Singapore opens first Ceramic Membrane Bioreactor plant

Will treat and recycle industrial used water.

PUB, Singapore’s national water agency and Meiden Singapore (MSL), a subsidiary of Meidensha, announced the opening of Singapore’s first Ceramic Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) plant over the weekend coupled with an Upflow
Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) to treat and recycle industrial used water effectively.

Sited at the Jurong Water Reclamation plant with a treatment capacity of one million gallons per day (4,550 cubic meters per day), this is Singapore’s first UASB-Ceramic MBR plant for recycling used water from industrial sources.

The reclamation of industrial used water has conventionally been considered challenging because of the high organic loading in industrial used water. The combined use of UASB and MBR technologies can achieve a consistent, high-quality output of recycled water. As a pretreatment system, the USAB can remove organic contaminants efficiently while the downstream Ceramic MBR can produce a higher yield and more consistent water quality.

The biogas generation from UASB can also be utilized for in-house power generation. This collaboration is a result of an MOU signed during the Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) in 2010, following which MSL has been conducting verification tests for the Ceramic MBR system. Following this, MSL is taking the research one step further by collaborating with PUB on a demonstration plant to treat and recycle industrial used water.

This project was supported with a co-funding grant from the Technology Pioneer (TechPioneer) Scheme which encourages water companies to tap on Singapore as as Living Laboratory so that cutting edge technology can be testbedded and commercialised in a real-life environment. A total of 140 projects involving the test bedding of water solutions have been facilitated at PUB's installations, and more than 20 test-bedding projects are currently on-going at PUB's facilities.

“We have been working with private and public sector partners to test-bed potential industrial water solutions such as the ceramic membrane MBR technology that can allow us to reap energy and cost efficiencies in this area. The opening of the ceramic membrane MBR plant is an important step forward in our R&D on industrial water solutions,” said Mr Chew Men Leong, PUB Chief Executive and Executive Director of the Environment and Water Industry Programe Office (EWI), an interagency outfit to spearhead the growth and development of the water industry in Singapore.

Along with this investment, MSL will establish an R&D centre and assembly factory for ceramic membrane units in Singapore, as well as a facility for after-sales service in Asia. Singapore will also serve as MSL’s regional Headquarters for water business in Asia.

“We welcome the expansion of Meiden’s water business in Singapore and believe it will contribute to the growth of Singapore as a global hydrohub. This investment by Meiden is testimony to how companies can leverage Singapore as a living laboratory to develop, test and commercialise innovative industrial water solutions,” said Mr Lim Kok Kiang, Assistant Managing Director, Singapore Economic Development Board and Deputy Executive Director of EWI.