A catalyst for business opportunities; SIWW2022 accelerates market discovery and expansion for Imagine H2O’s innovators and partners

Imagine H2O Asia, the Singapore-based water innovation accelerator, showcased 20 water tech startups at Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) 2022. Over the course of five days, Imagine H2O Asia and its partners scheduled 200+ meetings for its entrepreneurs at the pavilion with utility and industry leaders, international delegations, development bank representatives, international investors, and Singapore water industry partners.

For the past 14 years, SIWW has served as a catalyst for business opportunities across the water industry. SIWW2022 lived up to that ambition – accelerating market discovery and expansion for Imagine H2O’s innovators and partners. Fast forward five months, SIWW leads have translated into pilot or commercial projects in five markets in the region including Singapore.

We caught up with six Imagine H2O Asia startups to get an update on their progress since SIWW2022, and the role the event has played in influencing their journey. Startups featured include TracWater (Australia), Liquinex (Singapore), Hydroleap (Singapore), Evove (United Kingdom), Fluid Robotics (India) and Indra Water (India).

Hear from the entrepreneurs

“Pre-SIWW, negotiations were difficult to progress – but during the event it was almost overwhelming. Through SIWW, we were reminded of the importance of nurturing in-person relationships in the region.” - Andrew Walker, Evove

“SIWW taught us the importance of having local partners to help us navigate the regulatory landscapes of new markets we want to enter, as well as provide support in sourcing local components to improve the resilience of our supply chain.” - Amrit Om Nayak, Indra Water

“Since SIWW, we have secured four additional pilots in the region. But the value of SIWW extended beyond Imagine H2O’s customer networks.” - Asim Bhalerao, Fluid Robotics

“SIWW allowed us to present our Compact Water Purification Suitcase system to a Philippines delegation of business and utility executives. Within a month, we scheduled a roadshow in Manila, presented Liquinex to 60 different end-users, and signed a MOA for 10 units.” - Bashir Ahmad, Liquinex

Find out more about their progress and success >>

SIWW2022 Water Leaders Interview Series

Continuing the conversation on water and the global climate crisis, we hear from J.V. Emmanuel De Dios, President and Chief Executive Officer of Manila Water Company, Maree Lang, Managing Director of Greater Western Water and Mads Leth, CEO of VCS Denmark on innovative approaches taken to build climate resilience, and how the global water community can be rallied to build a sustainable water world, in the latest episodes of the Series.

Let Dawn McGregor, Business Engagement Lead at CWR bring you through engaging and candid discussions with some of the world’s top water leaders. Read on to find out more:

Having won the prestigious "Water Company of the Year" Award at the Global Water Summit 2022 in Madrid, it was befitting to have J.V. Emmanuel De Dios, President and Chief Executive Officer of Manila Water Company sharing what water means to him and its sector-specific challenges and opportunities.

From viewing regulatory drag as a double-edged sword, to cautioning against getting lost in the sustainability “narrative”, as well as Manila Water’s expansion plans moving forward.

Catch the full video interview with Jocot here.

A go-getting 2030 net zero carbon target guided by its vision for “thriving people and Country”. A first for the organisation, hear what Maree Lang, Managing Director of Greater Western Water has to say of their 2030 Strategy, and the ‘what’ (strategic outcomes) and ‘how’ (strategic enablers) of it all.

Providing water services to 1.3 million people in some of the hottest and most climate-stressed parts of the urban environment in Victoria, Australia, Maree also speaks about the extreme variability of climate, resolve to be climate resilient and the utility’s role in the equation.

Catch the full video interview with Maree here.

“Life, climate, liveability” – three words to sum up what water means to Mads Leth, CEO of VCS Denmark.

In this episode, Mads spoke about today’s changing paradigms for most utilities, how there is an inherent need to move from being a traditional drinking water supplier and wastewater handler to taking on a holistic approach to water management.

Plus, he shares about VCS Denmark’s visionary goal to becoming fully climate neutral by 2050 while cautioning about “Carbon Tunnel Vision”.

Catch the full video interview with Mads here.

