xylem installed and commissioned three water 

and wastewater solutions: Flygt MultiSmart ® 

monitoring and control system, Flygt N-pumps 

and MJK Shuttle ® Ultrasonic Level transmitters 

Singapore, an island city-state 

with over 5.6 million inhabitants 1 

residing on a small land area of about 

710km 2 , has a water demand of about 

430 million gallons a day 2 . In order to meet 

its water management needs, Singapore has 

to develop innovative solutions to collect, 

treat, and reuse sewage and rainwater from 

all across the nation, including Singapore’s 

island resort, Sentosa. 

Managed by Sentosa Development 

Corporation (SDC), Sentosa is home to an 

exciting array of themed attractions, lush 

rainforests, golden sandy beaches, luxury 

residences, and world-renowned golf 

courses. Collectively, this patch of paradise 

welcomed an impressive total of 19.1 million 

guests in 2017 and 2018 3 . 

Running a myriad of developments on 

a 500-hectare island presents many 

challenges, such as ensuring a steady 

supply of water and electricity, as well as an 

efficient wastewater management system. 

With a high volume of visitors, the island 

resort depends on a complex system of 

pumping stations to help remove sewage on 

demand. 

BUILDING RESILIENCE: 

UPGRADING AN AGING PUMP 

SYSTEM 

Designed in the 90s, Sentosa’s complex 

pumping system and its programmable logic 

controller (PLC) algorithm was no longer 

fully suited for its current application. SDC 

decided to conduct an in-depth study of 

all existing pumps and found that several 

pumps had to be overhauled. An upgrade 

to the entire system was necessary, so the 

SDC team set out to search for a more robust 

solution, including pumps that have had a 

proven track record. 

Steven Kong, senior project engineer, SDC, 

shared, “Other than confirming that our old 

pumps could no longer fulfil our sewage 

disposal needs, the study also helped us 

realise that a monitoring system capable 

of generating incident reports would allow 

us to identify specific reasons for the pump 

breakdowns.” 

The absence of a monitoring controller 

in the pumping system proved to be 

crippling to the pumping stations, as 

damaged pumps would go undiscovered. 

When they were finally identified, it was often 

too late. The broken pumps were mostly 

beyond repair and needed to be replaced 

completely. 

NEW PUMPS, TRANSMITTERS 

AND MONITORING SYSTEMS FOR 

SENTOSA 

Following some thorough review and 

considerations, SDC decided to install three 

of Xylem’s solutions — Flygt N-pumps, 

MJK Shuttle ® Ultrasonic Level transmitters, 

and Flygt MultiSmart ® monitoring and 

control system. By pairing Flygt N-pumps 

with a fuss-free level transmitter and an 

intelligent pump station manager, Xylem 

had recommended a complete system that 

addressed the island resort’s needs and 

eliminated previously faced challenges. 

Suitable for a broad range of wastewater 

applications, the N-pumps replaced the 

older pumps in 11 pumping stations across 

the southern region of Sentosa, with 

two units for dry well installation and 

nine units for wet well installation. 

Built with the patented N-technology 

comprising an innovative self-cleaning 

impeller, Flygt N-pumps helped lower 

SDC’s energy bills and reduce unplanned 

maintenance costs. 



Flygt MultiSmart ® Pump Station Controller 

When asked about the new pumps, Kong 

commented, “The 11 pumping stations 

serve major tourist attractions, golf 

clubs and hotels. The new pumps are still 

running with no clogging issues! We used 

to call-out vacuum trucks for scum removal 

once a month, but we haven’t needed 

that service since the installation of the 

Flygt N-pumps.” 

However, SDC still required a monitoring 

controller to pull the system together. With 

Xylem’s recommendation, the SDC team 

decided to install a scalable system with 

advanced remote monitoring capabilities for 

regular checks on the health of the system, 

providing adequate reaction time before any 

detrimental issues might surface. 

“With the logged 

events data, we had 

the information we 

needed to rectify the 

problem in a timely 

manner.” 

- Steven Kong, 

Senior Project Engineer, 

Sentosa Development Corporation 

a problem occurs, we’ll immediately receive 

a specific alarm notification, and can then 

address that problem promptly.” 

Koh Chong Hin, managing director, Xylem 

Southeast Asia, commented, “Selecting 

the perfect technology for each application 

is crucial for achieving better water 

management. We’re glad that our solutions 

met Sentosa’s needs, and they haven’t 

experienced any major breakdowns since 

then. Most importantly, our solutions 

ensure Sentosa a smooth, reliable and low 

maintenance operation for many years to 

come.” WWA 

All images are credited to Xylem Inc. 

1 

Department of Statistics Singapore, Population 

and Population Structure 

2 

Public Utilities Board, Singapore Water Story 

3 

Sentosa Development Corporation, 

Annual Report 2017/18 

Kong explained, “We used to struggle with 

the old pumping stations’ PLC programme, 

whereas the MultiSmart ® handles all basic 

and advanced functionalities on its own. 

Furthermore, the controller’s history log 

was crucial in helping us identify the root 

cause of a flash flood that happened in one 

of the pumping stations a while back. With 

the logged in-depth events data, we had the 

information we needed to rectify the problem 

in a timely manner.” 

The controller also boasts auto-reset 

capabilities for non-critical alarms, enhanced 

motor protection, and SMS messaging alerts. 

Kong added, “The SMS messaging alert 

system is, by far, our team’s favourite feature. 

Problems with pumping stations can occur 

at any time of the day, and we don’t have 

personnel stationed near each station all 

the time. With the SMS messaging alerts, if 

Flygt N-pumps 



SUEZ modular 

water treatment 

plants in urban 

water systems 

By Nuno Aguilar, Global Sales & Marketing Director, SUEZ 

SUEZ develops modular water and wastewater treatment plants which can be used as a solution to 

some of the challenges that operators or water utilities face today 



Today, nearly 55 per cent of the world 

population lives in urban areas. This 

number is expected to rise to nearly 

70 per cent in 30 years. This fact is not only 

the result of a gradual shift from the rural 

populations to urban areas, but also the 

population growth that is expected to grow 

per cent until 2050. These facts aligned with 

the climate change generate an extreme 

pressure on the existent facilities and 

systems in urban areas (Transport & Mobility, 

Water & Energy, Production and Distribution, 

Waste management & Recycling, etc.). The 

current models of resource consumption 

need to be adapted in order to accommodate 

these changes. 

The use of new materials, recycling, water 

reuse but also the change of habits will 

create more efficient systems that will 

certainly come to replace the old ones. These 

disruptions are common in human history 

and are the proof that humanity knew how 

to adapt to its changing environment. 

But these impacts create, also, a huge need 

for new infrastructures, and with this will 

bring the same questions about how to 

finance their construction and how to fund 

their operation and maintenance. 

In order to attain the SDG (Sustainable 

Development Goals) at a good pace, in 

particular, the one related to Water and 

Sanitation, new solutions that are simpler, 

affordable and reliable are needed. This point 

is mentioned in the report “A New Model for 

Water Access” created by the Global Water 

Leaders Group where it is stated that for the 

new model, decentralistion is a potential 

solution, “Decentralise to cut the up-front 

capital costs: water kiosks, franchised 

water distribution services, micro-utilities, 

and neighborhood wastewater treatment 

facilities may not offer the perfect solution, 

but they do offer a better and more affordable 

solution in the interim.” 

wastewater treatment, are becoming more 

and more a solution, not only for rural areas 

where its application is quite obvious due to 

the geographical context but also in urban 

areas (new neighborhoods or city extension) 

with more high-density population, because 

they more flexible, and time and cost 

efficient. 

As a bonus point, they improve the water 

safety plans for the operators as they can 

be used to diversify water sources (if that 

is the case), in the example for drinking 

water source, but also more flexibility 

and redundancy which are critical for the 

operators to not depend on a unique major 

system, thus reinforcing the resilience 

towards disruption risks. 

UCD: DEGRÉMONT ® COMPACT 

UNITS 

SUEZ is a leading services provider in water 

and waste management. SUEZ develops 

modular water treatment plants (WTP) and 

wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) that 

can be used as a solution to some of the 

challenges that operators or water utilities 

face today. 

The UCD (Degrémont ® Compact Units) 

are prefabricated, modular water and 

wastewater treatment plants that were 

developed by SUEZ and were engineered 

in order to be easily produced, transported 

and deployed. 

For drinking water application there are 

five modules that cover water technology 

processes such as Lamellar Settling, Sand 

Filtration, Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) 

or stripping towers - Aero G & Aero F (for 

removal of ground water contaminants as 

iron, carbon dioxide or hydrogen sulfide) that 

can be adapted to treat conventional water 

sources of fresh water like rivers, dams, lakes 

or underground water. The capacities go up 

to 22 MLD per module. 

from the conventional activated sludge, 

Sequential batch reactor, moving bed biofilm 

reactor (MBBR) and membrane bioreactor 

that can cover the wastewater treatment of 

a population of up to 30000 PE (Population 

Equivalent). 

There is a large field of application 

possibilities for these modular systems in 

the reinforcement of the capacity of water 

production or wastewater treatment for some 

neighborhoods in urban areas as the cities 

grow. This fact is particularly pertinent in 

some areas like Africa or in Southeast Asia 

where the rate of the population growth is 

higher. 

COMPLEMENTARY SYSTEMS 

The use of modular systems is complementary 

to conventional water systems where 

flexibility is achieved. A good example is 

the case of a conventional system upgrade 

where modular systems can be installed to 

assure the continuity of service during the 

extension works. 

An example is the possibility to reinforce 

the capacity of a WTP with a new treatment 

step or technology at some point due to 

external changes in the raw water (this case 

is common in some rivers where rain/dry 

seasons alters the raw water composition) 

but only for a short period of time. 

Another example linked to water sources 

is the need for investment in alternative 

systems (e.g. desalination of sea water) due 

to a sudden episode where there is a lack of 

fresh water to feed the existing freshwater 

treatment systems (e.g. Melbourne, 

Barcelona and Cape Town). These systems 

will complement the existing ones, even if 

their operation is very limited (if there is 

enough fresh water), but, if needed, they are 

there to assure the continuity of the service. 

Applying modular solutions in such cases 

will help to reduce CAPEX and OPEX costs. 

Today, decentralised solutions, like modular 

and packaged systems for water and 

For wastewater application there are four 

modules with different types of technologies 

In 2012, SUEZ installed an UCD LML 

modular WTP in Kalabancoro – Bamako 



(Mali). This WTP was deployed in 10 months 

and is capable of producing 22,000m 3 / 

day. Since then, it has served the Bamako 

city’s water needs by treating water from 

the Niger River. This year, the new WTP of 

Kabala was inaugurated — designed and 

built by SUEZ, it will assure the production 

of 300,000m 3 /day by treating the water 

from the same river. This serves as a good 

example for complementary and redundancy 

of both systems: In order to rapidly assure 

the availability of drinking water for the 

population, one modular solution was put 

in place at some point to complement the 

traditional one. The project development 

time (structuring, financing, etc.) of this 

major project sometimes was not compatible 

with the immediate population needs for 

water. 

The advantages of the Modular Standard 

systems can be resumed in: 

• Optimised lead time: Factory assembled 

and wired 

• Modularity: Addition of modules, interchangeable 

units and transfer is possible 

• Compact: Reduced footprint - installation 

in dense areas 

• Risk management: Factory tested - 

Limited structural engineering 

• Reduced CAPEX and OPEX: Civil engineering 

and operating costs reduced 

PROVEN IN SOUTHEAST ASIA 

Since 2001, SUEZ through its subsidiary 

PT Tirta Lyonnaise Medan (TLM), has been 

operating a WTP in Medan, Indonesia, under 

a BOT contract to provide bulk water for the 

region. The original system consisted of three 

UCD LML modules and was built between 

2001 and 2003 with a total of 500l/s. A 

new extension of the water treatment plant, 

signed in 2018, was completed by adding 

two new modules of UCD LML to upgrade the 

system to produce a total of 900l/s. 

Decentralised, modular and compact 

solutions for water and wastewater 

treatments can be a complementary solution 

to conventional systems. They are easily 

and rapidly deployed, based on reliable 

technologies, cost-effective and easy to 

operate. They allow phased investment due 

to its modularity, and can reinforce operators 

water safety plans as well as ensure resilience 

in urban water systems. WWA 


Echologics ® ePulse ® 

Acoustic Technology 

helps German water utility 

assess asset health and 

predict network failures 

Known for their well-functioning drinking water 

distribution network, German water suppliers 

invest around EUR 1.5 billion annually on 

infrastructure maintenance. Most utilities have a 

portion of aging pipes and unsustainable supply 

networks, as is the case with Netzgesellschaft 

Düsseldorf mbH. Faced with infrastructure 

reaching its end of life, it became critical for 

the utility to find a way to anticipate failures, so 

that they could prioritise maintenance and keep 

up with daily operations, while managing the 

necessary capital expenditures. 

Netzgesellschaft Düsseldorf mbH (NGD), a wholly owned 

subsidiary of Stadtwerke Düsseldorf AG, is responsible 

for network operation for the North Rhine-Westphalia 

capital of Düsseldorf in the area of energy and water supply. 

They provide the infrastructure for the distribution of electricity, gas, 

water and district heating to more than 600,000 residents, with a 

water pipe system that extends over 1,700km. 

