The worldwide water supply is facing increasing pressures due to the global population growth and the impact of climate change. Consequently, there is a strong need to increase the water sector's resilience and sustainability, with technology innovations being a key. Water technologies have thus remained a global innovation hotspot, attracting enormous research attention and, correspondingly, producing a significant number of technological breakthroughs.

Over the last decade, more than 190,000 water technology-related inventions were published worldwide, with a high compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.2%. The high total innovation output suggests that water technology research as a whole is highly competitive, with some areas better explored and tightly ring-fenced by the leading players. For a higher return on investment, further research needs to focus on emerging areas and specific technology niches.

This report will explore the following key points:

• Chemical and biological wastewater treatments, sludge combustion are well-studied and tightly ring-fenced
• Local vibrant water ecosystem is poised to support further innovation and commercialisation.
• Singapore is well-positioned to strengthen its expertise in nanofiltration.
• AI and digital twin for wastewater treatment present strong research opportunities.
• Nanomaterials and anammox for pollutant treatment are promising areas for further research.