Singapore International Water Week (SIWW), the global platform for the sharing and co-creation of innovative water solutions, officially opened its Call for Nominations for the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 2014.

This will be announced today by the Singapore Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Dr Vivian Balakrishnan at the 1st International Water Summit (IWS) 2013 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), held jointly with the 6th World Future Energy Summit (WFES) as part of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

The Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize
The highlight of SIWW, the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize honours outstanding contributions by individuals or organisations towards solving the world’s water challenges by applying innovative technologies or implementing policies and programmes which benefit humanity. This prestigious international award is named after Singapore’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, whose foresight and leadership has enabled Singapore to attain sustainable water supply.

In a world where more than half of the population already live in cities and another 2.5 billion people are expected to move to cities by 2050, the future is undoubtedly urban. The Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize stands out from other international water prizes with its focus on innovative solutions and policies for the urban environment.

The Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 2014 laureate will receive S$300,000, a certificate, and a gold medallion at the award ceremony to be held during SIWW 2014.

The 2012 Laureate of the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize
Into its sixth edition now, the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize has seen a range of recipients with illustrious achievements in the area of groundbreaking water technology and innovative water policy and management.

The latest recipient of the award in 2012, Professor Mark van Loosdrecht was honoured for his breakthrough, Anammox — an innovative biological process that provides a cost-effective, robust and sustainable way to remove unwanted pollutants from used water.

With the discovery of a unique group of bacteria that removes the pollutant ammonia in used water using less oxygen and no added organic carbon, Anammox greatly reduces the overall energy consumption, chemical usage, and carbon emissions of conventional used water treatment plants. By pioneering this innovative biological process, Prof van Loosdrecht changed the established understanding of the used water treatment process. His ground-breaking work in marrying nature and engineering has formed the basis for many used water treatments today, and continues to gain worldwide adoption.

The Sponsor — Singapore Millennium Foundation
The Singapore Millennium Foundation (SMF), a philanthropic body supported by Temasek Holdings, is the sponsor of the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize.

With a primary aim to promote research and development of human capital, and enhance Singapore as a centre for research, the SMF partners universities in Singapore as well as research institutes such as Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, National Cancer Centre Singapore, National Neuroscience Institute, Institute of Mental Health, and Singapore General Hospital. It has supported research into liver cancer, Parkinson’s disease, neuromuscular disease, mental health, and biofuel. SMF has future plans to expand into research areas including pedagogy and learning, special needs education, ageing and palliative care, and non-medical bioscience.

Call for nominations
Singapore International Water Week calls for nominations for the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 2014. Qualified parties, such as leaders of international water companies and water utilities, top academics in water research, policy and management, heads of international organisations, members of government, or distinguished individuals in the water field are welcome to submit nominations.

All nominations will undergo two rounds of rigorous selection. The Nominating Committee will thoroughly evaluate all submitted nominations and make their recommendations to the Water Prize Council, which will then decide on the prize winner. Nominations close on 31 May 2013.

For more information, visit www.siww.com.sg or email leekuanyewwaterprize@siww.com.sg