NGD identified a significant amount of transmission and distribution 

mains made of steel and cast iron that were installed between 1950 

and 1965. These pipes were said to be strongly prone to corrosion. 

Due to the absence of historical data and limited capacity of 

underground work to assess its structural condition and remaining 

service life, NGD searched a cost-effective solution to prioritise 

its pipeline rehabilitation and replacement decisions. The utility’s 

asset management team turned to Echologics ® ePulse ® condition 

assessment technology from Mueller Water Products. 

Positive correlation 33.5m from the white sensor, within the test section 



the need for large excavations or service disruptions. This is 

accomplished by attaching acoustic sensors to existing contact 

points, such as fire hydrants, valves or direct contact with a pipe. 

A sound wave is then induced in the pipeline and travels along the 

pipe. The acoustic sensors capture the time it takes the sound wave 

to travel between two sensor stations. The speed at which the sound 

wave travels is dictated by the condition of the pipe wall. As the sound 

wave travels, it pushes water molecules towards each other. Because 

water is incompressible, the molecules push outward on the pipe 

wall. This places a microscopic flex on the pipe wall — and greater 

the flex, the weaker the pipe. Through this acoustic technology it’s 

possible to measure the actual strength of the pipe wall which is an 

ideal measure of actual pipe condition. 

ePulse ® validation results for all materials. Echologics provided 104 sets of 

ePulse validation results. R2 is the Determination Coefficient indicating how well 

the validation results were predicted from the ePulse results. It corresponded 

with the proportion of the sum of deviations from the validation results 

66 

DN1200 

Condition Assessment – Cast Iron trunk mains 

11 

No. of segments assessed 

Figure 1 

67 

Figure 2 

Lost 15-34% 

of average min. 

structural wall 

thickness 

Structural wall thickness loss 

10-30% 

(Moderate) 

Deploy permanent monitoring/ 

Reassess with ePulse in the 

next 5 years 

0-10% 

(Good) 

Defer replacement for the 

next 10 years 

30% & above 

(Poor) 

Prioritized for replacement in 

early 2019 

DN600 

Lost 15-22% 

of average min. 

structural wall 

thickness 

Figure 1: Summary of the cast iron trunk mains using ePulse technology; 

Figure 2: Summary of the findings for steel mains using ePulse technology 

This result supported NGD’s cast iron replacement decisions by 

rapidly assessing the structural condition across the pipe network 

to prioritise areas with the worst degradation for immediate pipe 

replacement. 

For the steel pipe sections, broadband electromagnetic measurements 

(BEM) was also used to characterise the pitting distribution on each 

section of pipe. Pipe measurements and other pipe condition datasets 

were then paired with a structural analysis to determine the condition 

of each pipe. 

THE RESULTS 

CAST IRON TRUNK MAIN SELECTION: EPULSE CONDITION 

ASSESSMENT 

A total of 27.7km section was assessed using ePulse technology 

with three leaks successfully pinpointed. Figure 1 is a summary of 

decisions made by NGD, considering Echologics’ experience. 

STEEL TRUNK MAIN SELECTION: EPULSE CONDITION 

ASSESSMENT AND BEM 

Nine-hundred metres of DN600 and 500m of DN1200 steel mains 

were assessed using ePulse technology. Figure 2 is a summary of 

findings. 

The minimal average remaining structural wall thickness calculation 

aligned with the pitting distribution and the minimal wall thickness 

values gathered through the BEM measurements, provided a useful 

dataset for NGD to make informed replacement decisions. 

“We chose the ePulse because of its unmatched ability to locate 

leaks non-invasively while assessing factual pipe condition versus 

theoretical,” said NGD Asset Manager Markus Wall. NGD and 

Echologics field crews collaboratively selected a 35km section, 

critical to the city’s supply network to kickstart the project. 

ePulse technology can assess the condition of distribution and 

transmission mains, while simultaneously searching for leaks without 

“At NGD, we seek resilient water systems to anticipate and monitor 

changes to pipe condition. The data-driven insights we gathered from 

ePulse have not only helped us safeguard the long-term availability 

of clean water for all customers and stakeholders in this city, but 

also efficiently allocate operational resources,” concluded Mr Wall. 

Netzgesellschaft Düsseldorf mBH plans to re-measure the moderate 

pipes with ePulse technology after five years to evaluate the change 

in structural remaining wall thickness. WWA 



Reliable 

chloramination 

reduces 

maintenance 

and improves 

quality for water 

corporation 

By Ken Chen, Sales Engineer (Rosemount), 

Emerson Automation Solutions 

1 

1: The accuracy of the system helps 

to reduce remote site visits from 16 to 

four per month 

2: To remedy the corporation’s water 

purification problems, Emerson’s 

Ammonia Monitoring System was 

selected 

2 

A 

regional water corporation in 

southern Australia with many remote 

sites uses chloramination to assure 

residual water purification in its long pipe 

runs, which can be up to 30 kilometres 

long. The water corporation previously 

used a system that required reagents, but 

discontinued its use several years ago after 

that particular reagent-based system added 

expenses of $300 per system per month. In 

addition to the cost, the reagents had to be 

refrigerated and many of the remote sites did 

not have power sufficient for refrigeration. 

Maintenance personnel had to visit the sites 

with the refrigerated reagents on a regular 

basis, increasing maintenance time. 

When compared to the lack of consistency 

in measurement that the water corporation 

discovered with the system, all this was a 

small problem — the deviation was huge 

among measurements from grab samples. 

The region experiences large variations in 

water demand seasonally (from 10 litres 

per second to 250 litres per second at 

the major potable water storage facility), 

and the system failed to capture accurate 

measurements, which cause underdosing 

or overdosing of chemicals that resulted in 

water quality issues. 

Overdosing could cause an odour to be 

detected in the drinking water, while 

underdosing could lead to the growth of 

bacteria and other microorganisms that 

pose a risk to water safety. As a result, 

the personnel made multiple visits to the 

remote sites weekly to take grab samples 

to test water quality and assure safety for 

customers. 

THE SOLUTION 

The water corporation was using 

costly and time-consuming field-based 

equipment to compensate for not having a 

monochloramine system, so it worked quickly 

to remedy the problem and sought out new 

alternatives. The corporation selected 

Emerson’s Ammonia Monitoring System. 

This consisted of a free-chlorine panel with 

flow cell adapter, plus a Rosemount 499ACL 

Chlorine Sensor and a Rosemount S10046 

ammonium sensor; all controlled by the 

Rosemount 56 dual-channel transmitter on 

a pre-engineered water quality panel. The 

system was installed at three sites with a 

fourth to come. 

THE RESULTS 

The Emerson system does not require 

reagents, which immediately eliminated the 

cost of the consumables — $300 per system 

per month. It also removed the need for 

site trips to replenish refrigerated reagents. 

Most importantly, the system provided 

consistent and reliable measurements, with 

minimal deviation from grab samples, even 

under tremendous high-demand as well 

as low-demand conditions. Now the water 

corporation is confident in the accuracy 

of the system readings and has reduced 

remote site visits from 16 to only four times 

per month, freeing up personnel for other 

important tasks. 

The water corporation expressed that 

they were “extremely happy” with the high 

accuracy and reliability of the system, 

which has assisted in full trihalomethane 

regulatory compliance, as well as lowering 

maintenance requirements and costs, and 

is considering additional units to aid in 

nitrification monitoring. WWA 


INSIGHT | 31 

Strategic alliances: 

Driving innovation in the water industry 

Joke Cuperus has been working hard 

ever since taking the helm as CEO 

of Dutch-owned water utility PWN in 

2015. For instance, she signed an agreement 

last year with Japanese ceramic membrane 

specialist METAWATER to strengthen 

existing cooperation, and to promote the 

development and use of ceramic-membranebased 

water treatment technologies. 

Recently, another partnership took place. 

In late August this year, PWN signed a 

memorandum of understanding with South 

West Water and Singapore’s National Water 

Agency PUB to form a utilities alliance aimed 

at sharing knowledge and information about 

the latest innovations, operational data 

and best practices on ceramic membrane 

systems for the next five years. 

Cuperus explained, “[The alliance] was 

formed due to an idea by PUB. I really 

liked that they proposed it because in the 

UK — South West Water, Anglian Water 

and Scottish Water — already have the 

membranes and are testing the innovations, 

and this alliance is a good idea to collaborate, 

share knowledge and experiences, and 

help each other with operational 

labour.” 

In addition, the alliance also aims to help 

with manpower and training courses. 

CONSTANTLY INNOVATING 

Ceramic membranes [PWNT’s CeraMac ® ] 

are currently the latest innovation in the 

membrane filtration technology, and 

Cuperus feels that more utilities will get on 

board with using this technology as they gain 

better understanding about how ceramic 

membranes differ from their polymeric 

cousins. 

“For the next decade or so, more people will 

gravitate towards using ceramic membranes 

as they are sustainable and a good 

solution. Polymeric membranes have a very 

short lifespan, but this [the ceramic 

membranes] is for 20 years. Some even go 

on for 30 to 40 years, depending on their 

usage,” she said. 

As more utilities make the shift towards 

ceramic membranes, Cuperus is now looking 

at how the technology can address issues 

such as the detection of microplastics and 

antibiotics in drinking water. 

“[Ceramic membranes] have very small 

holes, smaller than the ones in polymeric 

membranes. But we know that nanoplastics 

are so small that even those holes can’t keep 

them out of the water,” she explained. 

And so, PWNT has been focusing on 

developing and refining the technology to 

provide an efficient and sustainable solution. 

“It will take years of testing before any 

new technology can be adopted. This is to 

ensure that we’re not adding any risks to safe 

drinking water,” Cuperus explained. 

But with the company’s advanced research & 

development, the industry is already looking 

forward to how PWNT will tackle the issues 

with its well-known highly economical and 

compact solution. WWA 

Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by PUB, PWN and South West Water to form a 

utilities alliance for sharing of knowledge and best practices on water treatment 


32 | INSIGHT 

Diehl Metering: 

“Water at the very heart of our mission” 

The observation is indisputable: More than 

three billion people around the world 

do not have access to drinking water. 

By 2025, approximately 1.8 billion people 

will be living in regions or countries that face 

substantial water scarcity due to a huge number 

of factors: Drying up of the water tables, 

mass agri-food industry, insufficient or 

outdated distribution infrastructures, 

non-treatment of wastewater, 

overconsumption of the resource, 

gratuity, and more. Consequently, the 

groundwater is impoverishing more 

quickly than it is being resupplied. 

A World Bank report published 

in May 2016 suggested that water 

scarcity, exacerbated by climate change, 

could cost up to six per cent of their GDP 

(growth domestic product) to some regions. 

The major challenges of water management are a global 

concern: They concern every country, every continent 

and every sector of activity, public service, industry, and 

business right down to the end consumer. 

Smart water 

solutions for future 

challenges: HYDRUS 

2.0 Ultrasonic Water 

Meter from DN15 to 

DN300. 

SMART METERING: PROVIDING A RELIABLE 

AND SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION WITH 

REGARDS TO WATER MANAGEMENT 

The costs of water losses are estimated 

around 68 billion dollars per year globally 1 . 

The non-revenue water phenomenon 

is caused, among other things, by 

poor network management, leaks, 

inaccurate measurements and fraud. 

And Diehl Metering looks to providing 

the right solution to optimise 

water management processes 

for every environment. 

Meters and other measuring equipment 

are communicated via Diehl Metering radio 

technologies for automated readings (AMR – 

automatic meter reading / AMI – advanced 

metering infrastructure). New technologies, 

such as LoRaWan 2 or NB-IoT 2 , are also 

available for increased flexibility. Associated 

software such as IZAR PLUS PORTAL (highly 

secure data hosting service, certified ISO 

27001), provides strategic data so as to make 

informed decisions with regards to network 

maintenance and configuration. 

Across the different regions around the 

world, Diehl Metering solutions have proved 

their worth through enhanced network 

performance (optimised costs), water 

savings (reduction of non-revenue water), 

optimised billing (an end to estimations) and 

performance reading (100 per cent of the 

readings recorded, billions of data treated). 

The expertise and reliability of Diehl Metering 

can be seen across industries and countries 

as the company pushes forward the concept 

of a smart city. WWA 

1 

Liemberger’s and Wyatt’s figures on NRW 2018, Miya 

Arison Group 

2 

LoRaWan and NB-IoT are solutions for the Internet of 

Things. They enable a wide range of devices and services 

by using telecom operator network to send information. 

With the usage of telecom operator network, the client does 

not need to build a private fixed network. But LoRaWan allows 

for a private network, which NB-IoT does not because of its 

operated network. Both technologies receive data from the 

meters and send them to the IZAR PLUS PORTAL software, 

which then transmits to the client. They can be adapted to 

any client’s needs. 


34 | INSIGHT 

Huba Control’s Regional Sales Engineer Tee Chee Hua, with Sales Manager Eric Wong at the 

recent IndoWater 2019 exhibition 

Huba Control: Specialists 

in pressure measuring 

technique, since 1945 

Huba Control is determined to make 

a splash in Southeast Asia. 


INSIGHT | 35 

Huba Control’s factory in Switzerland 

develops, manufactures and markets 

components designed exclusively 

for the measurement of pressure and 

flow. The components of Huba’s pressure 

measurement technology include both 

pressure switches (on/off switching), 

sensors and pressure transmitters. 

