Winner of the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize helped make Newater a reality

$300,000 prize for his water innovation
Winner of the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize helped make Newater a reality
Tania Tan, Straits Times 19 Mar 08;

HE SET out to mimic the workings of the human cell, where the walls act as filters, separating nutrients from waste.

Applying that idea to water treatment, Dr Andrew Benedek came up with membranes which make dirty water clean.

His work has revolutionised water treatment, providing a cheaper, safer and more effective way to purify water than using chemicals.

For that, Dr Benedek was named the inaugural winner of the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize yesterday.

'Words fail to describe how delighted I am at this honour,' said the 64-year-old Canadian chemical engineer via a live video feed from San Diego, in the United States, where he now lives.

He will be presented the $300,000 prize in June during the Singapore International Water Week - when more than 100 government leaders and industry players will discuss solutions to the world's water woes.

Dr Benedek, a past winner of the Stockholm Water Prize, the water industry's equivalent of the Nobel Prize, said that the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize was 'by far the greatest accolade I've received'.

He added: 'Singapore is at the forefront of water technology, which makes this one of the highest honours.'

His more than 30 years of research in membranes has spawned an entire industry. Today, more than 15 million cu m of water are treated daily with membranes worldwide, with that figure growing by 20 per cent annually.

Dr Benedek's research also made the development of Newater a reality, said PUB chief executive Khoo Teng Chye, who was on hand to make the announcement yesterday.

Dr Benedek, a father of four, beat out a field of 39 other nominees from 15 countries, said Mr Khoo.

The intensive selection process involved two committees headed by PUB chairman Tan Gee Paw and chairman of the National Research Foundation Tony Tan, respectively.

In a 2002 interview with Canadian business magazine Corporate Knights, the son of a shoemaker recounted how he 'really wanted to make a difference in the world' by addressing potential water shortage problems caused by rapid urbanisation and pollution.

'I really thought that these problems could best be solved by membranes,' he had said.

After fleeing to Canada from his home in Budapest during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, Dr Benedek later studied chemical engineering and began his research in waste water treatment.

In 1980, he founded Zenon Environmental - a company devoted to bringing membrane technology for water treatment to the world.

Zenon became one of the world's largest membrane developers, with estimated sales of C$250 million (S$346 million) in 2006. It was sold that year to US-based GE Water.

Dr Benedek has since shifted his research focus to converting waste into fuel, although he still hopes that others will continue to address the world's water problems.

His wish: that membrane technology will one day allow the creation of a cheap portable water purification unit that can be used in villages.

'I'm still very excited about what membranes can do and their potential to change the world,' he said.

Even polluted water can be made clean with membranes
Straits Times 19 Mar 08;

PICKED as the first winner of the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize, Dr Andrew Benedek will receive $300,000, a gold medallion and an award certificate at a ceremony to be held during the Singapore International Water Week in June.

This is an excerpt from his citation for the prize:

'Dr Andrew Benedek was the man who revolutionised conventional water treatment. As a result of his pioneering work in membranes, he showed how water can be treated to drinking standards, even (water) that comes from highly polluted sources.

'Utilities in the United States, Europe, Japan, Australia and Singapore have incorporated the use of his membranes in their water treatment processes. Other countries, such as China, India and those in the Middle East and South America, have followed suit. The wider usage has led to lower prices of membranes which make them affordable for more countries to adopt in water treatment as well.

'Dr Benedek's outstanding innovation in membranes has provided sustainable water solutions to the world. His contribution has benefited humanity and, for that, Dr Benedek has the honour of being the first recipient of the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize.'

Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize awarded to Dr Andrew Benedek
Channel NewsAsia 18 Mar 08;

SINGAPORE: A Canadian water technology expert has been selected as the inaugural winner of the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize.

Dr Andrew Benedek has helped to solve the world's water woes by pioneering a low-pressure membrane technology to produce drinking water from just about any water source.

This has opened up new possibilities, especially in areas that do not have access to clean water.

For his various contributions in solving the world's water problems, Dr Benedek is awarded the S$300,000 inaugural Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize.

The Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize is an international award recognising an individual or organisation for outstanding contributions in water management.

Speaking via video conference, Dr Benedek said he hopes his membrane technology can benefit remote parts of the world.

"I'm hoping that in the next decade, we'll be able to have what Singapore has done on the large scale – to recycle water in small Asian villages and in areas which are short of water," he said.

According to the UN Population Fund, more than 3.3 billion people will live in an urban environment by 2008. This is likely to rise to five billion by 2030.

In Asia alone, the urban population will double to 2.6 billion between 2000 and 2030. This trend will put great pressure on the need for drinking water and Dr Benedek's discovery is expected to benefit future generations.

The panel of judges for the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize said that Dr Benedek was chosen because his revolutionary water treatment method stood out among 39 international nominations from 15 countries. His technology was also instrumental in helping Singapore in its development of NEWater.

His low-pressure membrane technology is used in the pre-treatment stage of churning out recycled water in the ultra-filtration process.

Its use is also preferred over conventional water purification technologies as it is cost effective, resulting in lower operating costs and greater ease of operation.

Moreover, widespread use of low-pressure membranes has made the technology even more affordable – a boon to small towns and villages in dire need of clean potable water.

Besides Singapore, utility providers in the US, Europe, China, India, the Middle East, South America, Japan and Australia have also incorporated Dr Benedek's membranes into their water treatment processes.

Khoo Teng Chye, Chief Executive of PUB, said: "It has been critical in solving our water problem... and I believe this is something that will be increasingly important throughout the cities of the world, throughout the cities of Asia and even in small villages."

Dr Benedek, who is based in the US, will receive his prize as well as a gold medallion and award certificate during the Singapore International Water Week in June.- CNA/so

Canadian scientist is first winner of LKY Water Prize
Matthew Phan, Business Times 19 Mar 08;

A CANADIAN was yesterday named inaugural recipient of the $300,000 Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize, to be awarded during the Singapore International Water Week in June. Andrew Benedek's pioneering work in low-pressure membranes has allowed even highly polluted used water to be treated to drinking standards.

Many countries are benefiting from his work, with utilities around the world - including the Public Utilities Board in Singapore - using his membranes in their designs.

Low-pressure membranes 'will continue to become more and more cost- effective, reliable and space-efficient', just like computers and telecommunications devices have, Dr Benedek said. 'I'm hoping that in the next decade, it will happen in small Asian villages - to recycle water and make water available even where it is scarce.'

Ironically, the 64-year- old founder of Zenon Environmental, a provider of water treatment systems since sold to GE in June 2006, has moved on to tackle non-water issues - in particular, global warming and clean energy.

After work on monitoring global warming in the oceans, Dr Benedek now focuses on finding ways to make fuel from waste.

'Energy is an economic problem and an environmental problem, but also a security problem,' he said.

Besides sitting on the boards of various businesses and organisations, Dr Benedek is managing director of UTS BiogasTechnik, a German pioneer in biogas generation from waste.

'I didn't want to enter any kind of business or research that was competing with the company I sold to GE, so I started getting back to basic research,' said the scientist, who earned a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Washington, Seattle, in 1970.

He had studied the same subject for his bachelor's degree at McGill University in Canada, then joined the petrochemical industry briefly. But the stint showed him the effect of pollution on the environment, and he decided to specialise in the field for his post-graduate work.