Toshiba Corporation announced the opening of an Aqua Research Centre, its first water treatment R&D centre outside Japan, at the Public Utilities Board's (PUB) WaterHub. WaterHub hosts organisations such as the International Water Association, Siemens and Nitto Denko.

Toshiba has provided customers with supervisory control systems, electrical and instrumentation equipment and maintenance services in more than 700 water purification, sewage treatment and desalination plants over some 40years.

A Memorandum of Understanding on collaboration was signed, to develop and test the application of an adsorbent that removes toxic elements from used water. The adsorbent, named Functional Powder, can extract valuable elements such as rare metals for recycling, and is more cost-efficient as it can be reused.

Toshiba is looking forward to the opportunity to work with PUB and the many water experts and professionals in Singapore. The firm should be able to make important contributions to the treatment of water uses in industrial processes.

PUB's Environment and Water Industry Programme Office (EWI) puts a lot of effort to grow the water industry in Singapore.They invested $470 million into the "National Research Foundation in water" (rita.nrf.gov.sg), as well as the test-bedding of more than 30 water projects at PUB's facilities.

WaterHub, 80 Toh Guan Road East