WaterProof Magazine #2 2021

Water Alliance magazine

# 2, 2021

BREAKTHROUGH IN CELLULOSE EXTRACTION WORLD’S FIRST: JENEVER FROM RAINWATER FORU-SOLUTION: SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE

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HEAVENLY WATER D2D WATER SOLUTIONS AND JENEVER MAKER HOOGHOUDT TEAM UP

WaterProof is the magazine of the Water Alliance, a partnership between government, research institutions and industry in the field of innovative and sustainable water technology.

From its base, the WaterCampus in Leeuwarden, the Water Alliance builds on the ‘water technology innovation chain’; a process whereby new ideas from universities, laboratories and test sites are converted into worldwide marketable products. WaterProof provides regional, national and global information on developments, results and background in the field of water technology.

BREAKTHROUGH IN CELLULOSE EXTRACTION: CIRTEC’S COOS WESSELS EXPLAINS

10 VIVA VIDA!

MAKING THE FOOD INDUSTRY MORE SUSTAINABLE

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FORU-SOLUTION

20 RIKSTA ZWART

Editor in Chief Menno Bakker

MARKETING THEIR OIL SKIMMERS

INTERVIEW WITH MANAGING DIRECTOR OF WATERBEDRIJF GRONINGEN

Journal Management Menno Bakker,

and...

3 Column by

Hein Molenkamp 4 Short Cuts 12 Introducing:

Walter v/d Meer 14 Water Alliance

Innovation Chain 15 The story of FORU-Solution 16 Portrait of

UVOX/REDOX CEO

Barbara Berson 24 Interview

Leon Korving

WaterProof magazine 02_2021 Cover Photo Pexels: Sergio Souza

Narvic Media | narvic.nl Text Contributors Casper Ferwerda, Menno Bakker, Ingrid van Damme Translation Context Talen Graphic Design Jan Robert Mink | minkgraphics.nl Photography Nico Pakvis, Lucas Kemper and many others Printer Drukkerij Van der Eems

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column by Hein Molenkamp

Legacy

Leeuwarden’s status as Cultural Capital of Europe in 2018 brought a lot to the city, and also helped put the WaterCampus Leeuwarden on the international map with the associated water technology event EWTW2018. When the year was over, there was a lot of discussion in cultural and government circles, as well as among entrepreneurs, about the “legacy” of that special year. We knew 2018 had benefited the city a lot, but we had to figure out how to proceed. How do you harness that successes as a springboard to further growth?

I love that ‘securing’ legacy is also becoming increasingly important in water technology circles. Most people in our sector now know that sharing is multiplying. In short: by working together internationally and sharing your knowledge with others, you not only help the world, but also create opportunities for yourself as an entrepreneur.

It is no coincidence that WaterProof magazine is usually full of inspiring articles about these kinds of collaborative projects. This edition is no exception. I am referring to our member D2D Water Solutions which, in a world-first, was able to help Hooghoudt in Groningen produce jenever from rainwater. The project was made possible through the EU-funded VIDA (Value-added Innovation in fooD chAins) project. The VIDA project, in which organizations from various EU countries—including the CEW and Water Alliance from the Netherlands—work together, is full of pioneering innovations and international connections. I am proud that so many Water Alliance members have been able to accelerate their innovations.

It is also wonderful to see how this project was concluded last month, but with the common understanding among all those involved that the network must be maintained. This is important, because the knowledge and experience gained will remain accessible, even to newcomers in the market. Innovators who did not even exist when VIDA was launched three years ago, but who are now preparing to make the world a little more sustainable with their innovations.

Hein Molenkamp Managing Director, Water Alliance

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SHORT CUTS

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HOLLAND WATER ACQUIRES UVIDIS® Holland Water BV, a market leader in legionella-controlling water technology, acquired the UV activities and trade name Uvidis® from industry peer WaterZorg Friesland BV in March this year.

It is Holland Water’s first strategic acquisition since the company merged with investment company OxGreenfield in November 2020.

“Under the leadership of Wietze Boonstra, Uvidis has grown to become a leading provider of ultraviolet waterpurifying solutions in recent years. It is not surprising, as UV technology is ideally suited as a ‘gatekeeper’, a system that removes bio-organisms from drinking water at the entrance to the water plant.”

UVIDIS’S ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT (UV) TECHNOLOGY COMPLEMENTS HOLLAND WATER’S HIGH-QUALITY WATER TECHNOLOGY PORTFOLIO.

Holland Water has made a name for itself in the past 18 years with its unique Bifipro® legionella control system and has been looking for complementary prevention technology for some time. The water-tech company from Driebergen-Rijsenburg has found that in Uvidis. “We believe that building owners and managers are best served by integrated water management solutions that perfectly match the specific building situation”, said Leo de Zeeuw, water entrepreneur and founder of Holland Water, at the time of the acquisition. “Ultraviolet light, an excellent prevention technology, is an essential addition to the portfolio.”