Other movers and shakers featured in the Series, include:

• Tom Mollenkopf, President, International Water Association (IWA) (written extract here)
• Neeta Pokhrel, Chief of Water Sector Group, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
• Patrick Blethon, Chief Executive Officer, SAUR Group
• Menno M. Holterman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Nijhuis Saur Industries
• Jennifer Sara, Global Director for the World Bank Group's Climate Change Group
• Dr Debra Roberts, Co-Chair, Working Group II (Impacts, Adaptation & Vulnerability), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (written extract here)
• Anna Lu, President, Apo Agua Infrastructura Inc
• Dr Alan Ryder, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, RSK Group
• Simon Parsons, Director of Strategic Customer Service Planning, Scottish Water
• David L. Johnson, Deputy General Manager – Operations, Las Vegas Valley Water District and Southern Nevada Water Authority
• Elijah Hutchinson, Vice President, New York City Economic Development Corporation

You can now watch the Series, along with its previous episodes, via SIWW+ digital content hub. Simply sign up for a free SIWW+ account or login with your existing credentials to start browsing away. Do also follow SIWW on LinkedIn as new episodes are released every fortnight!

Water Security in a Changing Climate - Key insights from Singapore International Water Week 2022

This year, the Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) returned with a splash — resuming physical meetings for the first time since 2018. One of the first large-scale in-person water events in Asia since COVID-19, SIWW2022 gathered global water leaders and experts from governments, utilities, academia, and industry to share and co-create solutions to pressing urban water challenges with the aim of accelerating the transition to a low-carbon, sustainable future.

The Water Leaders’ Summit, an SIWW pillar event, spanned four plenary sessions covering key themes set to drive the sustainable water agenda over the coming years — including climate resilience, smart cities, resource circularity and collective action to spur sustainability, here’s what you need to know on:

• The climate-water-energy nexus
• When less is more: Towards carbon neutrality
• Resilience against sea level rise
• Rising to funding and regulatory challenges
• Water resilience through cooperation
• Getting smart about water systems
• Tapping global megatrends
• Tides of change: The water sector in 2030

Read the full KPMG report summary >>

If the recap of SIWW2022 has piqued your curiosity, you can now watch the replay of all SIWW2022 sessions (for free!) via SIWW+ digital content hub.

To start browsing, create a free SIWW+ account or login here.

Launched during SIWW2022, SIWW+ is the Singapore International Water Week (SIWW)’s digital content hub, with a focus on business, technology, and solutions in and around urban water issues.

SIWW+ currently houses over 200 reports, articles and videos on a diverse set of urban water issues, including climate resilience, digital water, innovation, net zero, resource circularity, and sustainability, including sessions delivered at SIWW2021 Online and SIWW2022.

Synergies in Innovations - Engineering a SeaChange in Carbon Management

Changing weather patterns cause disruptions to the balance of nature, resulting in extreme weather events like heat waves, severe storms, flooding, drought, and warm, rising ocean levels.

The biggest culprit? Carbon emissions.

To Gaurav N. Sant, a professor of engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, large-scale removal of carbon is the most important challenge that must be tackled in the coming decades.

“Carbon dioxide accumulation in the atmosphere is the origin of climate change. This is a problem about 200 years in the making, since the start of the Industrial Revolution, when we began making steel and burning fossil fuels to produce energy. Every year, we emit 40 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere,” said Gaurav, whose team won The Liveability Challenge 2021 for their carbon capture solution.

Using Nature to Manage Carbon Emissions

These issues motivated Gaurav and his team to develop SeaChange, a solution that converts carbon dioxide in the oceans into stable solids, which can be used to produce value-added materials for use in the construction industry.

In collaborating for greater impact, through Temasek Foundation, PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency, found synergies between SeaChange’s technology and its desalination operations, and is now working with SeaChange to develop the world’s first carbon extracting desalination plant in Tuas.

See how SeaChange in carbon management was engineered >>

IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition – 11-15 September 2022, Copenhagen, Denmark

The International Water Association’s World Water Congress & Exhibition is the global event for water professionals covering the full water cycle. The upcoming edition in Copenhagen will feature plenary keynotes, technical sessions, workshops, forums, a high-level political summit, technical tours, social events, and a global exhibition, providing plenty of opportunities to connect, network, and engage with global water leaders. The congress will focus on smart and liveable cities, as well as prominent themes such as digital transformation, diffusion of innovation, utilities and the climate change agenda, groundwater management, and the Sustainable Development Goals. Registration is open! https://worldwatercongress.org/

Join the world’s prime event shaping our water future!

IDA 2022 World Congress – 9-13 October 2022, Sydney, Australia

To secure a sustainable future, we need to chart progress toward resilient processes, technologies, and communities. Desalination and Water Reuse provide resilient solutions to efficiently meet the growing demand for water, and threats to water security. The IDA world Congress is a five-day event, a week for learning, sharing ideas, and developing your network to advance the solutions that will secure water for all. Registration is open! https://wc.idadesal.org/