The National Research Foundation (NRF) has awarded SGD51 million to the Public Utilities Board (PUB), Singapore’s national water body, for supporting water research in the country. Under the research, PUB will explore feasible solutions for extracting chemicals for water treatment and researching the effects of climate change on water quality in this area.
For this research, PUB has issued two requests for proposals. The agency is looking for technology and solutions to recover usable compounds from local waste streams for use in water and wastewater treatment. PUB is also seeking solutions to enable the extraction of rare metals like lithium and barium from brine, which is a by-product of desalination and is made up of highly concentrated saline water.
PUB is also looking for applications to research the influence of climate change on Singapore’s water system over the next 10, 20 and 40 years. The findings will subsequently be used to develop adaptation measures to protect water quality and PUB’s infrastructure from the effects of climate change. Applications for both projects will close on November 26, 2021.
The SGD51 million awarded to PUB as funding for the two projects is the fourth tranche of financing of the NRF’s Competitive Funding for Water Research (CWR) program. The initiative intends to fund impactful solutions to address Singapore’s water needs over the next five years.