With a clear focus on pressure measurement 

technology, Huba Control is able to develop 

innovative products across a very broad 

spectrum, covering an extensive range of 

applications for the optimisation of machine, 

system and plant processes. 

Huba Control AG manufactures and 

markets sensors designed exclusively for 

the measurement of pressure and flow in 

one mbar to 1000 bar and 0.5 to 240l/ 

min, typically for air, liquids, gases and 

hydraulic applications. In principle, Huba 

is open to all technologies specifically for 

the measurement of pressure and flow as 

a physical quantity, as long as they show 

innovatory potential. 

Huba Control works on an extensive range 

of products, from pressure transmitters to 

pressure switches and digital indicating 

devices – all done in-house in the company’s 

factory in Wurenlos, Switzerland. 

According to Regional Sales Engineer Tee 

Chee Hua, one common perception that 

customers have is that products made in 

Europe have a higher cost of production, 

but he maintains that doing everything inhouse 

gives the company an advantage in 

the market – they can constantly update 

the technology’s development and manage 

production cost, yield rate and supply chain 

more effectively, resulting in good quality 

and more competitive pricing. 

Stringent criteria are required in the water 

industry, with systems including field devices 

(sensors) that are commonly installed 

underground requiring minimum servicing 

over the next three to five years after 

installation. Therefore, specifications like 

consistency in accuracy and robustness of 

the field devices are critical in ensuring that 

the data collected is correct. 

Huba Control is constantly working on 

adopting the latest technology to enhance 

its products’ performance, reliability and 

usability, with new developments in the 

pipeline to be progressively introduced 

into the market. For example, its sensors 

already feature an external output allowing 

for connectivity to IoT infrastructure, but 

will soon have an additional I/O link allowing 

for direct plug and play, so the devices will 

need to have a wireless module that users 

can plug the sensors into. 

This is currently pending IP certification. 

Aside from developing new technology, Tee 

shares that establishing the right strategy 

is key for Huba Control in capturing and 

gaining more market share, and the company 

has received positive feedback from its 

customers in the accuracy and efficiency 

of using its products. The brand has been 

present in the Southeast Asian market for 

over 20 years, and is currently working on 

actively growing into the Indonesian market. 

The company has also been working to 

increase brand awareness in the market, 

directly engaging the market and its 

customers to figure out what they require 

before permanently integrating their 

products into the system. WWA 


36 | INSIGHT 

Technology meets sustainability 

Global ecosystems are heading on a data-driven route, as water utilities factor data-enabled components into the 

mix. Turning data-less pipes, pumps, reservoirs and valves into a complex network, water management has evolved, 

mobilising other technologies beyond existing conventional water resources. And with growing concerns for a 

stable, clean and sustainable water supply for consumption and water-food energy production, the significance 

of water has turned dire, in light of the recent climate changes, necessitating disaster resilience. 

By 2050, water demand is expected 

to increase by 55 per cent while 

40 per cent of the global population 

will live in water-stressed areas, reported 

the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation 

and Development (OECD). In the next 

10 years, two-thirds of the global population 

will reside in Asia, multiplying to almost 

500 million, placing a greater strain on 

conditions surrounding water scarcity, and 

the increasing global economic costs for 

water-related necessities. 

Water as a resource remains at the heart of 

multiple global concerns such as accessibility 

to drinking water, food, agriculture and 

sanitation, which could hinder the livelihood 

of communities both rural and urban. With 

83 per cent of the world’s cultivated land fed 

only by rain, irrigation systems add to the 

1 

list of factors dependent on a sustainable 

water supply. No longer a case of if but 

when, the imminent economic, social and 

political triggers caused by water scarcity 

is dramatically changing the way the world 

values and utilises water, and how water 

resources are being mobilised and managed. 

As such, the Smart Water Industry or Water 

4.0, is the natural progression of water 

conservation efforts, paving the way for better 

informed decision-making and practices. 

“Although scientifically water and electronics 

do not mix, innovation and technology are key 

priority areas that can improve the security 

for livelihood and prevent water scarcity,” 

said Nalin Amunugama, general manager of 

BOGE Kompressoren Asia Pacific, a leading 

specialist in compressed air systems. 

Technological advances, he added, with the 

incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) in 

water conservation and management methods 

are morphing into sustainable solutions to 

address constant geographical obstacles and 

fluctuating weather conditions such as high 

rainfall and extreme drought. Set on improving 

water infrastructure, AI and its corresponding 

technologies have been adopted and applied 

to equipment that can generate water from 

air, as well as control treatment and drone 

technologies 

for improved 

2 

irrigation and water consumption. 

EXTRACTING WATER FROM THE 

ATMOSPHERE 

Southeast Asia (SEA) has seen severe 

weather conditions during its El Niño years 

and its impact on economies, hitting mostly 

its agricultural sector. In turn, other industries 

and services such as the generation of 

electricity have been hindered, with over 

66 million people affected in the past 

30 years, according to a report by UN’s 

Economic and Social Commission for Asia 

and the Pacific (ESCAP). Drought severity is 

expected to worsen, with the possibility of a 

geographical shift spreading its concentration 

from Vietnam, Indonesia and Borneo, to 

Cambodia and Thailand. Along with the 

changing demographics, urbanisation, higher 

energy requirements and industrialisation, 

the demand for clean water continues to 

increase significantly. 

New Delhi, India, has faced a severe drought 

over the years, affecting more than 300 

million people. To resolve the issue, The 

WaterSeer, developed by VICI Labs in 

partnership with UC Berkeley and the 

National Peace Corps Association, uses the 

surrounding environment to extract water 

from the atmosphere. The device identifies 

as a green, low maintenance, and mobile 

atmospheric water generator which sends air 

into an internal condensation chamber that 

cools warm air. Once the vapour condenses 

on the sides of the chamber, the water 

collected flows down to a lower chamber for 

extraction — with a simple pump and hose. 

As a result, 37 litres of water can potentially 

be derived daily, providing a sustainable 

supply of pure water for consumption and 

agriculture to alleviate water pressures 


in developing countries suffering from 

seasonal irregularities. 

COMBINING DATA WITH 

IRRIGATION 

The global demand for food is projected to 

rise by 70 per cent by 2050 with growing 

difficulties in food production as the resources 

deplete. SEA holds an average annual water 

resource of about 7,000 km 3 , taking up 

15 per cent of the world’s total. Over 90 per 

cent of freshwater withdrawals in the region 

is used for agriculture, higher than the global 

average of 70 per cent. With over 18 per 

cent of land used for irrigation, countries like 

Vietnam are expected to grow in irrigationrelated 

water consumption of up to 91.9 km 3 

by 2025. Agriculture undoubtedly remains 

the largest user of water especially through 

seasonal fluctuations, which may, at times, 

require extra irrigation in the dry season, 

further exacerbating the problem of water 

scarcity in Asia. 

Microsoft’s FarmBeats programme employs 

cloud technology from Azure, by connecting 

agricultural devices and generating data 

driven towards better farm operations and 

efficiency. It embeds sensors into the soil, 

utilising the cloud for communication with 

drones that circle farms. Irrigation patterns 

and herbicide distribution are then suggested 

to optimise crop harvesting. The application 

uses machine learning and image recognition 

to understand how crops grow in comparison 

with irrigation systems that allocate water 

inefficiently. By leveraging drones and 

sensors, farms can take advantage of 

a more effective management of water 

and production. Data-driven agriculture 

techniques can help alleviate the global food 

challenges by reducing wastage of resources, 

increasing yield, and ultimately promoting 

sustainable farming practices. 

COMPRESSED AIR TO TREAT 

WASTEWATER 

A total of 785 million people lack basic 

drinking-water services, according to the 

World Health Organisation (WHO), with a 

record of 144 million people dependent on 

surface water. On the other hand, although 

80 per cent of urban dwellers have access 

to piped drinking water, and 50 per cent of 

3 

these urban residents in developing 

countries contract diseases from 

the bacteriological quality of the 

water supply. Contaminated 4 

water can transmit a multitude 

of diseases such as diarrhoea, 

cholera, dysentery, typhoid, 

and polio, causing an estimated 

485,000 deaths each year. 

“Re-using wastewater represents an 

advantage to recover water, nutrients or 

energy - however, ensuring such a sustainable 

practice is safe for consumption, is just 

as important,” Mr Amunugama reiterated. 

When it comes to drinking water and 

wastewater treatment, processes such as 

the intake of seawater, the return of salt to 

the sea and the storage of drinking water in 

tanks depend on compressed air treatment 

technologies. Compressed air from BOGE’s C 

series screw compressors control pneumatic 

instruments and valves which, in turn, 

produce processed air. Vital to ensuring 

that the large water tanks in desalination 

plants remain sterile, compressed air is 

effectively used for cleaning. Air compressors 

also aid in supplying enough pressure to 

maximise the oxygen yield for the proper 

purification of wastewater, resulting in 

higher efficiency to conserve resources and 

reduce harmful emissions. 

With the help of BOGE’s compressors, 

seawater desalination plants like the Honaine/ 

Argel plant in Algeria, notably the world’s 

largest, can generate a total of 200,000 

cubic metres of drinkable water to supply 

a population of 750,000. Moncofa, another 

plant in Spain, is capable of supplying 120,000 

people with up to 10.5 cubic hectometres of 

water annually. Alternate sources of water 

1. The demand for clean water continues 

to increase INSIGHT significantly due to 

| 37changing 

demographics, urbanisation, higher energy needs 

and industrialisation 

2. WaterSeer device uses the surrounding 

environment to extract water from the 

atmosphere 

3. By leveraging drones and sensors, farms can 

take advantage of a more effective management 

of water and production 

4. BOGE’s C series screw compressors supply 

pressure to maximise the oxygen yield for the 

proper purification of wastewater and reduce 

harmful emissions 

including desalination of seawater for 

example, are among the many innovations 

targeted at mitigating water scarcity. 

SAFE, EFFICIENT, SUSTAINABLE 

As more smart cities emerge as an outcome 

of the Smart Water Industry, balancing water 

demand and water as a resource has become 

more achievable. Beyond the evolution 

of the industry’s capacity to withstand 

natural and human causes to water scarcity, 

there is also an increasing awareness of 

a constrained water supply. A number of 

emerging technological innovations are 

already addressing the crisis in novel ways. 

These developments are expected to change 

fundamentally while delivering sustainable 

outcomes through new connectivity solutions 

underground, on the surface, and in the air. 

“As reduced water usage continues to inch 

closer towards the production of food and 

agriculture in an economically, socially 

and environmentally sustainable manner, 

the global pace to towards water scarcity, 

with the help of AI and smart innovations, 

can be slowed down, and its pressures 

alleviated,” said Mr Amunugama. WWA 


38 | INSIGHT 

Continuous microbial monitoring: 

On site, real time & fully automated 

In the second and final instalment of this two-part series, we look at how 

onCyt Microbiology enables meaningful microbial monitoring from source to tap. 

Source water for drinking water 

production includes ground- or 

spring water, lake and river water, 

seawater, and reclaimed water. All of those 

are subjected to natural variations and/or 

human activities at short time scales (minutes 

to weeks) — both deliberate and unintended. 

Here we show an example of intermittently 

extracted groundwater (Figure 1). In essence, 

the investigated borehole receives a water 

mix from two groundwater streams with 

different water age and hence bacterial 

concentrations. The more local groundwater 

stream is strongly influenced by a nearby, 

exfiltrating river. During precipitation events, 

the river water reaches a higher level and 

gets contaminated with higher bacterial 

loads. Subsequently, the borehole receives 

a higher share of that water which increases 

the concentration of bacteria in the measured 

mixed water (Events 1 to 3 in Figure 1). 

In addition, groundwater is extracted for 

drinking water production at night only to 

benefit from cheaper electricity prices. By 

extracting water, more regional groundwater 

(with lower bacterial concentration) is flowing 

towards the borehole due to hydraulic 

conditions in the ground and consequently the 

concentration of bacteria in the mixed water 

decreases. So, in this case the water quality 

actually increases through abstraction. 

However, this could be completely the other 

way around and river water could be drawn 

into the borehole leading to deteriorated 

water quality. Moreover, routine water tests 

were evidently never done at night and hence 

were not representative. Also, the magnitude 

of the two parallel influencing factors, 

i.e. natural rainfall and water extraction 

regime, on water quality could be accurately 

quantified and differentiated. 

Biological filtration is a standard (pre-final) 

treatment step in many water production 

sites in order to remove assimilable organic 

carbon in the source water or resulting from 

preceding oxidation steps. The example in 

Figure 2 is from a small treatment plant serving 

two small villages. In short, water is treated 

at varying throughput based on demand. In 

the measured biological active carbon filter, 

bacteria are constantly detaching from the 

biofilm into the water phase. As the inflowing 

water is sterile directly coming from ozonation, 

the detaching bacteria are diluted in whatever 

volume of water is flowing at a given time and 

hence measured concentrations fluctuate. 

This is particularly prominent after short 

moments of full stagnation where peak loads 

of bacteria are measured immediately after 

restarting production (i.e., first flush effect 

observed in taps as well). The easiest measure 

to avoid such peak loads without investing a 

lot of money in bigger reservoirs is to simply 

avoid full stop/stagnation in treatment. 

