New Ulu Pandan Demonstration Plant Sets the Global Standard for Water Innovation | Black & Veatch
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New Ulu Pandan Demonstration Plant Sets the Global Standard for Water Innovation

New Ulu Pandan Demonstration Plant Sets the Global Standard for Water Innovation

Project Name
Ulu Pandan Wastewater Treatment Demonstration Plant
Location
Singapore
Client
PUB

Today, you can take the 15-kilometer journey along Clementi Road from Singapore’s bustling central business district northwest to the town of Clementi. Until the middle of the 20th century, however, the thoroughfare leading you to this otherwise unassuming residential district was known as Reformatory Road. It’s an aptly named path, given that the area is about to reform behavior once again in one of the most technologically advanced ways imaginable.

When PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency, set out to build the Tuas Water Reclamation Plant (WRP), it did so with the goal of creating the most energy-efficient membrane bioreactor (MBR) in the world.

To achieve this, PUB needed a comprehensive solution to establish the Tuas WRP as a beacon of innovation for years to come, and drive behavior in the global water industry to new heights.

PUB tapped Black & Veatch* and AECOM to help bring the Ulu Pandan Wastewater Treatment Demonstration Plant to life. Coming online in 2017, the demonstration center at Ulu Pandan has a treatment capacity of 12,500m3/day, and serves to test advanced water treatment technologies before deploying them on a larger scale at Tuas WRP in the future.

When Tuas WRP is up and running, the technologies developed at Ulu Pandan will allow PUB to offer a more energy efficient solution for treating wastewater, all while minimizing land use and reducing reliance on manpower. More specifically, Tuas WRP will be capable of doubling the energy recovery compared to conventional plants.

Understandably, outcomes like this have turned heads around the globe, and are why the Ulu Pandan Demonstration Plant won the Water/Wastewater Project of the Year Award at the 2018 Global Water Awards in Paris, France.

“Singapore continues to be at the leading edge of innovation in the water industry. This award recognizes the results of harnessing advances in digital water technology together with the latest advanced water treatment processes to realize operational, economic and environmental sustainability goals at the Ulu Pandan wastewater demonstration plant,” said Cindy Wallis-Lage, President of Black & Veatch’s Water business.

Black & Veatch and AECOM, in a joint venture, were proud to be the consultants on the Ulu Pandan Wastewater Demonstration Plant. The plant features a novel combination of treatment processes which include space-efficient inclined lamella primary settling tanks and a MBR system. These features shorten the process of wastewater treatment while reducing energy usage and maximizing biogas production (which can generate energy) as well as help reduce plant footprint. At the same time, the Ulu Pandan wastewater treatment demonstration plant also incorporates automation control to reduce manpower requirements.

Sustainability. Efficiency. Innovation. The Ulu Pandan Wastewater Treatment Demonstration Plant is a hallmark example of Black & Veatch’s commitment to Building a World of Difference®. We look forward to helping Singapore continue to be the leaders in driving positive change in the world of water.

*A project undertaken in Singapore when Black & Veatch owned that business.

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