INTRO BY HEIN MOLENKAMP

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has had an unfathomable impact on global health and the economy. To get an idea of the consequences for the Dutch water technology sector, WaterCoalitieNL (the collaboration between Water Alliance, NWP and Envaqua) have been conducting regular surveys amongst 45 water technology companies in the Netherlands. The surveys are not conducted under the guise of science, but are intended more as a rapid-response thermometer to gauge the economic consequences of the pandemic for the Dutch water technology sector.

At the time of writing this, it is impossible to predict what the situation will be by the time you are reading it. One thing is certain: the consequences will be felt nationally and internationally for a long time to come. For now, I would like to focus on measurement. “If you can measure it, it exists”, as a German physicist once said. That was also the case with COVID-19, where many a populist head of government was only really dragged out of the denial phase by revealing test results.

Measuring and testing; we’ve been doing it in the water technology sector for years; possibly a little more than elsewhere. It is a consequence of the fact that we work with often complex innovations to solve even more complex problems. And so we measure; in laboratories and later on, on a large scale, in even larger laboratories and test centres, such as those operated by the Water Test Network, in which Water Alliance is an active partner. If, after all that testing, an innovation still shows promise, we help companies scale up to demo sites and launching customers; we have a lot of these in the vicinity of WaterCampus Leeuwarden; from the size of a large container to a complete factory, such as the REDstack Blue Energy facility on the Afsluitdijk.

The result of all that testing, year in, year out, is that innovations have a chance to mature and improve. We remain committed to these forms of testing and continue to support companies through these challenging times, wherever possible. The results are evident; groundbreaking innovations that make the world a better, cleaner and healthier place. And it all started with an idea, followed by testing; the absolute foundation of all science.

‘measuring and testing; we’ve been doing it in the water technology sector for years’