Only the highly resolved and repeated 

measurements of bacterial concentrations 

allowed to discover, quantify, and understand 

these fascinating patterns. 

Figure 1: Total cell concentration (TCC, green circles) in a groundwater extraction well measured every 15 minutes over two weeks. Aperiodic peaks in 

TCC coincided with rainfall events and fluctuations in water levels of nearby, exfiltrating river (data not shown). Periodic, daily fluctuations coincided 

sharply with intermittent water extraction practice (extraction at night due to lower electricity costs; data not shown) 


INSIGHT | 39 

Figure 2: Total cell concentration (TCC, green line) in the outlet of a biological active carbon filter of a treatment plant measured every 

15 minutes over five days. Fluctuations in TCC coincided with variation in water throughput (blue line) 

Figure 3: Moving average of total cell concentration (TCC, green line) over the course of one day in a continuously open tap of an office building 

measured every 15 minutes for seven working days. Grey lines are standard deviations, thick red line is the overall average, and thin red lines 

the standard deviation thereof 

As mentioned above, stagnation of water in 

water production, storage, and distribution 

infrastructure can lead to detachment from 

prevalent biofilms and even regrowth of 

bacteria. This can lead to taste, odour, and 

discolouration problems or even hygienic 

issues in worst cases. The way infrastructure 

is operated can directly influence bacterial 

concentration. Here, we show that the water 

usage pattern in an office building resulted in 

amazingly reproducible changes in bacterial 

concentrations over the course of a day 

(Figure 3). In essence, water stagnates 

almost completely in the building’s pipes 

overnight and bacteria can accumulate from 

biofilms in those pipes and also multiply. When 

people start working and using water, fresh 

water from the utility mains containing fewer 

bacteria arrives at the building and hence, 

measured concentrations are dropping. 

Through the high-frequency measurements 

over many days the pattern could be extracted 

with very small yet clear variations and 

incredibly small error bars. This highlights 

the importance of premises plumbing 

management and representative choice of 

sampling times (and locations). 

In addition to the examples above, onCyt 

online flow cytometry has been successfully 

used for: 

• Water quality monitoring from source to 

tap 

• Water treatment process optimisation 

(e.g., break point oxidation, filtration, 

backwashing) 

• Tracking of bacterial regrowth in reservoirs 

and influence of usage patterns 

• Membrane filtration efficiency and 

biofouling 

• Desalination process monitoring 

• Algae monitoring 

• Commissioning of new and repaired 

infrastructure 

• Building plumbing monitoring 

From the very beginning onCyt has been 

working with water quality specialists 

from both research and industry to fully 

focus on real-world issues and needs. 

Valued partners include the Public Utilities 

Board of Singapore, Zürich Water Works 

(Switzerland), Scottish Water, and PWN 

(Netherlands). In addition, leading research 

institutions are utilising onCyt technology 

for cutting-edge applied and fundamental 

research: ETH Zürich (Switzerland), King 

Abdullah University of Science and Technology 

(Saudi Arabia), Lund University (Sweden), 

University of Ghent (Belgium). 

Delivering consistently high quality of water 

to customers remains a major challenge for 

all utilities in a changing world including 

increasing demands and endangered water 

resources. With its broad experience in water 

quality and microbial monitoring, onCyt is 

committed to supporting both utilities and 

researchers to tackle their specific challenges 

and to prepare for the risks and challenges of 

tomorrow. WWA 

Figure 1: Besmer et al. (2016); Nature Scientific Reports; doi: 

10.1038/srep38462 

Figure 2: Besmer and Hammes (2016); Water Research; doi: 

10.1016/j.watres.2016.10.041 

Figure 3: Besmer et al. (2014); Frontiers in Microbiology; doi: 

10.3389/fmicb.2014.00265 


40 | INSIGHT 

Maxing out 

brine recovery 

with the MAX 

H 2 

O DESALTER 

All desalination technologies produce brine – but 

how does the water treatment sector cope with the 

industry’s increasing need for brine minimisation? 

Water & Wastewater Asia (WWA) talks to 

Gilad Cohen, CEO of IDE Americas, to find out more 

about what the MAX H 2 

O DESALTER does, and what 

it means for the industry. 

Gilad Cohen, CEO of IDE Americas 

WWA: How is the MAX H₂O DESALTER technology more eco-friendly, 

safe, and cost effective compared to other brine recovery solutions 

on the market? 

COHEN: As more desalination facilities are established, the problem 

of brine discharge becomes increasingly severe, and it is necessary 

to minimise the amount of produced brine as much as possible. 

One of the solutions for brine minimisation is salt extraction. This 

solution is preferable from an environmental point of view and will 

dominate the market in the future. For this to happen, the technology 

must be economical. It has been shown that the extraction of many 

substances such as chlorine, bromine, sodium hydroxide, calcium 

carbonate, magnesium hydroxide and magnesium oxide from 

seawater desalination brine is technically feasible. According to the 

WateReuse Research Foundation, the main factor that impedes the 

recovery of salt from seawater desalination brine is the economics of 

extraction. Additional factors include facility location, product purity, 

staffing, safety, material handling and storage. 

The available alternative for brine minimisation is a combination of 

technologies — reverse osmosis, followed by thermal evaporation, 

followed by thermal crystallisation. Due to the significant differences 

in the cost of these technologies, the most cost-effective approach 

would be to increase the load on the reverse osmosis as much as 

possible, and maximise its recovery, thus decreasing the size of the 

thermal crystallisation unit to the minimum. 

The MAX H₂O DESALTER process contains an RO system with an 

integrated salt precipitation unit. The process provides a solution for 

difficult brackish waters and industrial wastewater, and overcomes 

the different challenges, e.g., scaling by sparingly soluble salts, and 

organic and bio fouling. The integrated salt precipitation unit removes 

only the salts that can harm the desalination process, without the 

addition of chemicals, thus making the process safer and ecofriendlier. 

This technology produces scaling pellets with more than 

90 per cent dry solids content, which do not require further sludge 

dewatering treatment. 

With the ability to use previously rejected brine, the MAX H₂O 

DESALTER can significantly help reduce the cost of desalination. 

The technology reduces operation costs of water treatment units by 

decreasing chemical consumption, as well as the amount of sludge 

to be discharged, and increases water recovery and benefits both 

municipal and industrial applications such as mining sites, power 

stations and cooling towers. 

WWA: How does the RO system and integrated salt precipitation 

unit enhance the durability and recovery process of the MAX 


INSIGHT | 41 

A look at how the MAX H 2 

O DESALTER works 

H₂O DESALTER, other than reducing brine reject and overcoming 

traditional limitations? 

COHEN: Two factors generally limit the use of reverse osmosis 

technology: Osmotic pressure and water chemistry, i.e., saturation 

of sparingly soluble salts in the produced brine, such as calcium 

carbonate, calcium sulphate or silica. Seawater RO desalination 

plants already operate at the maximum threshold limit of the osmotic 

pressure, and no further brine minimisation is possible with current 

reverse osmosis membranes. In brackish water desalination plants, 

the brine chemistry limits the amount of brine produced and serves 

as the main limiting factor in terms of the possible recovery. The 

final brine obtained at these facilities is far from the maximum 

threshold limit of the osmotic pressure. Therefore, in brackish water 

desalination plants, there is clear potential for the use of reverse 

osmosis technology at much higher recoveries. When reverse osmosis 

technology is upgraded to overcome the brine chemistry limitation, 

the upgraded RO technology can be used far more effectively before 

switching to more expensive thermal technologies. This is what 

we have done with MAX H₂O DESALTER to enhance durability and 

recovery. 

WWA: How does it minimise the brine discharged from a brackish 

water reverse osmosis (BWRO) desalination plant? 

COHEN: The most sustainable improvement in reject brine 

management is based on brine minimisation, which can be achieved 

by recovering valuable materials such as salts, metals and chemicals. 

The MAX H₂O DESALTER 

technology minimises the 

quantity of produced brine from 

brackish water and industrial 

wastewater desalination plants, 

recovering part of the salts that 

can be further reused. The MAX 

H 2 

O DESALTER utilises a semibatch 

RO concept, together with 

an integrated salt precipitating 

unit. Together, these in fact 

eliminate the recovery limitation 

caused by the water chemistry 

and allow the RO system 

recovery to be pushed to the 

osmotic pressure limit at levels 

of up to 98 per cent. By using 

a semi-batch process, the flow 

through the membranes in the 

MAX H₂O DESALTER process is 

increased, resulting in high cross-flow velocities inside the RO membrane 

feed brine spacer, reducing the effect of concentration polarisation and 

the risk of scale formation. The brine rejected from the RO membranes 

in each cycle passes through a fluidised bed crystalliser that gradually 

removes the sparingly soluble salts from the system, allowing the 

recovery to be maximised and brine minimised. 

WWA: Early pilots have shown an increased brine recovery of up to 

98 per cent. But what is the recovery percentage when scaled up? 

COHEN: Scaling up will not change the recovery, which remains up to 

98 per cent. Recovery is limited by the mechanical limit of the existing 

reverse osmosis membranes, which is reached when the salinity 

of the brine is about eight per cent. From this, it can be understood 

that if the initial salinity of the water is low, the recovery will be 

very high, and if the initial salinity is high, the recovery will be a bit 

lower. 

WWA: In your opinion, how do you think the MAX H₂O DESALTER can 

affect the water industry in Southeast Asia, and Singapore in particular, 

where desalination is one of the country’s Four National Taps? 

COHEN: Southeast Asia continues to see tremendous growth in the 

industrial sector and brackish water desalination is in high demand 

for municipal use. As minimising the volume of waste water is a 

priority, mainly in Singapore, technology such as the MAX H 2 

O 

DESALTER could be the breakthrough that the industry has been 

looking for to allow reuse of most of the treated water used. WWA 


42 | INSIGHT 

Resource recovery from 

pharmaceutical industrial 

effluents using the Improved 

Membrane Distillation (IMD) 

System TS-30 

Pharmaceutical industries indiscriminately generate huge 

volumes of liquid waste. In general, this liquid waste is generated 

during the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, and effective 

treatment is a key challenge due to the complexity and hazardous 

nature of this waste. 

Typically, pharmaceutical industrial 

effluents contain drug residues and 

cleaning agents (from CIPs, Clean in 

Place) with high chemical oxygen demand 

(COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), 

pharmaceutically active compounds such 

as hormones, toxic substances, antibiotics 

(PhACs) and volatile organic compounds 

(VOCs) that constitute potential threat 

to the entire ecosystem. The continuous 

accumulation of these compounds poses 

serious threat to human health. The highly 

variable nature and composition of the raw 

materials affects the composition of liquid 

waste as well. This variation in the liquid waste 

composition is one of the key challenges 

encountered in handling liquid waste from 

pharmaceutical industry. 

in removing TDS and dissolved COD. Other 

methods such as advanced oxidation process 

(AOP), electro coagulation, biological 

treatments, aerobic and anaerobic digestion, 

activated sludge and allied process were also 

used to treat pharmaceutical industrial liquid 

waste effluent. These processes were good to 

remove certain contaminants but not able to 

remove the TDS from the effluent completely 

to meet the liquid discharge quality. 

Pressure driven membrane process like 

microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF) 

and nanofiltration (NF) were used as post 

processes for the physico-chemical treatment 

methods to achieve the desired quality for 

discharge. UF and NF methods can handle 

the low molecular organics and residues 

of the drug compounds but not the TDS 

and dissolved COD. Reverse Osmosis (RO) 

is well known for the removal of TDS from 

the pharmaceutical industrial effluent. 

However, the RO process could concentrate 

the waste only to certain percentage (up to 

seven per cent TDS) due to high osmatic 

strength in the concentration (discharging 

the RO brine is another big challenge). In 

many cases, the effluent contains five to 

10 per cent salt (TDS) where it is not possible 

to deploy the RO process. 

Use of zero liquid discharge (ZLD) systems 

could solve the problem. However, most 

ZLD systems use conventional distillation, 

evaporation and crystallisation methods. 

These conventional distillation units are 

complex in nature, occupy more space, 

consume more energy and require high 

capital investment. As most of the pharma 

companies produce liquid waste with a 

volume of

INSIGHT | 43 

processes such as distillation and evaporation. 

In MD, a membrane permeable to vapor but 

impermeable to liquid water separates a 

heated feed water stream from the product 

stream. Water vapour from the heated 

stream passes through the membrane 

due to the gradient in the vapor pressure 

and condenses in the product stream. MD 

is a good option to treat wastewater that 

contains inorganic content, but current 

MD membranes have limitations in treating 

industrial wastewater containing high 

organic content – especially since the 

membranes are sensitive to acid and 

other organic solvents that can alter the 

membrane surface, leading to membrane 

wetting and allowing the contaminant to 

pass through the membrane. 

Figure 2: The novel methods for pharmaceutical industrial effluent treatment with MLD 

Several methods have been explored to 

prevent membrane wetting, with the current 

solution being to apply a finely porous 

hydrophobic coating, which helps to increase 

the hydrophobicity while maintaining 

acceptable porosity. However, it reduces 

the pore size of the membrane, which in 

turn reduces performance. Another method 

to increase hydrophobicity is to introduce 

fluoride-containing polymers or additives 

into the solution. 

