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- The integrated facility provides a model of sustainable water management in industrial sites which works towards the ultimate goal of zero liquid discharge

Sembcorp has gained prestigious global recognition for its groundbreaking wastewater treatment and water reclamation project serving industrial customers in the Zhangjiagang Free Trade Port Zone, China. Its Zhangjiagang operations have won prestigious Honour Awards in both the East Asian and Global International Water Association (IWA) Project Innovation Awards 2010, under the Planning Projects category.

The IWA Project Innovation Awards recognise excellence in effective and sustainable approaches to water management, as defined by five key criteria: originality and innovation; future value to the engineering profession; social, economic and sustainable design; complexity; and the projects’ ability to exceed client or owner needs.  The programme, which attracts entries from all over the world, runs on a two-year cycle with regional project awards presented in regional forums and the global awards delivered at the biennial IWA World Water Congress. The regional awards are held for the four regional bases of the Asia Pacific, East Asia, Europe and North America. Recipients of the regional awards then advance to compete for the global awards.

Sembcorp’s entry, which has received awards in both the regional awards for East Asia as well as in the global awards, is entitled “An Integrated, Energy-saving, Zero Liquid Discharge Sustainable Wastewater Treatment/Reclamation Project”. It features Sembcorp’s integrated wastewater treatment and water reclamation project in the Zhangjiagang Free Trade Port Zone, encompassing facilities capable of treating concentrated industrial wastewater and an upcoming facility capable of reclaiming industrial water and demineralised water from treated effluent for supply back to companies for industrial use.

Sembcorp’s Zhangjiagang wastewater treatment facilities have received approval from the Jiangsu Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau to treat wastewater with a high concentration of up to 4,000 milligrammes per litre chemical oxygen demand (COD). The facilities are the first in China specifically designed to treat concentrated industrial wastewater, and also the country’s first to be allowed to treat highly concentrated industrial wastewater directly from source without companies needing to pre-treat the effluent beforehand. Typically, government regulations require industrial companies to pre-treat their wastewater to a COD of not more than 500 milligrammes per litre before discharging the wastewater. The decision to permit industrial companies to discharge effluent which is up to eight times more concentrated directly to a wastewater treatment facility without needing these companies to first carry out pre-treatment, therefore signifies a new milestone for advanced wastewater management in China. This also offers Sembcorp’s customers savings and convenience unprecedented in China, as they no longer need to invest in or run their own pre-treatment facilities.

Furthermore, the innovative integration of this high COD wastewater treatment plant and a water reclamation facility aims to provide Sembcorp’s onsite customers with a sustainable alternative source of industrial water, and reduce liquid discharge to the environment. Ultimately, this would mark a step towards achieving zero liquid discharge on the industrial site. Both the high COD plant and the wastewater reclamation plant have been selected by China and Singapore as government-to-government showcases for integrated water management.

On the award, Mr Tang Kin Fei, Group President & CEO of Sembcorp Industries, commented, “Sembcorp is very pleased to have been awarded these prestigious Honour Awards from the IWA. Our Zhangjiagang facilities provide a sustainable model for integrated industrial water management for China and the rest of the world, and exemplify our efforts to provide our customers with the best solutions to meet their water and wastewater treatment needs. Sembcorp’s integrated approach not only supports customers and the local government in meeting strict environmental standards, but also helps to preserve precious water resources from the Yangtze River and works towards achieving zero liquid discharge.”

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ABOUT SEMBCORP INDUSTRIES

Sembcorp Industries is a leading energy, water and marine group operating in 17 countries across six continents worldwide. With facilities with 5,600 megawatts of gross power capacity and over six million cubic metres of water per day in operation and under development, Sembcorp is a trusted provider of essential energy and water solutions to both industrial and municipal customers. It is also a world leader in marine & offshore engineering, as well as an established environmental services provider and developer of integrated townships and industrial parks.

The Group has total assets of over S$9 billion and employs over 9,000 employees. Listed on the main board of the Singapore Exchange, it is a component stock of the Straits Times Index and several MSCI indices.

Note to Editors:
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