Liaw Wy-Cin, Straits Times 27 Jun 09;
OVER the past week, home-grown utilities conglomerate Sembcorp has been busy inking partnerships in industrial waste-water treatment.
The industry is seen as big business.
As populations expand and demand for household and industrial water skyrockets, treating waste water, worth an estimated US$152 billion (S$222 billion) in 2007, is projected to increase to US$235 billion in 2016.
Many companies see potential in developing technologies to treat industrial waste water, because it contains more chemicals and is more difficult to treat than household waste water.
Sembcorp will mainly test such technologies developed by other companies or research institutions.
One of its latest partnerships is with the Nanyang Technological University's Nanyang Environment and Water
Research Institute.
Over the next three years, Sembcorp will test the institute's technology to remove substances in industrial waste water that are difficult to break down, such as petrochemicals.
Another tie-up is with local water technology companies United Envirotech and Memstar.
This project aims to test a new system that treats industrial waste water and reclaims water in a way that requires less heat, making the process cheaper and greener.
Sembcorp also opened its second plant to treat waste water using a membrane bioreactor on Jurong Island.
This type of technology combines the use of a membrane to filter out waste particles from the water, together with a bioreactor where air is bubbled through and tiny organisms are added to eat up waste matter in water.
