SINGAPORE, July 1, 2010 -- PUB, Singapore's national water agency, and Optiqua Technologies Pte Ltd, the Singapore-based provider of real time monitoring solutions for the international water industry, announced today the signing of a collaborative agreement for the development of Optiqua's real time sensor technology.
Under the agreement, PUB and Optiqua will embark on a collaboration to accelerate the development and launch of Optiqua's award-winning monitoring technology into an affordable sensor that can be implemented in Singapore's water distribution grid for real-time water quality monitoring. This 15-month pilot project is being pilot-tested at PUB's facilities.
Optiqua's sensor technology is based on its patented Lab-on-Chip platform that can continuously monitor a full spectrum of potential contaminations in drinking water. As a low-cost, online solution, it allows for an economically viable network to be implemented throughout a water distribution grid. Such a high density network of sensors provides an effective early warning system that can dramatically reduce incident response times and recovery costs.
Melchior van Wijlen, Managing Director of Optiqua Technologies said, "This is an important step in bringing our monitoring solutions to its final development and launch. We have always enjoyed an excellent working relationship with PUB. We are confident that their support and experience will greatly benefit our products, especially as we look to integrate our sensor technology with PUB's investments in innovative data infrastructures and data analysis. It will offer the building blocks for an island-wide real time early warning system, which will help to protect public health and improve the overall water quality protection."
Harry Seah, Director, Technology & Water Quality from PUB said, "Singapore enjoys safe drinking water because of our comprehensive water treatment processes and rigorous water quality monitoring programme.In spite of this, PUB is always on the look-out for new reliable and faster methods for water quality monitoring. This pilot project with Optiqua is expected to complement PUB's ongoing efforts in real-time water quality monitoring. Such a system will further enhance safety for all our water consumers."
About Optiqua (www.optiqua.com)
Optiqua Technologies provides next generation optical biosensor technology for online early warning systems and the detection of organic and microbial contaminants in water. The patented 'Lab-on-Chip' technology is recognized by a range of reputable international industry partners and guarantees highly sensitive real time detection, available in multiple sensor applications. The company is based in Singapore at PUB's WaterHub, and recipient of the Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific New Product Innovation Award 2009 for its innovative monitoring technology. Optiqua is a subsidiary of Dutch optical sensor company Optisense (www.optisense.nl).
About PUB
PUB is a statutory board under the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources. It is the national water agency, managing Singapore's water supply, water catchment and used water in an integrated way. PUB won the 2007 Stockholm Industry Water Award and was named Water Agency of the Year at the Global Water Awards 2006.
About PUB's tagline: Water for All: Conserve, Value, Enjoy
PUB has ensured a diversified and sustainable supply of water for Singapore with the Four National Taps (local catchment water, imported water, NEWater, desalinated water). To provide water for all, PUB calls on all Singaporeans to play our part to conserve water, keep our water catchments and waterways clean and build a relationship with water so we can enjoy our water resources. We can then have enough water for all uses - for industry, for living, for life. Visit www.pub.gov.sg.
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