Memsift Innovations has developed a 

unique, highly hydrophobic hollow fibre 

membrane, STOMATE, which contains 10X 

higher fluorine atoms per unit compared to 

current materials. STOMATE is able to 

overcome the wetting issue in MD. 

Figure 3: The novel methods for pharmaceutical industrial effluent treatment with ZLD 

In addition to this, Memsift also has an and other thermal-based separation processes. 

Improved Membrane Distillation (IMD) 

process TS-30 that utilises the temperature Memsift has also developed a new generation 

and pressure difference across the membrane crystalliser GRAVITY that works in the 

as a driving force. The system works in the principle of centrifugal and gravitational 

principle of expansion-evaporation and the force with some temperature difference. 

STOMATE functions as the porous plug or The newly developed crystalliser requires 

the expansion valve in the system. This one third of the energy that is being used 

process helps to increase mass transfer due for the conventional crystallisers. The IMD 

to heat loss and helps to recover the heat, system can be operated with minimum 

which improves the thermal efficiency of pre-treatment for the pharmaceutical industry 

the entire system. The system operates at and the crystalliser can be used as a posttreatment 

to the IMD system to recover more 

a relatively low temperature and pressure 

compared to conventional evaporation water, achieving ZLD. The next two figures 

show the novel methods for pharmaceutical 

industrial liquid waste effluent treatment with 

MLD and ZLD. 

Figure 4: The concept of circular economy in pharmaceutical industrial effluent treatment 

Recently, four different case studies were 

carried out for a pharmaceutical company 

in Singapore. The effluents were collected 

from various process such as chemical 

synthesis/production and cleaning. The 

outcomes confirmed the high possibility of 

resource recovery or circular economy in 

pharmaceutical industrial effluent treatment. 

Figure 4 shows the concept of circular economy 

in pharmaceutical industrial effluent treatment 

and Figure 5 shows the actual image of a TS-30 

IMD system. 


44 | INSIGHT 

was passed back to the TS-30 IMD system. Feed, permeate and the 

concentrated effluent samples were collected to analyse the water 

quality and the separation efficiency of the system. The following 

table shows the product quality and the discharge limit. 

Figure 5: Pilot scale TS-30 IMD system 

Table 1: Product quality and the discharge limit 

From the analytical data it was found that the TS-30 IMD system 

together with the GRAVITY crystalliser can help to recover 

>95 per cent of the water from the pharmaceutical industrial effluent, 

and the treated water meets the discharge limit without further 

post polishing. The treated water can be reused with minimum post 

polishing. The permeate flux and the conductivity (rejection) were 

stable throughout the experiment. Figures 6 and 7 show the permeate 

flux and conductivity rejection over time. Figure 8 shows the images 

of feed and permeate. Figure 9 shows the recovered ammonium 

sulphate salt. The recovered ammonium sulphate can be used as 

fertiliser or can be sold as a second quality product that creates a 

new revenue stream. WWA 

Figure 6: Permeate flux vs time 

Figure 8: Image of feed and product water 

Figure 7: Conductivity rejection vs time 

The feed water was heated up with an electrical boiler to 70±3°C and 

supplied to the feed inlet of the membrane module by a circulation pump 

with a velocity of 0.42m/s. A vacuum pressure of -0.2 bar was applied 

in the expansion chamber / permeate side. The vapour was collected 

and condensed in the condensation chamber by using cooling water 

(temperature 30±3°C). The condensed permeate was collected in the 

permeate tank and the volume was measured to calculate the permeate flux. 

The concentrated brine from the TS-30 system was pumped to the GRAVITY 

crystalliser where the saturated crystals were separated by centrifugal and 

gravity force with minimum temperature difference, and the supernatant 

Figure 9: Concentrated / recovered ammonium sulphate salt 


INSIGHT | 45 

There is a growing demand for water as global 

water shortages increase resulting in water 

management players facing immense acute and 

future challenges. In addition, global drivers such as 

urbanisation, climate change and demographic change 

are increasing the pressure to use the finite resource 

of water. By 2050, the world population is expected 

to rise to about nine billion people —and accordingly, 

the need for water, food and other goods will rise. 

In Europe, people seemed to be safe. The dramatic 

reduction in available drinking water is often outside 

the perception of many Central Europeans. However, 

the hot summer of 2018 showed that the topic of 

water scarcity can also become an acute case in 

countries such as Germany. 

Intelligent 

c o n t r o l 

of water 

infrastructures: 

Digitisation is 

finding its way into 

water supply 

In addition to this problem, water suppliers have to 

face further challenges. Loss of water due to leaks 

from leaking or defective components of the water 

supply network, water theft or excessive pressure 

due to non-transparent acceptance can lead to high 

costs. On one hand, the lost water is not invoiced, 

while on the other hand it still causes operating costs. 

Often there is a lack of transparency and control in the 

network to manage lines optimally and thus, operate 

efficient loss management and thereby achieve cost 

reductions. Demands for both effective and efficient 

solutions to these challenges are increasing. 

Digitisation and automation are increasingly providing 

approaches, tools and techniques that are driving a 

revolution in water management. New opportunities 

are already being used and tested in other industries. 

These opportunities also offer more potential for 

the more conservative water sector without taking 

extensive risks — developments in the fields of 

data management, sensors or actuators 

are already proven in other industries and can easily 

be transferred to the water sector — for example, in 

leak detection or water analysis application. 

“The consistency of planning and operating 

processes with the help of intelligent hardware 

and software and the independent exchange of 

information (from user to individual components 

to utilities/disposal companies) is therefore 

increasingly becoming a must in the water sector 


46 | INSIGHT 

Digitisation and automation are increasingly providing approaches, tools and techniques that are driving a revolution in water management 

for resource productivity and efficiency. 

For real-time controlled processes, the 

Internet of Things and Services also plays 

an important role: Data on water-relevant 

processes and water qualities are thus 

constantly available everywhere and can 

be used”. 

NEED FOR INNOVATION IN WATER 

SUPPLY? 

Among other things, a survey of the GWP led 

to the thesis that digitisation has become 

indispensable to the majority German 

companies in the water sector. In the 

implementation, however, a large part is just 

beginning. The opportunities are recognised, 

but utilities and disposal companies still 

consider the issue with restraint. On the 

other hand, the needs and expectations of 

customers are increasing. 

In the age of digitisation, analyses of 

customer needs are obsolete. New products 

and services are being developed so quickly 

that added value is created for the customer, 

of which the customer himself does not 

know anything yet. Customer expectations 

have changed — mere product delivery is 

no longer satisfactory and complementary 

services are expected. The water industry as 

a digitisation laggard is in the shadow here, 

because innovations and services from other 

branches have already reflected in customer 

needs and expectations. 

In contrast to other companies, utilities 

and disposal companies are not subject 

to any competitive pressure, since in a 

supply or disposal area usually only one 

company of this type exists. “Therefore, 

customer orientation is less pronounced 

than in competitive markets. While a lack 

of digitisation efforts can threaten the 

existence of a highly competitive company, 

they can often go unpunished in the water 

industry”. However, in the long run, standstill 

is not an option as customers must be 

kept and won to preserve the company’s 

existence. Consequently, new products 

and services are also to be introduced in 

the water supply as the world of life of 

customers is changing and demanding 

these products. Such products or services 

may not initially allow you to make any 

money, but they do form the basis for 

establishing future lucrative products 

and services. The water supplier or waste 

disposal company is seen as an innovator, 

customer expectations are fulfilled and the 

reputation increases — so there is also the 

opportunity to develop and implement new 

business models. 

“Whether, for example leakage or legionella 

formation are recognised in the future by the 

water supplier itself, by craft enterprises, by 

counter service providers or by Google & 

Co., customers don’t matter in many cases”. 

Digitisation and social change are overriding 

the old familiar structures - there may be 

other market players in water supply in the 

future. “The fight for new value creation is 

in the starting blocks and will intensify. [...] 

Customers’ innovation expectations should 

therefore be met so that water supply and 

wastewater disposal companies do not lose 

ground in the long term.” 

ACCEPT CHALLENGES AND SEIZE 

OPPORTUNITIES 

One of the biggest cost factors in the supply 

and disposal of water is energy consumption. 

In addition to the issue of increasing water 

consumption, utilities face the problem that 

water networks are not transparent — the 

knowledge about where to how much water 

flows, where most of the water is consumed 

or where the water seeps through leaks 

in the ground is usually missing. However, 

this knowledge has the potential to make 

networks more effective and efficient, and 

thus to reduce energy consumption. And 

so, long-term goals such as efficiency gains, 

savings, achievements of added value, 

quality improvements and increased safety 

can be achieved. 

The example of the BEULCO company shows 

how a system can be applied right here. “We 


INSIGHT | 47 

have dealt in depth with the challenges water 

utilities in Germany face every day,” said 

Martin Lange, sales director. By and large, 

it is obvious that the water supply sector is 

very traditional. It has not changed much 

in the last few decades. Water meters are 

read manually, which is time consuming and 

costly. In addition, the risk for sources of 

error is high. The meter readings take place 

once a year, so that the supplier has only 

time-related data; what happens within the 

year is unclear. Since there are no values for 

current consumption, there are rigid tariff 

models. In particular, the last network 

section to the end user is completely 

non-transparent. Where and when, how 

much water is used, when the supply 

networks are exposed to peak loads or 

are hardly used, you know at most from 

experience. 

Meanwhile, there are a variety of remotereadable 

meters, with which consumption 

data can be read by radio. However, these 

often cannot communicate directly with the 

billing system and the reading usually takes 

place only once a year. 

The iQ water system addresses the 

problematic of utilities and offers a 

holistic system with which consumption 

and condition data (water consumption, 

pressure, temperature) can be called 

up at any time. This information is sent 

anonymously and encrypted to the utility, 

which can use this data to draw conclusions 

about network optimisation. Thus, for 

example, consumption peaks and idle times 

in the supply network can be identified; so 

far, we only know the total volume. From this, 

flexible tariff models can be derived — lowcost 

overnight tariffs or expensive morning 

tariffs. As a result, consumption peaks or 

stagnation can be reduced, the network is 

utilised evenly and a more effective pressure 

management can be operated. 

Effective pressure management means 

that pipes are less stressed, resulting in 

fewer pipe breaks and leaks. In addition, 

stagnations in the pipeline network can 

be reduced or avoided, thereby reducing 

microbial contamination of the inner pipe 

surface and thus of the drinking water. 

Overall, this ensures improved water quality 

and for the end user, this also means greater 

comfort. In addition, the supplier has a 

lower energy consumption. “The energy 

consumption of the pumps that maintain 

the water pressure depends largely on the 

pressure.”. If the pressure is reduced by 1 bar, 

the energy consumption is reduced by about 

13 per cent. 

The opportunities in digitalisation are recognised, 

but utilities and disposal companies still consider 

the issue with restraint. On the other hand, 

the needs and expectations of customers are 

increasing 

The transmission of consumption and 

condition data in real time enables the 

supplier to monitor his network constantly and 

to intervene at any time in case of problems. In 

addition, the annual manual meter reading is 

eliminated because the consumption data can 

be imported directly into the billing systems. 

Via the iQ water system, the supplier can also 

pre-set consumption volumes, but also has 

access to the house connections, so the water 

supply can be shut off in the event of network 

disruptions, contamination or defaulting 

payers at the push of a button. 

On the consumer side, iQ water system offers 

further advantages. The homeowner can use 

the platform to view all consumption data 

and water costs and thus optimise their own 

consumption. In addition, the system provides 

leakage protection. If the system notices 

leak or pipe breaks, the water connection is 

shut off automatically and the homeowner is 

informed via mobile so that major damage is 

avoided. The homeowner can also access the 

water connection independently via the platform 

and close or open the valve from anywhere at 

any time. The platform also serves as a means 

of communication from the water supplier to 

the consumer. Thus, the water supplier can in 

an emergency such as disruptions or problems 

in the water supply send push messages to the 

affected consumers. 

If no water flows for a long time, the valve will 

automatically close after exactly 72 hours. In 

addition to security, this holiday function also 

serves as insurance cover, because if the house 

or apartment is empty for more than three 

days, the residents must take precautions 

against cold and water damage. Otherwise, 

the insurance may refuse payment in the 

event of damage. This so-called “72-hour 

rule” is usually in the terms of household or 

homeowner insurance in Germany. 

With such a system, the water utility can offer 

its customers added value, which in the age 

of smart home is actually an integral part of 

life. This opens up a host of new opportunities 

for utilities and consumers. In the near future, 

utilities are in the position to offer new services. 

Among other things, there is the possibility 

of remote diagnostics by sensory sampling of 

the water. A decentralised water treatment can 

also become an issue. Suppliers can deliver 

disinfectants or similar on a just-in-time basis 

if this is used up or if there is an acute risk of 

microbial contamination. 

Although the chances are clearly positive, 

most companies expect high investment costs. 

Especially small and medium-sized companies 

are facing the cost problem. There are three 

implementation options: No change in the 

status quo, partial change in small steps or the 

complete conversion in one go. 

