--- title: New membrane technology could drastically reduce liquid waste description: From desalination and potable water reuse to robotic swans that monitor water quality, Singapore has a history of investing in water innovation. 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Now, the city-state is building a plant to treat industrial wastewater that could reduce the amount of liquid waste by 90%. Located at a semiconductor company, the pilot plant will use a hollow fibre membrane invented by Professor Neal Chung from the National University of Singapore. Unlike typical hollow fibre membranes that have a single core like a straw, Chung’s has three hollow cores. This allows for a 30% higher flow rate than traditional membranes. The plant will use the membranes to filter more than 90% of wastewater into clean water. This is expected to save the semiconductor company about $260,000 a year in disposal costs, as it currently transports liquid waste produced during the manufacturing process to a wastewater disposal facility for incineration. It will also recover precious metals from the treated water. The metals will then be turned into a liquid that can be sold. The project is a joint initiative from membrane company Memsift Innovations and the Separation Technologies Applied Research and Translation (START) Centre, which aims to turn [membrane research](http://54.252.223.120/business/assets-and-operations/membrane-cleaning-from-theory-to-practice/) from Singapore’s universities into real products. START Centre Managing Director Dr Adil Minoo Dhalla said Chung’s membrane is the first in a series of local water innovations that START is taking to a commercial market. “Using our cutting-edge membrane fabrication, module design and testing facilities, we are able to scale up novel technologies from Singapore’s institutes of higher learning rapidly and to test them in real-life environments to validate their commercial value,” he [said](https://media.ntu.edu.sg/NewsReleases/Pages/newsdetail.aspx?news=5998275d-2762-4be3-b9e5-2366f1de24ce). Dhalla said the plant is a step towards a circular economy, [where waste is turned into a resource](http://54.252.223.120/technology/innovation/wastewater-treatment-plants-shift-from-energy-consumers-to-producers/) and water is recycled for industrial purposes, reducing the need to draw on fresh water. The plant is expected to be commissioned before July. 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First published in Water e-Journal Vol 4 No 1 2019. 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