Water & Wastewater Asia January/February 2022

SINGAPORE FOCUS
WATER TECHNOLOGY
ROADSHOW:
A joint effort to bring
science to life
PUB, Singapore’s national water agency initiates the
Water Technology Roadshow to profile promising
water research projects happening in Singapore and
promote industry uptake for further development.
With small land size, limited natural resources
and increasing water demand in tandem with
the growth of our population and economy,
Singapore is consistently ranked as one of the
world’s most water-stressed countries. And
in the face of climate change, the city-state is
also vulnerable to effects such as increasing
temperatures, rising sea levels and more
extreme weather events.
Centre of Innovation (EWTCOI) and
Separation Technologies Applied Research
and Translation Centre (START).
As the water agency’s investment begin to
bear fruit and technologies mature, more
focus is placed on strengthening the nexus
between academia, research institutions
and the industry. Moreover, the agency
places high importance to ensure research
outcomes of the laboratory are translated and
commercialised into processes, products,
and services for the market, to ultimately
generate economic and societal payoffs for
Singapore.
However, this transition to real-life
applications can be a complex process. To
this end, PUB collaborates with academic
institutions such as NTU, NUS and SUTD,
translation infrastructure EWTCOI and
START, industry partners like IPI Singapore,
Singapore Membrane Consortium and
Singapore Water Association, by providing
a conducive environment to pursue the
development of innovative water technologies
in Singapore. The Singapore Water Exchange
(SgWX) is the physical hub where the
team strings efforts together, and where
collaborative projects for the development of
a vibrant water ecosystem are conducted.
To overcome these challenges, PUB,
Singapore’s national water agency, has
invested greatly to push forth R&D in the
water domain to develop a water system that
is adequate, resilient, and sustainable. Over
the years, R&D efforts have helped PUB adapt
to the evolving needs of the industry and
the onset of climate change. The efforts will
continue to guide PUB in navigating through
emerging challenges, especially in its latest
role as the national Coastal Protection Agency.
Such R&D efforts not only foster water
research excellence within the Institutes of
Higher Learning (IHLs) such as Nanyang
Technological University, Singapore (NTU),
National University of Singapore (NUS), and
Singapore University of Technology and
Design (SUTD), they have also seeded the
growth of dedicated translation centres such
as the Environmental and Water Technology
The first edition of the Water Technology Roadshow was co-organised by PUB and NTU with an aim to provide
insights into promising water technology research
16 WATER & WASTEWATER ASIA | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022