If utilities opt for the first option, “this will avoid 

short-term expenses, e.g. by eliminating the cost 

of acquiring new technologies. In the medium 

and long term, however, this path leads to 

unfavourable operational inefficiencies and a lack 

of adaptability to change.” Thus, only the options 

of partial conversion and complete conversion 

remain. The fact that something needs to be 

done is clear. The technical possibilities are 

already present — intelligent network control is 

no longer a future, but a reality. WWA 


48 | OPINION 

Industry 4.0 in the 

wastewater sector: 

When digitalisation 

meets process 

engineering 

Before there was analogue. Now there’s digital. But at the 

end of the day, what advantages does Industry 4.0 offer 

operators of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP)? 

By Bernd Marx, Solution Manager, Endress+Hauser 

Data digitalisation and interconnectivity 

are prerequisites for Industry 4.0. An 

individual analogue measured value 

does not provide additional information to 

assist end users. 

“There appears to be an error at the 

measuring point. The measured value 

is outside the tolerance range. Get the 

multimeter out and measure the current 

signal, maybe it’s an electrical problem.” 

In the past, this approach of using tools to 

locate the problem and applying systematic 

troubleshooting based on practical 

experience was the usual recipe to get a 

sensor working again and ensure smooth 

data communication with the control station. 

Here, the only information technicians 

received was the actual individual measuring 

signal — far from what was needed to reach 

an informed opinion about the quality, safety 

and actual process conditions. That was 

only possible by combining the information 

with several other sensor values from the 

process. A classic example would be nitrate 

and ammonium. 

Liquiline Control: Increased process safety with intuitive operation 

Nevertheless, analogue signals did make it 

possible to control, regulate and, above all, 


OPINION | 49 

monitor processes for the first time ever. As 

a result, businesses could start to automate 

some manual processes and investigate and 

understand direct correlations in the world 

of process engineering. 

SO, WHAT’S THE ADVANTAGE 

OF DIGITALISATION, AND, 

MOREOVER, OF INDUSTRY 4.0? 

Industry 4.0 provides information about the 

condition of the measuring technology and 

actuators, and the status of the individual 

process steps. Using this information, it is 

then possible to predict when maintenance 

is required and schedule maintenance 

intervals accordingly, and give operators 

clear recommendations for action. 

For this, the data about the condition of 

the measuring technology, for example, 

needs to be processed for the operator. With 

Endress+Hauser’s Memosens and Heartbeat 

Technology, sensors are getting smarter and 

smarter, and assess their current condition 

and reliability for the measurement task. 

Combined with the process data, the 

plausibility of the measured values is then 

computed. Individual process steps can 

therefore be handled even if the sensory 

mechanism has failed and the sensors are 

undergoing predictive maintenance. 

INDUSTRY 4.0 IN THE 

WASTEWATER SECTOR ALSO 

MEANS THAT THE ADDITIONAL 

INFORMATION AVAILABLE CAN 

BE USED FOR SMART, LOOK- 

AHEAD PROCESS CONTROL 

Process events are detected early on and 

counter-measures can be implemented 

quickly — conserving energy without 

compromising on quality or impacting the 

discharge values. 

With the Liquiline Control platform, 

Endress+Hauser offers users a cuttingedge 

solution to control the wastewater 

process. The platform is based on a 

powerful computing unit and an integrated 

software programme that enables the 

efficient regulation of the sludge activation 

process and precise dosing of precipitants 

for phosphate elimination. It is being 

continuously enhanced and in future, will 

also be able to control flocculant metering 

for sludge dewatering and disinfection 

processes. This gives WWTP operators a 

basis for the entire wastewater process: as 

sensor information is linked with process 

information, operators get a clear overview 

of the current condition of the plant and of 

tasks — such as maintenance work — to be 

performed as a result. 

INDUSTRY 4.0 IN THE 

WASTEWATER SECTOR CALLS 

FOR FAST INFORMATION AND 

EASY OPERATION 

Visualisation in the Endress+Hauser Liquiline 

Control platform is designed such that 

the condition of the plant is captured at a 

glance in an on-screen representation of the 

process with colour-coded status change 

indicators. Information down to the device 

level is visualised via direct access to the 

device. Web-based technology ensures the 

data are available anytime and anywhere. 

This gives users a continuous overview and 

enables remote intervention from home, e.g. 

during the weekend. Liquiline Control can be 

operated using any mobile terminal, such as 

a tablet, smartphone or notebook, or directly 

at the touchscreen. 

The platform can be integrated simply 

and easily into operators’ existing IT 

infrastructures without exception, and 

can be continuously adapted to new tasks 

and customer-specific requirements. 

Standardised interfaces for communication 

with databases and control systems complete 

the portfolio. 

Industry 4.0 in the wastewater sector gives 

operators the tools to optimise all areas of 

their day-to-day operations — ranging from 

measurement reliability, process control, 

energy conservation and maintenance 

scheduling to the documentation and 

storage of measured data. WWA 

1 2 

1. Efficient regulation of sludge activation in the biological treatment stage in WWTPs with Liquiline Control; 2. Instruments such as the Liquiline System 

CA80AM online analyser for ammonium provide the measured values for plant automation 


NEWSLETTER 

OF THE 

SINGAPORE 

WATER 

ASSOCIATION 

BRINGING 

A NEW VIBRANCY 

TO SINGAPORE’S 

GROWING 

WATER INDUSTRY 

LEVERAGING ON SMART IOT TECHNOLOGY 

FOR THE WATER INDUSTRY 

23 rd August 2019, Nanyang Polytechnic N1 Lecture Theatre 

The water industry can potenally benefit from electronics 

and Internet-of-Things (IOT) technology. Any advanced water 

conservaon system should integrate cost-effecve and 

smart IOT soluons with water equipment to bring about 

intelligent water controls and data analycs for intelligent 

monitoring purposes. 

The workshop sharing by PUB, Microso and several industry 

partners on 23 rd August at Nanyang Polytechnic Lecture Hall 

N1 demonstrated with cases of how these technologies 

could be achieved and exploited. 

SWA VP (Finance), Mr Charles Quek, gave an enlightening 

welcome speech to 140 parcipants, and the event ended 

with a facility tour around the IOT and Automaon Centre 

of Innovaons. The workshop ended with a tour around the 

EIOT centre.

BEST PRACTICES IN STEEL PIPELINE CORROSION PROTECTION 

19 th September 2019, PUB Waterhub Auditorium 

The workshop was co-organised with Borouge and the venue was supported by PUB. SWA Council Member Mr 

Robin Wong gave an enlightening welcome address to the 55 water industry professionals. 

Parcipants had an overview of the common corrosion protecon methods for steel pipelines used today including 

coater capacies and capabilies in Southeast Asia, and were familiarised with relevant naonal and internaonal 

pipeline coang standards. Borouge speaker, Mr Chanchal Dasgupta, also shared and reviewed regional case 

studies and lessons learnt from water pipeline projects that have adopted 3LPE protecon systems. 

TIWW TECH MISSION 2019 

25 th to 27 th September 2019, Taipei, Taiwan 

In conjuncon with TIWW (Taiwan Internaonal Water Week) 2019, SWA organised a three-day mission to 

Taipei from 25 th to 27 th September 2019 as part of the connuous effort to enhance members’ compeveness 

through exploring new markets and technology developments. 

The mission's focus was to deepen understanding of the technology development in the areas of Reclaimed 

Water & Treatment, Green Infrastructure and Water Purificaon Equipment & Drinking Water environment. 

The delegates had closed-door business meengs with SINOTECH consorum, and visited Industrial Technology 

Research Instute and TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporaon) Fab 12 in Hsinchu. Currently, 

potenal technology learning, scoung and partnerships are underway.

SWA 16 TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 

9 th September 2019, e2i Hall 1 

The 16 th Annual General Meeng was held successfully 

on 9 September 2019 with over 30 aendees 

followed by a networking buffet dinner. Vice President 

(General Affairs) Mr Chew Men Leong chaired 

the meeng with Vice President (Administraon) 

Mr Dinesh Sharma who briefed the member 

companies through the agenda. In addion, Vice 

President (Finance) reported the audited Financial 

Statements for FY 2018. Members can download the 

FY 2018 Financial statements and Acvity Reports 

from SWA website. 

TECHNICAL SITE VISIT TO TUAS 3 

DESALINATION PLANT 

4 th September 2019, Tuas 

Due to overwhelming requests, SWA had planned 

another technical site visit to Tuas Desalinaon plant 

on 4 September 2019. Each member company was 

limited to a maximum of two parcipants. More than 

40 parcipants registered to visit this first plant, which is 

owned and operated by naonal water agency PUB. The 

Tuas Desalinaon plant was recognised as “Desalinaon 

Plant of the Year” by Global Water Award, which was 

presented at the Global Water 2019 Summit in London 

in April 2019. 

UPCOMING SWA ACTIVITIES 

TRAINING COURSES IN Q4 2019 

S/N 

Training Courses 

Trainer 

Days 

Dates 

1 

Design of Industrial and Municipal Waste Water 

Recycling Plants 

For more informaon on the above courses, please contact SWA office: Ms Cecilia Tan via 

email: cecilia@swa.org.sg or tel: (65) 6515 0812. 

SINGAPORE PAVILIONS AT OVERSEAS TRADE SHOWS FOR Q4 2019 

VIETWATER 2019 

6 th to 8 th November 2019, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam 

Mr Sash 

This will be the twelh me that SWA will be organising a Singapore Pavilion at Vietwater. The event will take 

place from 6-8 November in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The pavilion of Singapore companies will occupy an 

exhibion space of 171 sqm, which is bigger than previous years. All booth spaces have been fully taken. 

The three-day exhibion will be a good opportunity for companies to showcase their water experse and 

soluons, source for innovave technology, trade with soluon providers and share best pracces as well as stay 

up-to-date with the latest global trends. 

For more informaon, please contact SWA execuve office via email: enquiry@swa.org.sg or tel: (65) 6515 0812 

3 

18 - 20 

November

MYANWATER 2019 

28 th to 30 th November 2019, Yangon, Myanmar 

MYANWATER 2019, Myanmar’s biggest internaonal water supply & treatment industry expo will take place from 

28 to 30 November 2019 at the Myanmar Expo Hall, Yangon. This B2B event will provide an avenue for companies 

to source for new supplies, gain insights and learn about the upcoming trends directly from reputed experts, while 

networking alongside with key clients. Get your business on the flow to success with MYANWATER 2019. 

Calling all Singaporean manufacturers and suppliers for the water producon and treatment sector! 

Enjoy subsidies of up to 50% for parcipaon costs when you join our 117sqm Singapore Pavilion at 

MYANWATER 2019 – Myanmar’s No.1 Internaonal Water and Wastewater Industry Show. 

Contact rayyek@swa.org.sg for more show informaon. 

WATEC TECH MISSION 2019 

18 th to 21 st November 2019, Tel Aviv, Israel 

Explore Israeli Technologies in four days with SWA. Water supply and sanitaon in Israel are intricately linked to the 

historical development of Israel. Because rain falls only in winter, and largely in the northern part of the country, 

irrigaon and water engineering are considered vital to the country's economic survival and growth. In Israel, 

there are over a hundred innovave water technology start-ups in various stages of development; working to 

accelerate water technologies in order to provide fresh water to future generaons. In an average year, Israel relies 

about half of its water supply on unconvenonal water resources, including reclaimed water and desalinaon. 

Access to safe water has a tremendous impact on the world. 

Mission highlights include: 

• Visit the world largest & most advanced SWRO Desal Plant 

• Meengs with ministries in Israel 

• Scoung for advanced water technologies 

• Explore collaborave R&D effort & uncover new investment opportunies in Israel 

• Customised B2B Meeng sessions 

Parcipang fee at only S$850 for members, which encompass of cket fees of USD450 to WATEC Conference 

and Exhibion, 4 networking lunches, 1 Gala Dinner, 3 site visits and 2 days coach provisions. 

* Air and accommodaon costs on own arrangement. 

For more informaon on the above mission, please contact Ray Yek at rayyek@swa.org.sg. 

SWA WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS 

(joined from August to September 2019) 

ORDINARY MEMBERS 

1. Alfa Laval Singapore Pte Ltd 

2. Century Water Systems & Technologies Pte Ltd 

3. Veolia Water Technologies (SEA) Pte Ltd 

4. Watch Water (S) Pte Ltd 

5. Water Management Internaonal Pte Ltd 

PUBLISH YOUR 

ANNOUNCEMENTS OR 

ADVERTISEMENT 

Members, who have any press releases or corporate 

announcements to share with the public, kindly contact 

the SWA secretariat at enquiry@swa.org.sg. SWA 

reserves the right to edit the submied text. 

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS 

1. DataKrew Pte Ltd 

2. Imagine H2O Asia (Limited) 

3. Pipeline Integrity Consulng Engineers Pte Ltd 

4. Southeast Asia Ulies Investment Management Pte Ltd 

5. SpaceAge Labs 

6. United Business Media (M) Sdn Bhd 

7. VEM Motors Asia Pte Ltd 

8. WinWatec Pte Ltd 

INTERESTED TO JOIN SWA? 

We welcome all organisaons who are acvely involved 

and interested in the water and wastewater industry to join 

Singapore Water Associaon as either Ordinary, Associate, 

Instuonal or Individual member. Sign up at hps://www.swa. 

org.sg/membership/sign-up-online.

54 | TECH ROUND UP 

Modern problems require modern solutions, 

and in the case of biofouling in challenging 

wastewater, DuPont steps up to the plate with 

its FILMTEC TM FORTILIFE TM technology. 

