LAST month, Singapore scored a major triumph when it clinched the coveted Stockholm Industry Water Award - the water industry's equivalent of the Nobel Prize - for its water management.

Now, the Republic wants to spur new innovations in the water field by offering an award of its own.

To be awarded next June at the inaugural Singapore International Water Week, the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize, worth $300,000, will honour cutting-edge water technologies.

It recognises the need for pressing solutions in a world where 1.6 million people die of thirst every year, and one in six - 1.6 billion - have no access to clean water.

There has been a lot of support for the award. A $1.5 million purse, sponsored by the Temasek Trust-supported Singapore Millennium Foundation, will ensure that funding for the prize will not run dry for the next five years.

Meanwhile, national water agency PUB has already received 'numerous inquiries' from the United States and Europe, though it expects nominations to come in only closer to the Dec 15 deadline.

The Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize also opens a new chapter in Singapore's water story.

Realising that it had to be self-sustainable in water, the country invested heavily in technology and put in infrastructure to recycle water.

With Newater - which uses advanced membrane technology to recycle water - it has turned a potentially crippling scarcity into a fountain of wealth.

Mr Harry Seah, director of the PUB's technology and water quality office, said the Singapore water story is one of brilliant engineering coupled with shrewd management.

In theory, he said, Singapore could reuse every drop of water infinitely. What is needed now is to find cheaper and more efficient methods of producing ultra-clean water.

Already, several trials are under way, ranging from technology using heat to micro-organisms to produce ultra- clean water.

Last year, the Government earmarked $330 million for the water industry, an investment largely devoted to fielding innovation.

Almost two-thirds of the budget has been spent on grooming talent through scholarships as well as giving start-up companies a leg up in developing their technologies.

Of the $200 million spent so far, about $160 million has gone towards funding research and setting up world-class water research centres - an enticing carrot for many.

The first beneficiary was the Singapore-Delft Water Alliance (SDWA), an inter-disciplinary research centre set up jointly by the National University of Singapore, Dutch water specialist Delft Hydraulics and national water agency PUB.

Other international water bigwigs like Black & Veatch and Siemens Water Technologies, both US-based, have also followed suit, setting up regional bases and research centres here. Local companies such as Hyflux and Keppel have also made a name for themselves in the industry.

Water companies here said that an attractive environment for business, accessibility to the rest of the region, and an exceptional workforce were big selling points.

But it was the Republic's commitment to research, and cutting-edge technology, that tipped the scales in Singapore's favour, said a Delft spokesman.

Mr Ralph Eberts, managing director of Black & Veatch's Asia-Pacific office, agreed.

He said: 'The Government's focus on innovation in technology and engineering has set the blueprint for the water industry to follow.'

Meanwhile, Singapore will also boost its reputation as a world water-technology leader when it organises the first Singapore International Water Week next June.

About 300 of the world's top water-industry leaders will attend the event.

A tech convention and trade expo, which is expected to draw over 6,000 trade visitors, will showcase new research and commercial technology advances.

Mr Eberts said Singapore's challenge now is to anticipate what lies ahead for the global water industry, and stay ahead of the pack.

He said: 'The opportunities are limitless.'

» Into the blue
» A new chapter in Singapore's water story
» Singapore: City of green gardens and blue water
» From blight to beauty - Seoul's way

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