EWI Awards Second Challenge Call on Breakthrough Technologies for Rapid Microbial Detection

Thursday, 25 June 2009, 19:11 HKT/SGT

SIWW, Singapore, June 25, 2009 - (ACN Newswire) - Three research groups from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and National University of Singapore (NUS) will each receive close to S$2 million of research funds to carry out R&D on the rapid detection of the waterborne parasite Cryptosporidium spp. in drinking water worldwide. This was announced by the Environment & Water Industry Development Council (EWI) today following the launch of their second Challenge Call for Request-for-Proposals (RFP) in the area of rapid microbial detection last July.

Applicants for this RFP were given the challenge to develop new monitoring and sensing solutions that can detect the presence and viability of Cryptosporidium in drinking water in under an hour. Current techniques employed by water agencies around the world to detect Cryptosporidium are time-consuming and labour-intensive, typically taking about 6 hours or more, from water sampling, sample preparation, to producing detection results, and requires highly skilled analysts.

Although the various chemical and filtration processes used globally in water treatment processes can remove Cryptosporidium, the monitoring of this waterborne pathogen remains important in ensuring the quality of drinking water. The presence of Cryptosporidium in drinking water can cause diarrhoea, which may be especially severe for vulnerable groups like children, the elderly and immune-compromised individuals.

Mr Harry Seah, EWI's Director for Capability Development, said, "The quality of drinking water in Singapore is high because of our holistic and rigorous water quality monitoring programme. However, we are continuously looking out for new and more efficient technologies to enhance the water quality monitoring system. Therefore, the challenge is to come up with a novel detection technique that can improve the turnaround time for Cryptosporidium detection from the current 6 hours down to possibly, 1 hour. The reduction in detection time will enable water agencies worldwide to monitor the water quality more efficiently."

The three awarded proposals are helmed by scientists from Singapore's two universities NUS and NTU. Assoc Prof Lim Kian Meng from NUS makes creative use of sound waves to concentrate Cryptosporidium cells, before applying nanoparticles to achieve detection. Assoc Prof Thomas Gong from NTU employs an innovative filtration method to capture Cryptosporidium, which is subsequently detected using advanced DNA-based techniques. Also from NTU, Assoc Prof Liu Aiqun will exploit the shape, size and bio-optical signatures of this parasite to carry out detection.

The Challenge Call attracted the interest of local and overseas institutions of higher learning, research institutes and the private sector. Eighteen preliminary proposals were received in October 2008, and seven of the most promising ones were further developed and evaluated by EWI's Project Evaluation Panel (PEP), made up of international and local water experts (see Annex A for the full list of the PEP members).

Prof Lui Pao Chuen, Chairman of EWI's PEP, said, "We are very pleased with the quality and creativity of the research ideas submitted by applicants for this Challenge RFP. The Evaluation Panel, after much deliberation, finally decided to award three outstanding proposals which were characterized by their out-of-the-box thinking, fundamentally-sound science and practicality of implementation. We believe that the three proposed technologies will achieve the goal of reducing the detection time for Cryptosporidium, and bring about greater water safety for consumers all over the world."

This is EWI's second Challenge RFP. In June 2008, EWI awarded its first Challenge RFP on innovative seawater desalination technologies that halve the current energy consumption for desalting seawater at more than 3 kilo-watt hour per cubic metre of drinking water produced to less than 1.5 kilo-watt hour per cubic metre. Siemens Water Technologies received research funds to develop a new purification process comprising electrodialysis and ion exchange.

About the Environment and Water Industry Development Council

The Environment and Water Industry Development Council (EWI) was set up in May 2006 under the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) to spearhead the development of the environment and water industry in Singapore and position Singapore as a global hydrohub.

EWI's strategy for industry development is anchored on technology development and R&D activities to help grow the local industry cluster and to create a competitive edge for Singapore-based companies in the global market.

EWI targets to increase the value-added (VA) contribution from the water sector to $1.7 billion by 2015. Jobs for this sector are expected to double to about 11,000 by 2015.

For media enquiries, please call:

Ms Tristin Ong
Assistant Director,
Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources
Tel: +65 6731 9025
Email: tristin_ong@mewr.gov.sg

Topic: Corporate Announcement Sectors: Water
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