Singapore (April 30, 2008) – Black & Veatch, a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company, has started full design engineering services for the Changi NEWater Plant in Singapore. The plant will be the fifth and largest NEWater plant in Singapore with a capacity of 50 mgd (228 MLD).

“With today’s concerns about water scarcity and the need to meet future water demands in a sustainable manner, we are seeing an increased need for advanced water treatment technologies to allow used water to be recycled into the environment,” said Ralph Eberts, Senior Managing Director of Black & Veatch’s water business in Asia Pacific. “This is the third and largest major water facility to deploy advanced treatment technologies that we have worked on in the region during the last twelve months.”

Black & Veatch signed an agreement to provide full design engineering services for the plant with Sembcorp Utilities, a subsidiary of Sembcorp Industries, after Sembcorp was awarded the largest Design-Build-Own-Operate water project in Singapore in mid-January this year. The project includes an agreement that the plant will supply PUB, Singapore’s national water agency, with NEWater for the next 25 years.

Eberts added, “We are delighted to work on the NEWater project with Sembcorp. Sembcorp has extensive water resources internationally, and the NEWater project presents a wonderful opportunity for us to foster a long-term relationship with Sembcorp.”

Tan Cheng Guan, Executive Vice President of Sembcorp Industries’ Group Business & Strategic Development, who also heads Sembcorp’s water business, said, “Black & Veatch was selected because it has demonstrated in-depth technical and project execution expertise based on its experience in prior water projects. Further, the company has a well-established track record with PUB which developed the NEWater technology.”

The design of the Changi NEWater Plant reduces land use and minimizes construction costs by placing the main NEWater facilities on the roof of the newly constructed Changi Water Reclamation Plant. Treated used water from the Changi Water Reclamation Plant will be piped directly to the NEWater plant as feedwater, minimizing the extent of pipework for conveyance as well as maximizing the use of existing PUB assets.

The plant will be commissioned in two stages: 15mgd (69 MLD) in 2009 and 35mgd (159 MLD) in 2010.

The Changi NEWater Plant is developed against a backdrop of other major water recycling projects in the region. Black & Veatch and joint-venture partners Thiess Construction completed Stage 1A of the major Bundamba Advanced Water Treatment Plant in Brisbane, Australia, in late 2007 and expect to complete Stage 1B of the plant in June 2008. When completed, the plant will have the capacity to supply a total of 66 MLD of purified recycled water to two major power stations in Swanbank and Tarong.

The Bundamba plant forms part of the Aus$ 2.4 bn Western Corridor Recycled Water Project, which upon completion will have the capacity to supply up to 232 MLD of purified recycled water.

About NEWater
High-quality recycled water, branded NEWater in Singapore, is the result of the continuous investment in water R&D by the nation’s water agency, PUB, to look for effective ways of producing water from a range of feedwater sources.

NEWater is produced by purifying treated used water using advanced treatment processes including microfiltration or ultrafiltration membranes, reverse osmosis membranes and ultraviolet technologies, making the water exceptionally clean and safe for end users. NEWater has passed more than 40,000 scientific tests and has been certified by an international panel of experts as exceeding both World Health Organisation and United States Environmental Protection Agency drinking water standards.

Due to its high quality and purity, NEWater is supplied mainly to industrial and commercial customers, especially those that have high-end processes like water fabrication that require water of a higher quality than for drinking. Demand has been growing steadily. NEWater already meets more than 15 percent of Singapore’s total daily water needs.With the addition of the Changi NEWater Plant, NEWater is expected to meet thirty percent of Singapore’s daily water needs for domestic and non-domestic sectors by 2011. A small amount of NEWater is also blended with raw reservoir water, which is treated at the waterworks before being supplied to the public for drinking.

Introduced in 2003, NEWater is one of Singapore’s four diversified sources of water supply. The other three are water from local catchments, imported water from Johor and desalinated water.

About SembCorp Industries
Sembcorp Industries is a leading utilities and marine group. The Group provides centralised utilities, energy and water to industrial and other customers in Singapore, the United Kingdom, Asia and the Middle East. It is a global leader in marine and offshore engineering and also a provider of environmental and industrial park management services in the region. Sembcorp has total assets of more than S$8.7 billion and employs more than 6,700 employees. Listed on the main board of the Singapore Exchange, Sembcorp is a component stock of the Straits Times Index and several MSCI indices.

About Black & Veatch
Black & Veatch is a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company specializing in infrastructure development in energy, water, telecommunications, management consulting, federal and environmental markets. Founded in 1915, Black & Veatch develops tailored infrastructure solutions that meet clients’ needs and provide sustainable benefits. Solutions are provided from the broad line of service expertise available within Black & Veatch, including conceptual and preliminary engineering services, engineering design, procurement, construction, financial management, asset management, program management, construction management, environmental, security design and consulting, management consulting and infrastructure planning. With $3.2 billion in revenue, the employee-owned company has more than 100 offices worldwide and has completed projects in more than 100 countries on six continents.

Black & Veatch’s global water business provides innovative, technology-based solutions to utilities, governments and industries worldwide. Local project teams work with multinational water and wastewater treatment process experts to address site-specific challenges through a broad range of consulting, study, planning, design, design-build and construction management services. The company’s Web site address is www.bv.com.

Media Contact:   
Jim Howlett
+65 6738 4022 x313
howlettj@bv.com

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