The more a shirt is washed, the 

faster its colour fades. According to 

DuPont Water Solutions ASEAN/ANZ 

Regional Marketing Manager Halim Sutanto, 

this is similar to what typical membranes 

go through in the wastewater treatment 

process. 

This is where the company’s FILMTEC TM 

FORTILIFE TM product range comes in. 

Powered by FILMTEC TM technology, the 

FILMTEC TM FORTILIFE TM product family is 

designed for plants and facilities that need 

an industry-leading nanofiltration (NF) and 

reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment that 

is reliable, easy to clean, and that would 

benefit from a durable, robust membrane. 

DuPont’s FILMTEC TM FORTILIFE TM product 

family consists of four elements: 

• FILMTEC TM FORTILIFE TM CR100 Element, 

designed with ultra-low differential pressure 

to provide improved hydraulic balance in a 

biological fouling system. 

• FILMTEC TM FORTILIFE TM XC-N Element, 

which converts a large fraction of RO 

concentrate into pure, easier-to-crystallise 

salt solutions. 

• FILMTEC TM FORTILIFE TM XC70 Element, 

which maximises the RO recovery rate by 

offering the ability to achieve reject Total 

Dissolved Solids (TDS) level >70,000 

ppm within standard reverse osmosis (RO) 

operating limits. 

• FILMTEC TM FORTILIFE TM XC80 Element, 

which lowers brine volume and maximises 

water recovery by achieving reject Total 

Dissolved Solids (TDS) level > 80,000 ppm 

within standard RO operating limits. 

Explained Sutanto at the recent INDOWATER 

exhibition, “FORTILIFE TM is a foulingresistant 

membrane specifically designed 

for challenging wastewater, where people 

experience biofouling and organic fouling 

— the FORTILIFE TM family of RO elements is 

designed to tackle these challenges. 

FILMTEC TM membrane is globally known 

and proven to be more durable compared to 

other brands of membrane available in the 

market, but if we can further enhance that 

by reducing the frequency of chemical 

cleaning, we can prolong the membrane 

life and that will save a lot of cost for our 

customers.” 

Dr Somil Mehta, South Asia regional technical 

service and development leader at DuPont 

Water Solutions, elaborated, “FORTILIFE TM is 

cutting-edge technology. It’s a new platform 

in RO membrane technology, based on 

innovative membrane design… FORTILIFE TM 

brings in a very superior flow profile 

and fouling resistance to much harsher 

wastewater than what the industry has 

dealt with in the past. By using FORTILIFE TM , 

we can help improve the operation of the 

system by reducing the chemical Clean in 

Place (CIP) frequency, and in some cases 

we can also save energy of the operation — 

so all in all these improvements will help to 

save the cost of the wastewater treatment 

process.” 

FORTILIFE TM also helps users with their 

sustainability goals, but one key challenge 

lies in getting customers on board with the 

technology offered. 

Said Sutanto, “We all definitely agree that 

there are savings in terms of energy and 

reducing the cleaning frequency, and that 

means that the end-user can enjoy a more 

reliable and stable system, less cleaning and 

more uptime. 

Having said that, we need to put in the effort to 

bring this awareness to our customers. Some 

of our customers are comfortable with our 

standard products, which basically means 

that they work well, but we need to convey 

to them that there are savings with 


TECH ROUND UP | 55 

The DuPont team at the recent INDOWATER exhibition 

FORTILIFE TM technology and show them 

where the value is. We need to create 

awareness and guide our customers, so they 

are more open to adopting such technology 

because eventually customers do benefit 

from this product.” 

So far, the FORTILIFE TM product range has 

been well-received by end-users in India’s 

textile industry. 

Somil explained, “In some wastewater cases, 

the wastewater is so harsh that current 

technology, or any RO membrane for that 

matter, is not suitable to treat these types of 

waters. In the textile wastewaters from India, 

the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the 

water is very high, and if you use currently 

existing RO membranes, they won’t last 

more than three months. However, we have 

successfully demonstrated the use of our 

FORTILIFE TM membranes for more than one 

and a half years in such types of difficultto-handle 

wastewater, and I believe this 

technology will bring the next-generation 

revolution to the industry.” 

Another highlight of the FORTILIFE TM 

product range, as explained by regional lead, 

sustainability, advocacy and communications, 

Chloe Tan, is that the elements are designed 

to tackle challenging wastewater and bring 

a more cost-effective approach to industrial 

wastewater challenges. 

“Industrial plants like textile plants which 

are often located in areas with limited 

raw water availability and strict effluent 

discharge regulations, minimal or zero liquid 

discharge may be required to expand the 

production capacity by converting more 

wastewater into reusable water. Minimal 

liquid discharge (MLD) can help minimise 

manufacturing operating costs and maximise 

water recovery while reducing the amount 

of energy required to operate, comparing 

to zero liquid discharge (ZLD). 

FORTILIFE TM fits perfectly into the reuse and 

recycling of wastewater. As a global leader in 

water separations and solutions, we thrive 

to continually looking for innovations to 

help our customers solve water challenges 

around the world. We are committed to 

continually working with our customers 

to achieve the main purpose of water 

sustainability and shifting towards a circular 

economy by closing the loop for water 

usage.” 

Besides the FORTILFE TM product range, 

DuPont also focused on raising awareness 

towards ion exchange resins (IERs) as an 

essential part of the wastewater treatment 

process. 

Somil explained, “When you recover 

wastewater, there is a strong chance that 

you might have some salt precipitation — 

IERs can help to avoid that precipitation by 

removing the hardness. Another benefit is 

that wastewater often has a higher amount 

of organic content or colour in the system, 

and IERs can be used to decolourise water 

or remove the organic content from the 

water. IERs have multiple benefits, and can 

be fine-tuned to design for each different 

type of water. 

There are certain types of wastewater 

where there is a presence of heavy metals, 

poisonous substances, fertilisers or, for 

example, arsenic. Such wastewaters are very 

difficult to treat, and unless there is a way to 

remove these poisonous substances, these 

waters are almost impossible to recover. 

Ion exchange is a technology that can help 

you remove those substances because of 

its specific affinity for those heavy metals 

and substances like arsenic. Without ion 

exchange, such water would have normally 

just gone to waste, but with ion exchange 

you can recover this water.” WWA 


TECH ROUND UP | 57 

Plug and 

work with 

electric 

drives 

Simplified Motion Series from Festo 

based on digital I/O and IO-Link ® 

Solving simple motion tasks electrically and 

intelligent communication from the controller 

to the cloud via IO-Link ® is now possible with 

the Simplified Motion Series from Festo. The electric 

drive series combines the simplicity of pneumatics 

with the benefits of electric automation. 

The electric drive series that is part of the Simplified 

Motion Series is an integrated drive solution for 

simple motion tasks that enables operation without 

any software in accordance with the plug and work 

principle. 

The parameters for the advancing and retracting speed 

as well as the pressing and clamping force can be set 

directly on the drive, along with the reference for the end 

position, cushioning path and manual operation. 

INTUITIVE COMMISSIONING 

Thanks to the intuitive, quick and easy commissioning 

directly on the drive, configuration doesn’t require 

any software or specific know-how. The motion can 

simply be controlled via digital I/O (DIO), as with 

a pneumatic valve. End position feedback, which is 

similar to feedback from a standard proximity sensor, 

provides information about the completion of the 

motion task. 

The solutions of the Simplified Motion Series from Festo at a glance. 

Photo credit: Festo AG & Co. KG 

Advanced user functions are provided via IO-Link ® , 

including convenient remote control, parameter copy, 

backup function and read functions for advanced 

process parameters. IO-Link ® enables the drives to 

communicate intelligently from the controllers all 

the way to the cloud – for simple motions as well as 

easy handling, commissioning and actuation. 

Digital I/O and IO-Link ® are automatically always on 

board. This means that products from the Simplified 

Motion Series contain two types of controllers as 

standard. 

SIMPLIFIED, YET FULL FUNCTIONALITY 

Their simplified functionality makes the drives 

perfect for simple motions between two mechanical 

end positions, without having to sacrifice optimised 

motion characteristics, gently cushioned advancing 

and retracting into the end positions or a simplified 

pressing and clamping function. 

The Simplified Motion Series includes the following 

electric drives: spindle and toothed belt axis units 

ELGS-BS/-TB, mini slide unit EGSS, toothed belt axis 

unit ELGE-TB, electric cylinder unit EPCS and rotary 

drive unit ERMS. WWA 


58 | TECH ROUND UP 

Introducing Hitachi Zosen’s Marimo: 

Small, hardy and high performance 

Named after the marimo algae found in Japan, Hitachi Zosen’s Marimo rapid fibre filtration 

system helps operators reduce energy cost. 

Major Japanese industrial and 

engineering corporation Hitachi 

Zosen has had a busy past three 

years, with many significant milestones 

reached. Among them was an order received 

from the China National Electric Apparatus 

Research Institute Co for a Marimo rapid 

fibre filtration system for a sewage treatment 

plant in Guangzhou, China. This was 

especially significant for the company, if 

only because this was the Marimo filtration 

system’s first order for an overseas sewage 

treatment plant. 

Marimo are a rare, ball-like growth form 

of the Aegagropila linnaei algae, and can 

be found in a number of lakes and rivers 

in Japan. Coincidentally, they are also 

the namesake of the Marimo rapid fibre 

filtration system, which is applicable for 

both preliminary water treatment (turbidity 

removal) and advanced sewage treatment. 

Named after the marimo algae found in Japan, 

Hitachi Zosen’s Marimo rapid fibre filtration 

system helps operators reduce energy cost 

The filtration system consists of a device 

which is filled with a filtration media made 

from specially-processed polyester fibres, 

permitting increased filtration speeds over 

previous filtration systems, and allowing 

for the high-speed processing of raw water, 

sewage water, and industrial wastewater. 

Because of the filter medium layer’s large 

pore size and high porosity of 93 per cent, 

filtration speed can be increased and 

the equipment can be made compact — 

reducing the size of the installation area by 

up to 50 per cent. 

Other features of the Marimo rapid fibre 

filtration system include: 

• Energy saving abilities: With the filter 

medium’s high porosity of 93 per cent and 

low filtration resistance, the power cost 

of the filtration pumps is lower, allowing 

users to enjoy significant savings in terms 

of energy cost. 

• Smaller installation space: With filtration 

speeds of 1000m/day or more, a large 

amount of water can be processed with 

smaller-sized equipment. 

• Long-term usage: With a true specific 

gravity of 1.38-1.40, the filter medium can 

be easily backwashed with air and used 

repeatedly over long periods of time. 

• Less washing water needed: The amount 

of backwashing water used to clean the 

system is small, and raw water can be used. 

• High filtration performance: The Marimo 

rapid fibre filtration system is able to trap 

six kilogrammes of suspended matter (SS) 

per cubic metre of filter bed used in filtered 

Marimo plants in Guangzhou, China 

water, and the SS can be processed to the 

same level or less than sand filtration. 

Hitachi Zosen has conducted two pilot plant 

tests of Marimo in Indonesia and Myanmar. 

From the results of the demonstration tests, 

Hitachi Zosen has proven that Marimo can 

achieve the target water quality in Southeast 

Asia while reducing operational cost. 

But there’s no stopping the company, Hitachi 

Zosen aims to keep contributing to the water 

and wastewater industry so as to solve water 

treatment problems in Southeast Asia. WWA 


SHOW REVIEW | 59 

SIWW 2020: Climate resilience, 

resource efficiency and SMART utility 

SIWW will return for its ninth edition 

from 5 – 9 July 2020 at the Sands 

and Convention Centre, Marina Bay 

Sands, Singapore 

Ten years on, the Singapore 

International Water Week (SIWW) 

solidifies its position in the global water 

scene with fresh focus areas for SIWW 2020. 

The Singapore International Water Week 

(SIWW) is the world’s premier platform to 

connect the water industry for innovative 

solutions and sustainable urban water 

management. The biennial event gathers 

stakeholders from the global water industry 

to share best practices, innovative water 

solutions and tap business opportunities. 

With the three key themes of climate resilience, 

resource efficiency and SMART utility, 

SIWW 2020 aspires to surpass its previous 

record-breaking 24,000 attendees from 

110 countries and regions, and S$23 billion 

in total value of business announcements by 

elevating the urban water agenda and using 

the right technologies to address water issues. 

SIWW is also a platform to showcase 

innovations, share policy developments 

and form partnerships in research and 

development. With water and environment 

technologies as key growth areas, 

S$670 million in public funding was secured 

to create a thriving research community 

in Singapore. Today, Singapore has over 

200 water companies and more than 25 

water research centres. 

water industry, returning exhibitors have 

already committed more than 70 per cent of 

exhibition space, well ahead of SIWW 2020. 

MAIN PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS: 

Find out how strategic changes in the water 

industry will impact city planning at the 

Water Leaders Summit, an exclusive highlevel 

gathering of 500 of the world’s top 

water business leaders, key opinion leaders 

and government officials. 

The Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize honours 

outstanding contributions by individuals 

or organisations towards solving the 

world’s water challenges by developing or 

applying innovative technologies, policies or 

programmes which benefit humanity. 

