file:///C|/Users/Rx/Documents/Water/Actions/SCRIBD-COMM100%20For%20Posting/converted/Green-Wastewater-Machine .html[10/23/2012 11:08:16 AM] Country water actions are stories that showcase water reforms undertaken by individuals, communities, organizations, and governments in Asia-Pacific countries and elsewhere. Count ry Wat er Actions Singapore: The Lean, Mean, Gree n Wastew ater Machine August 2011 By Cezar Tign o Web Writer After the success of NEWater, water technology hub Singapore now turns to technological innovations in wastewater management with the help of private sector partners. New Wastew ater Technology Singapore is fast becoming the leader in water and wastewater technologies. Since the success of NEWater, Singapore’s own brand of reclaimed or recycled water, as a major source of water supply, the country’s scientist s have been busy with developing and innovating technologies. Togethe r with Siemens, Singapore has been cooking up somethi ng to make wastewater managemen t more efficient, less costly, and more environment-friendly. Called “The Green Machine,” it is an innovative process of wastewat er treat ment that can be easil y adopt ed, with a littl e upgrading and expansion, by existing wastewater treatment plants. It is meant to replace conventional wastewater treatment that consumes a lot of energy, genera tes a lot of sludge, and releases carbon dioxide, contributing to the global greenhouse effect. The Green Machine has compa rable COD remova l efficiency as the conventional process. However , it consumes less energy, and more importantly helps generate more energy in the form of biogas. It combines contact stabilization with anaerobic digestion to create the hybrid process that produces about 50% less sludge than conventional treatment. Water Technology Hub Global city Singapore is home to about 4.5 million people that consume some 300 million gallons of water per day, not counting the tourists that arrive by the tens of thousands daily. Lack of water in this small, multi-cultural country could have serious repercussions, but as early as the 1970s, Singapore has foreseen its freshwater sources problem. Singap ore’s Public Utilities Boar d (PUB) built a pilot water reclamation plant in 1974, but implementation plans were shelved because of huge costs and unreliable technolo gy. It wasn’t until 1998 that the project was revived through a joint initiative between PUB and the Ministry of Environme nt and Water Resour ces. The 1998 Singapore Water Reclamation Study (or NEWater Study) clinc hed the deal on NEWate r as a raw water resource to supplement the country’s water supply. NEWater is a product of stringent purification and treatment proces ses capable of making sewage water clean, clear, and sparkling. PUB started adding NEWater into its reservoirs at about 1% of total daily consumption following an evaluation by an Expert Panel from the National University of Singapore that gave the go-signal for indirect potable use. PUB plans to increa se this to about 2.5% of total daily consumpti on by 2011. The Green Machine Project was financially supported by the Economic Development Board, Environment & Water Industry Development Council The Green Machine In essence, the Green Machine is a combinatio n of two processes: Biosorption, a physiochemical process that occurs naturally in certain biomass, which allows it to passively concentrate and bind contaminants onto its cellular structure. It provides an economical alternative for removing toxic heavy metals from industrial wastewater and aid in environmental remediation. Anaerobic digestion , a series of process es in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen, used for industrial or domest ic purposes to manage waste and/or to release energy. In this hybrid process, organic matter is absorbed into the microbial floc surface during contact stabilization and retention time is controlled before microbes have time to degrade the organics. Microbes carry the adsorbed organics into the anaerobic digestor where biogas is generated. The Green Machine offers: