Hot Issues Workshops
Time: 10.00am – 5.00pm
Venue: Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, L3
The Water Convention 2022 Hot Issues Workshops will take place on Sunday, 17 April 2022 where emerging topics such as digital transformation of the water sector, future of seawater desalination, sustainable wastewater management, coastal revitalisation, consumer’s inclusivity in reuse and recycling of domestic water and carbon circularity will be featured. These workshops will run on a highly interactive, panel discussion-based format, providing a focused platform to stimulate more open engagement between experts and delegates on ‘hot’ or emerging issues facing the water industry today. This will serve as the perfect opening to the technical sessions on 19 – 20 April 2022.
Programme
Sunday, 17 April 2022 (10.00am – 1.00pm)
- Workshop 1: Digital Transformation of the Water Sector and Role of Digital Twins - Part 1
(Co-organized with SWAN Asia-Pacific Alliance) - Workshop 2: The Future of Seawater Desalination: Innovations in Desalting and Brine Management - Part 1
(Co-organized with Gary Amy and Jonathan Clement) - Workshop 4: Coastal Revitalisation - Emerging Lessons from Singapore for Small Island States
Sunday, 17 April 2022 (2.00pm – 5.00pm)
- Workshop 1: Digital Transformation of the Water Sector and Role of Digital Twins - Part 2
(Co-organized with SWAN Asia-Pacific Alliance) - Workshop 2: The Future of Seawater Desalination: Innovations in Desalting and Brine Management - Part 2
(Co-organized with Gary Amy and Jonathan Clement) - Workshop 3: Sustainable Wastewater Management in Developing Countries: An Innovative Indian Approach in River Rejuvenation
- Workshop 5: Reduction, Reuse and Recycling of Domestic Water – Benefits, Health Risks, and Consumers' Inclusivity
- Workshop 6: Water Sector Decarbonisation and Carbon Circularity
Programme
Workshop 1: Digital Transformation of the Water Sector and Role of Digital Twins (Co-organized with SWAN Asia-Pacific Alliance)
The pace of digital transformation has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic which drove the need for working remotely. While digitalisation has improved operations, maintenance and customer service, concerns and issues remain in the implementation of digital solutions in the water sector. In the first part of the workshop, utilities will share the needs and challenges of the water sector today as they embark on their digital transformation journey. A panel of utilities, consultants and solution providers will then discuss on the solutions to overcome some of the challenges and what to expect in the road ahead. The second part of the workshop will focus on digital twins and their applications in different parts of the urban water cycle, from water treatment, distribution, used water collection, treatment, recycling and receiving waters. The workshop will end with a panel discussion on challenges and benefits of an integrated digital twin solution across the entire water loop.
Speakers/Panellists:
![]() Agnethe Pedersen
Industrial PhD student, VCS Denmark
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Andy Smith
Smart Water Strategy Manager, Anglian Water Services
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Biju George
Executive Vice President, Ampcus Inc.
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![]() Chengzi Chew
Business Development Manager, DHI
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![]() Eric Skowron
Three Waters Network Strategy Executive, ProjectMax Ltd
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Gigi Karmous-Edwards
Founder & Co-chair, SWAN Digital Twin H2O Work Group
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![]() Iznul Muazim
Project Manager, SWAN Asia-Pacific
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Jennifer Rebeiro
CIO, Greater Western Water
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![]() Jesper Kjelds
Chief Digital Information Officer, Aarhus Vand
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Maree Lang
Managing Director, Greater Western Water
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Melvin Koh
Director Joint Operations, PUB
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![]() Miguel Ángel Ayllón Mesa
Head of Drinking Water, Global Omnium
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Ridzuan Ismail
Director Water Supply Network, PUB
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![]() Dr Tao Guihe
Principal Specialist (Water Reclamation), PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency
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Thomas Kuczynski
VP of Information Technology, DC Water
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![]() Dr Ting Lu
Business Practice Leader for Digital Solutions, Clean Water Services
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![]() Min Zhong
Asset Information Management Lead, NEOM
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![]() Albert Cho
Senior Vice President, Xylem
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Amir Cahn
Executive Director, SWAN
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![]() Dr Andrew Shaw
Associate Vice President, Black & Veatch
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Workshop 2: The Future of Seawater Desalination: Innovations in Desalting and Brine Management (Co-organized with Gary Amy and Jonathan Clement)
The current state-of-the-art in seawater desalination is standard pretreatment, single-stage seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) with a recovery of about 50 %, and brine disposal by an outfall diffuser, with challenges identified in the operation of conventional SWRO. High energy consumption by SWRO has led to innovations in membrane materials and process configurations. In addition, there is increasing interest in valorisation of SWRO brines and concomitant recovery of valuable materials to contribute to the circular economy. In this workshop, high level speakers from industry and academic researchers will share their expertise on SWRO pre-treatment innovations, SWRO materials and processes innovations, and valorisation of SWRO brines and valuable materials recovery. Selected industry panelists will then share their innovations in desalination membrane and processes followed by panel discussion on the future of seawater desalination.
Speakers/Panellists:
Prof Amy Childress
Professor, University of Southern California
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Dr Boris Liberman
CTO and Vice President, IDE Technologies
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Prof Claus Hélix-Nielsen
Professor, Head of Department, Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark
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Dr Craig Bartels
Vice President Technology, Hydranautics
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Prof Eric Hoek
Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles
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Prof Hans Vrouwenvelder
Director Water Desalination, KAUST
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![]() Keith Lampi
President, Fluid Technology Solutions
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![]() Michael Shaw
Director of Product Management, Nanostone
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Dr Nikolay Voutchkov
President, Water Globe Consultants, LLC
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![]() Prof Seungkwan Hong
Professor, Korea University
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![]() Victor Verbeek
Head of Technical Development Asia Pacific, and Australia & New Zealand General Manager for Toray Membrane Australia, Toray
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![]() Dr Xiangyi Qiao
Technology Manger, Evoqua Water Technologies
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![]() Dr Ahmed Al Amoudi
Director General of the Desalination Technology Research Institute (DTRI) of the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC)
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![]() Dr Gary Amy
Dean Distinguished Professor, Clemson University
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![]() Jonathan Clement
Global Technology Officer, Nanostone
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Workshop 3: Sustainable Wastewater Management in Developing Countries: An Innovative Indian Approach in River Rejuvenation
Developing countries have enormous challenges yet with increasing role in Global Leadership, India is committed towards meeting UN’s SDGs particularly SDG 6 in all respect. It is with this focussed approach, the first Governance challenge was met when Govt. of India in 2014-2015 launched ‘Namami Gange’ (Clean Ganga), a flagship programme under Ministry of Jal Shakti, (erstwhile Ministry of Water Resources) for protection, conservation, and rejuvenation of River Ganga and its tributaries. The dedicated efforts of NMCG, Government of India and active stakeholder engagement has led to the identification of governance issues and technological challenges which hindered the Indian wastewater sector. Subsequently, innovative methods were developed which not only mitigated the problem of pollution created through domestic sewage and industrial effluents but also ushered in a paradigm shift in the water sector. NMCG also extensively worked on other components such as, solid and liquid waste management, restoring biodiversity, afforestation, wetland conservation, river and people connect etc. to holistically rejuvenate the entire riverine ecosystem. In this workshop, speaker presentations from NMCG, GoI and allied partners will share experiences on effective and efficient wastewater management in Indian context. The panellists from other developed and developing countries will share their viewpoint on the Indian experience and through this discussion, various other countries may also derive inspiration from the work and models adopted by India.
Speakers/Panellists:
![]() Banchhanidhi Pani
Municipal Commissioner, Surat Municipal Corporation
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![]() D P Mathuria
Executive Director (Technical), NMCG
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![]() G. Asok Kumar
I.A.S., Director General, NMCG, Ministry of Jal Shakti
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![]() K P Maheshwari
CEO, Adani Water, Prayagraj
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![]() Madhav Belbase
Former Secretary, Nepal Water Supply Ministry
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![]() Rajiv Ranjan Mishra
I.A.S. (R), Independent Expert, c-Ganga
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![]() Rajneesh Chopra
Global Head- Business Development, VA Tech WABAG, Chennai
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![]() Sumouleendra Ghosh
Associate Partner and Global Water Lead, KPMG India
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![]() Prof Tony Wong
Professor, Sustainable Development, Monash University
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![]() Dr Valerie Naidoo
Executive Manager, Business & Innovations, Water Research Commission (WRC)
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![]() Xavier Chauvot De Beauchene
Lead Water & Sanitation Specialist, World Bank
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![]() Prof Kalanithy Vairavamoorthy
Executive Director, IWA
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![]() Dr Nupur Bahadur
Senior Fellow Head, NMCG-TERI Centre of Excellence on Water Reuse, Water Resources Division, The Energy & Resources (TERI)
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Workshop 4: Coastal Revitalisation - Emerging Lessons from Singapore for Small Island States
In the first part of this workshop, PUB will provide an overview of the coastal protection strategy in Singapore followed by presentations from Singapore-based researchers on innovative solutions for coastal protection. In the second part of this workshop, consortium of representatives from small island states will be invited to deliver case study presentations followed by a presentation from Deltares to provide insights on transferrable lessons from Singapore to small island states. This workshop will then be concluded by a brainstorming session to identify future challenges at small island states and potential solutions to overcome some of the challenges.
Speakers/Panellists:
![]() Hazel Khoo
Director, Coastal Protection Department, PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency
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![]() Prof Piet Dircke
Global Leader – Resilience and Water Management, Arcadis
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![]() Prof Tony Wong
Professor, Sustainable Development, Monash University
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![]() Tjitte A. Nauta
Regional Manager Asia, Deltares
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Workshop 5: Reduction, Reuse and Recycling of Domestic Water – Benefits, Health Risks, and Consumers’ Inclusivity
Across the world, consumers demand 24/7 access to safe, wholesome and aesthetically pleasing water. However, behavioural changes to become “greener”, population growth, climate change, emergence of new chemicals and increasing scarcity of quality water sources have led to adaptations made to the water distribution infrastructure and management, including of internal and community water systems. Ideas that were once “on the fringe” (e.g. rainwater harvesting) have become mainstream options. The awareness required of consumers and practitioners in this evolving context, to ensure public health is not adversely impacted, has not kept pace with the changes in the way water in homes, communities and public buildings is delivered. The end users/consumers seem least represented in conversations about water and yet they must be included if they are to become aware of the impacts of their water use behaviours. Public confidence in water supplies is essential and access to safe water is a fundamental human right. However, it is consumed with little awareness and consideration of the health risks and benefits. This workshop will discuss the health dimensions of reducing domestic water use and re-using and recycling water for safe consumptions, the evolution of standards and good practice in plumbing to protect health and the importance of consumer inclusivity in balancing risks and benefits in the water sector’s efforts to achieve universal access against the backdrop of growing constraints.
Speakers/Panellists:
![]() Dr David Cunliffe
Principal Water Quality Advisor, SA Health
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![]() Prof Hamanth Kasan
Vice President, IWA
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![]() Ian Law
Principal, IBL Solutions
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![]() Prof Stuart Khan
Director, Australian Graduate School of Engineering and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales
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![]() Dr Vijay Sundaram
National Water Reuse Technical Practice Leader, AECOM
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![]() Yu Man Tat
Senior Chemist, Hong Kong Water Supplies Department
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![]() Roland Chan
Principal Engineer (Water Supply Network), PUB
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![]() Chinnasamy Subramanian
Executive Committee, Singapore Plumbing Society, Singapore
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![]() Prof Shane Snyder
Professor, NTU, NEWRI
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![]() Fiona Waller
Head of Water Quality, Affinity Water
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![]() Dr Daniel Deere
Director of Water Futures and Freelance Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Consultant, Water Futures Pty Ltd
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Workshop 6: Water Sector Decarbonisation and Carbon Circularity
While the water sector has gone through different stages of revolution, from reclaiming used water to recovering resources, there remains a leap for the next step of achieving carbon neutrality or negative emission. This workshop will provide an overview of the challenges and strategies of the water sector’s pathway to net zero emissions, developments in the green energy sector, process innovations in desalination and wastewater treatment to reduce carbon emission and implementations of late-stage research technology. A panel of utilities, companies and associations from developed and developing countries will then discuss on challenges and key strategies to net zero.
Speakers/Panellists:
Chris Williams
General Manager, Integrated Planning, Melbourne Water
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![]() Claudia Toussaint
Chief Sustainability Officer, Xylem
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![]() Francis Pamminger
Manager Strategic Research, Yarra Valley Water
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Francis Wedin
Chief Executive Officer, Vulcan Energy
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![]() Dr Jiawei Wang
R&D Director, Beijing Drainage Group
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Jos Boere
Director, Allied Waters
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Dr Matt Ries
Director, Sustainability & Watershed Management, DC Water
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![]() Per Henrik Nielsen
Project Director, VCS Denmark
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![]() Dr Santhosh Ramalingam
Technical Services Manager
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Walid Khoury
General Manager, Desalytics Water Solutions
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![]() Prof Mark van Loosdrecht
Chair Professor in Environmental Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology
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Cindy Wallis-Lage
President, Water, Black & Veatch
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Dr Pang Chee Meng
CETO, PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency
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