The Water Convention is a technical forum 

for water practitioners to share professional 

insights and applied solutions. Focused on 

meeting the needs of cities and municipalities, 

discussions will be centred across four 

themes — delivering water from source 

to tap, effective and efficient wastewater 

value management, water for liveability 

and resilience, water quality and health. 

At the Business Forums, understand the latest 

trends driving water infrastructure expansion 

in high-potential markets. Gather the latest 

developments for Desalination and Water 

Reuse, Smart Water and Industrial Water. 

The Water Expo @ City Solutions Singapore 

is the gateway to a rapidly modernising 

Asia. Expect the latest product launches and 

cutting-edge water technologies at the most 

comprehensive water and environment trade 

show in the region. 

TechXchange draws together recognised 

experts and decision makers to deliberate 

on new water technologies and commercial 

opportunities in the global water 

industry, with the purpose of facilitating 

connections, collective learning and a 

collaborative approach to innovation and 

entrepreneurship. WWA 

SIWW will return for its ninth edition from 

5 – 9 July 2020. As a testament to its 

status as the leading global platform for 

business, technology, and solutions in the 


60 | SHOW REVIEW 

Digital transformation projects are exponentially accelerating 

organisational innovation, says AVEVA 

At a media briefing hosted during 

its annual customer conference in 

Singapore, AVEVA, a global leader in 

engineering and industrial software, revealed 

customer validation of business advantage for 

industrial and capital-intensive organisations 

who leverage digital transformation projects. 

While finance, insurance, health and retail 

sectors have rapidly harnessed the Internet 

of Things, artificial intelligence and big data to 

meet the changing needs of their customers, 

the industrial world has been slower in 

adopting new technologies. Recent research 

of 157 process manufacturers, conducted 

by ARC Advisory Group (ARC), found that 

there were still barriers in organisational 

accountability, culture and employee change 

management that impeded transformation. 

Moderating the session, Craig Resnick, 

vice president at ARC Advisory Group, said, 

“Despite the transformational road not 

being a straight path, digital transformation 

is a key driver of change that opens new 

opportunities for companies to grow 

and create value. The key to successful 

digitalisation is an agile, digital-savvy 

leadership that sets forth a strategic vision 

for organisations, and effectively infuses a 

digital mindset across the entire workforce.” 

During AVEVA’s media session, AVEVA’s CEO, 

Craig Hayman, alongside senior executives from 

Worley, stressed that it was time for the industrial 

sector to embrace innovative technology to 

drive positive business outcomes in order to 

realise greater productivity, optimise energy 

consumption and the return on investment. 

TIME TO BREAK DOWN BARRIERS 

TO ADOPTION 

According to research conducted by ARC, 

although more than 80 per cent of industrial 

process manufacturers are piloting advanced 

technology, only five to eight percent of them 

are ready for digital transformation today. The 

main barriers to adoption, according to ARC, 

are organisational makeup and scalability of 

use cases and users while the biggest driver 

of digital transformation in the industrial 

sector is the need to address the business 

consequences of unplanned downtime. 

“It’s never been easier to begin a digital 

transformation programme, as cheap access 

to cloud computing, great connectivity, a 

merged edge and enterprise combined with 

analytics and machine learning, means that 

the ability to digitally drive productivity 

improvements into the industrial world is 

now unprecedented,” commented Hayman. 

“Leaders driving the next wave of transformation 

know they must move quickly. AVEVA works as 

a partner to accelerate organisations on their 

digital journey, helping them accelerate the 

use of digital technology, realise the value of a 

digital twin and build a digital team.” 

UNTOLD BENEFITS OF DIGITAL 

TRANSFORMATION FOR THE 

INDUSTRIAL SECTOR 

The benefits of digital transformation in the 

industrial sector are many. Improved asset 

health will result in a reduction in unplanned 

downtime and better asset performance, 

while incident prediction capabilities have 

the power to lower operational risk and 

protect worker safety. Furthermore, cognitive 

learning can deliver digitised intelligence 

resulting in knowledge and experience being 

freely available throughout the organisation. 

At the conference, Hayman also outlined 

three key steps to accelerating the 

organisational digital transformational 

journey. Firstly, he urged organisations 

to ‘snap in’ a unified operating centre to 

visualise the industrial data they already 

had. Secondly, organisations need to use 

data to free up the OPEX or operating 

budget, build a knowledge graph about an 

asset as well as utilise machine learning 

and artificial intelligence to predict when it 

will fail before it fails. This process, called 

Asset Performance Management (APM), is 

a hot area that has moved very quickly with 

a lot of innovation. Finally, organisations 

should use their data to remove risk, 

bringing simulation into engineering design 

and using the cloud to eliminate legacy 

workflows. 

“Over time, these three steps combine into 

an end-to-end digital twin, that spans from 

an organisation’s original engineering data 

through to operational performance and 

maintenance work,” commented Hayman. 

“By leveraging the integrated data and 

analytical capabilities of the individual 

digital twin, companies can embark on 

true digitalisation to optimise their asset’s 

lifecycle. This process begins with the initial 

capital investments right through to the 

operating phase of a modern plant, refinery, 

or smart city.” WWA 

AVEVA CEO Craig Hayman, alongside senior executives, 

stressed that it was time for the industrial sector to 

embrace innovative technology. Photo credit: AVEVA 


62 | SHOW REVIEW 

CAMWATER 2019: A resounding success 

Cambodia’s leading water and wastewater industry exhibition 

and conference, CAMWATER 2019, had concluded with a 

resounding success, and saw more than 6,000 professionals, 

key buyers and decision makers visiting the show. 

Held at the Diamond Island Exhibition and Convention Centre (DIECC), 

in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from 18 to 20 September 2019, the 

three-day event served as a powerful platform for trade discussions, 

knowledge-sharing sessions, establishment of partnerships, and cocreation 

of solutions to advance the country’s water treatment and 

management systems. 

Co-located with CAMBUILD 2019 and three other industry related 

shows: CAMENERGY’19, CIVAR’19 and CAMSECURITY&FIRE’19, the 

expo showcased the latest products, services and equipment from over 

500 companies and brands, across 28 countries. The international 

exhibition also featured business matchmaking meetings and free 

conference sessions whereby trade visitors and industry professionals 

were able to explore partnerships with potential business partners, 

and get updated on innovative solutions for water treatment. 

1 

Among the exhibitors that participated in CAMWATER 2019 are UPG 

Pipe Co., Ltd, Keep Service Hitech Co., Ltd, De Water Company Limited 

(DEWATER BELT), H&T Technology Pool & Spa Co., Ltd, Cew Sin Plastic 

Pipe Sdn Bhd, Hitachi Zosen Corporation, Zhejiang Xiandai Pump 

Co., Ltd, Leo Group Pump (Zhejiang) Co., Ltd, KOJINE International 

Environmental Technology Co., Ltd, KSB Cambodia and more. 

Recovering from its troubled past in the 20 th century, Cambodia has 

since established itself as a lucrative investment destination, recording 

rapid economic and population growth. As a result, demand for clean 

water in the kingdom now stands at 10 million cubic metres per day. 

In order to meet this demand, the Cambodian government has been 

working to significantly improve the country’s supply of drinking water, 

sanitation and wastewater facilities. The Ministry of Industry and 

Handicraft has issued 256 water supply licenses to operators outside of 

Phnom Penh and in areas lacking clean water pipes; aiming to achieve 

its goal of supplying clean water nationwide by 2025. 

2 

CAMWATER 2019 is organised by AMB Tarsus Events Group, one of the 

leading trade show organisers in Asia. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, 

the company focuses on key emerging markets. Similar shows it has 

organised include LAOWATER in Laos, LANKAWATER in Sri Lanka, and 

MYANWATER in Myanmar. 

The trade show will be returning in 2020 from 2 to 4 September, at 

the DIECC. CAMWATER is set to bring in even more products, services 

and technology for the benefit of Cambodia’s water and wastewater 

industry. WWA 

All images are credited to CAMWATER 2019. 

3 

1. CAMWATER 2019 was held from 18 to 20 September 2019 

2. The show saw more than 6,000 professionals, key buyers and decision 

makers visiting the show 

3. Recovering from its troubled past in the 20 th century, Cambodia has 

since established itself as a lucrative investment destination, recording 

rapid economic and population growth

EVENTS CALENDAR 2019 / 2020 

NOVEMBER 2019 

VietWater (Ho Chi Minh) 2019 

6 to 8 November 

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam 

https://www.vietwater.com/en-us 

MyanWater 2019 

28 to 30 November 

Yangon, Myanmar 

https://www.myanwater.org 

DECEMBER 2019 

IWA Water and Development Congress & Exhibition 

1 to 5 December 

Colombo, Sri Lanka 

https://www.waterdevelopmentcongress.org 

JANUARY 2020 

WFES Water 2020 

13 to 16 January 

Abu Dhabi, UAE 

https://www.worldfutureenergysummit.com/wfes-water 

InterAqua Tokyo 2020 

20 to 31 January 

Tokyo, Japan 

https://www.interaqua.jp/eng 

FEBRUARY 2020 

World Water-Tech Innovation 

Summit 2020 

25 to 26 February 

London, United Kingdom 

https://worldwatertechinnovation.com 

MARCH 2020 

Asia Water 2020 

31 March to 2 April 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 

https://www.asiawater.org 

APRIL 2020 

WQA Convention and Exposition 2020 

1 to 3 April 

Orlando, USA 

https://www.wqa.org/convention 

iE Expo 2020 

21 to 23 April 

Shanghai, China 

http://www.ie-expo.com 

MAY 2020 

Ozwater 2020 

5 to 7 May 

Adelaide, Australia 

http://www.ozwater.org 

10 th Annual SWAN Conference 

12 to 13 May 

Glasglow, Scotland 

https://www.swan-2020.com 

JUNE 2020 

Aquatech China 2020 

3 to 5 June 

Shanghai, China 

https://www.aquatechtrade.com/china 

IFAT Munich 2020 

4 to 8 June 

Munich, Germany 

https://www.ifat.de/index-2.html 

Indo Water Expo & Forum 2020 

9 to 11 June 

Surabaya, Indonesia 

http://www.indowater.com 

Pumps & Valves Asia 2020 

11 to 13 June 

Bangkok, Thailand 

http://www.pumpsandvalves-asia.com 

JULY 2020 

Singapore International Water Week 2020 

5 to 9 July 

Singapore 

https://www.siww.com.sg 

SEPTEMBER 2020 

CamWater 2020 

2 to 4 September 

Phom Penh, Cambodia 

http://www.camwaterexpo.com 

Asian Utility Week 2020 


Jakarta, Indonesia 

https://www.asian-utility-week.com 

Taiwan International Water Week 


Taipei, Taiwan 

https://www.taiwanintlwaterweek.com 

OCTOBER 2020 

WEFTEC 2020 

3 to 7 October 

New Orleans, USA 

https://weftec.org 

9 th IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 2020 


Copenhagen, Denmark 

https://worldwatercongress.org 

Myanmar Water 2020 


Yangon, Myanmar 

https://www.myanwater.com 


ADVERTISERS INDEX WATER & WASTEWATER ASIA November / December 2019 

Andritz AG 

OBC 

Asia Water 2020 13 

PABLO SINGAPORE 

Publisher 

William Pang 

williampang@pabloasia.com 

China Lesso Group Holdings Ltd 

IFC 

Associate Publisher 

Pamela Buckley 

pamela@pabloasia.com 

Cla-Val 5 

Danfoss 27 

Diehl Metering 11 

ESTRUMAT S.L.U. 9 

Harbin Firstline Environment Technology Co., Ltd. 63 

Indo Water Expo & Forum 2020 61 

LACROIX Sofrel 7 

PWNT 3 

Lebanon Sustainability Week 2020 12 

Singapore International Water Week 2020 (SIWW) 21 

Editor 

Pang Yanrong 

yanrong@pabloasia.com 

Assistant Editor 

Natalie Chew 

natalie@pabloasia.com 

Business Development Manager 

YanJun Pang 

yanjun@pabloasia.com 

Graphic Designer 

Edwin De Souza 

edwin@pabloasia.com 

Circulation Manager 

Shu Ai Ling 

circulation@pabloasia.com 

PABLO BEIJING 

General Manager 

Ellen Gao 

pablobeijing@163.com 

PABLO SHANGHAI 

Editor 

Giselle Zhong 

pabloshanghai@163.net 

Singapore Water Exchange (PUB) 56 

Tsurumi Manufacturing Co., Ltd. 

IBC 

Vontron Technology Co., Ltd. 1 

Water and Development Congress 

& Exhibition 2019 33 

Published by 

Pablo Publishing Pte Ltd 

3 Ang Mo Kio Street 62 

#01-23 Link@AMK 

Singapore 569139 

Tel: (65) 6266 5512 

E-mail: info@pabloasia.com 

Website: www.waterwastewaterasia.com 

Company Registration No: 200001473N 

Singapore MICA (P) No: 076/05/2019 

Water & Wastewater Asia - Social Media 35 

Xylem Analytics 

FC 

REGIONAL OFFICES (CHINA) 

Pablo BEIJING 

Tel: +86 10 6509 7728 / +86 10 6509 7548 

Fax: +86 10 6509 7719 

Email: pablobeijing@163.com 

Contact: Ellen Gao 

Pablo SHANGHAI 

Tel: +86 21 5238 9737 

Fax: +86 21 5238 9736 

Email: pabloshanghai@163.net 

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