Chew Wui Lynn, Channel NewsAsia 9 Mar 09;
SINGAPORE: Professor Gatze Lettinga of the Netherlands has been awarded the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 2009. He has developed a way to purify industrial and domestic wastewater in a widespread, cost-effective manner, producing useful by-products in the process.
The professor has been involved in the study of wastewater treatment since the 1970s. Over the years, he has developed what he calls an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB).
Despite its complex name, the theory behind the discovery is simple. Industrial or domestic wastewater is channelled into a tank where waste material or sludge accumulates at the bottom.
The sludge naturally contains micro-organisms that break down contaminants in the water. In this way, the water gets treated and flows up and out of the tank.
It will, however, still require further purification before it is considered safe for drinking.
Biogas, such as methane, is produced in the process and could be reused as energy. In fact, the whole procedure produces enough energy to be self-sustaining, as is the case at a water purification plant in the Netherlands.
Unlike other treatment techniques, Professor Lettinga's invention does not require oxygen to be pumped in to sustain the micro-organisms. This results in energy savings of 30 to 40 per cent, making it an affordable option.
As a result, Singapore's PUB is conducting pilot projects on the technology and may apply it in the future.
Khoo Teng Chye, chief executive of PUB & executive director of the Environment and Water Industry Development Council, said: "Going forward, in the area of the large-scale water reclamation, the municipal used water... this technology is quite promising."
Despite the many benefits of the invention, Professor Lettinga has taken the surprising step of not patenting it.
"For our environmental protection, we shouldn't have a patent on the concept. Everybody everywhere in the world should be able to use the concept of the treatment system and to improve it or whatsoever. That was the idea. Not patenting," the professor said.
For his achievement, he will get around US$194,000, an award certificate and a gold medallion at a ceremony to be held in Singapore in June.- CNA/so
Singapore honours Dutch scientist
Yahoo News 9 Mar 09;
SINGAPORE (AFP) – Singapore said Monday it will award nearly 200,000 US dollars to a Dutch scientist who pioneered an environmentally friendly, low-cost way of treating waste water and refused to patent the process.
Gatze Lettinga, an environmental engineer from Amsterdam, was chosen as this year's winner of the award, launched in 2008 and named after Singapore's founding father and former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, officials said.
Resource-starved Singapore, which is already recycling sewage into clean water for use in factories and homes, gives out the award to honour persons or groups for "outstanding contributions" in the field of water.
Lettinga, who turns 73 next month, said he did not patent his discovery because he wanted everyone to benefit.
"I believe that innovative technologies for treating used water, waste, and gas... will contribute to more sustainable living which the world urgently needs," the retired professor told a news conference in Singapore.
Lettinga focused on anaerobic technology, which uses micro-organisms in an oxygen-free environment to purify waste water before it is released to the environment, reducing the threat of pollution.
While anaerobic technology has been around for hundreds of years, his research proved that it can be done at a much lower cost and in a manner that is environmentally sustainable, organisers of the award said in a statement.
Because it does not use oxygen, anaerobic technology uses up to 40 percent less energy than the conventional aerobic system and is also cheaper to operate and maintain, the statement said.
The technology is now used is almost 3,000 reactors, representing 80 percent of all anaerobic used water treatment systems worldwide.
The award, which comes with a cash prize of 300,000 Singapore dollars (194,000 US) and a gold medallion, is sponsored by the Millennium Foundation, a philanthropic body supported by sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings.
Prof wins Water Prize for treatment system
Dutchmen's invention - using bacteria to treat wastewater efficiently - is used worldwide today
Grace Chua, Straits Times 10 Mar 09;
WHEN Dutch environmental technology professor Gatze Lettinga began studying anaerobic wastewater treatment in 1970, he knew nothing about the subject.
Still, he kept working on the technology, which mimics nature's way of breaking down waste anaerobically, that is, in the absence of oxygen.
For coming up with a widely used, energy-saving, wastewater treatment reactor, the 72-year-old yesterday became the second recipient of the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize. His invention beat 38 other nominations from 19 countries, all of which are projects tackling global water problems.
The emeritus professor from Wageningen Agricultural University in the Netherlands will be presented the $300,000 prize in June during the Singapore International Water Week, at which industry leaders, policymakers and experts will meet here to discuss water issues.
Last year's inaugural prize was won by Dr Andrew Benedek, the Canadian whose pioneering research in membrane filtration is now applied here to treat and purify sewage to produce Newater.
Prof Lettinga's design, called upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) technology, uses a layer of caviar-like sludge granules which contain a cocktail of bacterial micro-organisms.
These bugs digest contaminants in wastewater, leaving the treated water to be filtered off for discharge or further purification. The process produces methane gas, which can be collected as fuel.
UASB systems cost half as much as conventional aerobic treatment systems, and use 30 to 40 per cent less energy.
Professor Lettinga chose not to patent the technology, as he believes any technology which can improve the environment 'should be available to everybody'.
Today, more than 3,000 industrial and domestic treatment systems worldwide - about eight in 10 of the world's anaerobic wastewater treatment systems - use the technology. Such reactors can be found in sugar refineries, breweries, paper mills and other industries.
The technology has yet to reach its full potential. While the bacteria in anaerobic reactors are most effective in tropical climates, they are so far used only in Colombia, Brazil and India.
A pilot study is being done to see if it could be used here, said Mr Khoo Teng Chye, the chief of national water agency PUB.
Prof Lettinga won the annual Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 2007 for his invention. He is also a board member of the Lettinga Associates Foundation, which develops and implements sustainable environmental technologies.