“Holland Water’s flagship system— the Bifipro®—is highly effective at

combating bio-film and legionella through copper and silver ionization, and is definitely the best option for buildings with a structural legionella problem”, stated De Zeeuw in a press release. “However, sites without bacterial overgrowth are more likely to benefit from minimizing contamination risks through preventative water technology such as the Uvidis system.

We are excited to be able to offer both options now.”

“We will continue to specialize in water consulting services knowing that Uvidis is in good hands”, said Wietze Boonstra, general manager of WaterZorg Friesland, at the time of the acquisition.

WAFILIN SYSTEMS: WATER INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR 2021 Wafilin Systems, a member of the Water Alliance, won the ‘Water Innovator of the Year’ at the Dutch Water Vision 2021 online conference earlier this year. Wafilin won the award with its DUCAM project [sustainable potato juice concentration using membranes], which has been successfully rolled out at Avebe, a major potato processor in the Netherlands.

Innovative companies, startups or government institutions that value innovation, sustainability and publicprivate cooperation are selected for this award. The search specifically targeted innovations that make the use of industrial water cheaper, more sustainable or more efficient.

Besides Wafilin, two other interesting companies were selected. Mid Mix is a project in which several large

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Winners of Water Innovator of the Year 2021.

Photo by Eric de Vries.

water boards in the Netherlands are experimenting with a new sludge processing method, and Mezt is a promising start-up from Delft that has developed an innovation for the agricultural sector, used to recover nitrogen from manure and produce artificial fertilizer and electricity from the ammonia released during that process.

Following an exciting debate in which the finalists discussed the value of water innovation with André Mepschen of the Water Alliance, Wafilin Systems’ DUCAM project emerged the winner.

The project achieves significant energy savings and CO2 reduction and allows water filtered from potato juice to be reused, making it a sustainable solution.

Reusing the water closes the cycle, helping to ensure a better world today and in the future. >>

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SHORT CUTS NEW LOOK FOR WATERPROOF! Loyal readers of this magazine will not fail to notice: a new look for WaterProof.

The magazine will now be printed on BalancePure® paper. This is a recycled, bright, white, and uncoated office paper, made from 100% recycled fibres. It’s chlorine-free, and produced without optical brighteners. BalancePure® is FSC certified, and carries the EU eco-label.

On behalf of the Water Alliance team: enjoy reading!

Other biorefinery processes in the food industry also show great energy and water saving potential using the technology.

“With the DUCAM project, we are making great strides towards achieving our sustainability goals”, said Erik Koops, manager of the Energy Efficiency Program at Avebe. “It will allow us to save a lot of water, energy and CO2. I am proud that we were able to accomplish this with a small team.”

Harry van Dalfsen, founder and technical director of Wafilin Systems emphasized the importance of good cooperation by combining the years of experience of all parties. “With the experience and knowledge we have today, we developed a solid, reliable solution with Avebe”, said Wafilin founder Harry van Dalfsen.

BOOST FOR TRANSITION TO CLIMATE-NEUTRAL ECONOMY The consortium consisting of Wetsus, the University of Groningen, Deltares and NOM will receive €8 million from the Dutch government to better translate knowledge from water technology research to the market and society.

The aim is to accelerate the transition to a circular, sustainable and climate-neutral economy.

The ‘Netherlands Enabling Water Technology’ consortium (NEW) stimulates water technology start-ups and initiatives; the main themes are water treatment, water and raw material reuse, production and storage of energy from water and smarter management of the water system.

Water is a finite resource—we cannot live on earth without clean and safe water. Water also plays a major role in various sectors, such as agriculture and horticulture, food, health, energy and chemistry.

Climate change, pollution, wastage, a sharp increase in use and the depletion of finite resources are already causing an acute water shortage in many parts of the world. In the coming decades, many economic sectors will need to undergo a transition to circular and climate-neutral production, in which clean water resources are not depleted or polluted.

This requires water technology innovations that can be deployed on a large scale and at acceptable cost. The need for breakthrough innovations offers opportunities to innovative Dutch start-ups and entrepreneurs.

The NEW plan consists of two parts: knowledge transfer and a fund.

The partners in the knowledge transfer part will scout promising knowledge starters, help them develop faster and propose the most promising starters to the NEW fund. Without financial support from the NEW fund, many good water technology ideas will never reach the market. The NEW knowledge transfer plan is coordinated by Wetsus, located at Water Campus Leeuwarden. The plan combines the valorization strengths and ambitions of three major, international institutes (Wetsus, RUG and Deltares). The idea is that, in combination with the NEW fund, managed by the Noordelijke Ontwikkelingsmaatschappij [NOM; a government-supported investment organization], the plan should lead to more promising knowledge starters and a faster transition of startups to the growth phase.

the University of Groningen

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Breakthrough in Cellulose Extraction

Coos Wessels:

‘the quality of cellulose in sewage water is exeptionally good’ 6

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CirTec step by step to a circular economy

You could call them the King of the Sewer: CirTec, a member of the Water Alliance, is involved in just about everything done with the wastewater we produce —purification, thickening, screening, drying and reusing—sometimes using spectacular innovations. They have won multiple awards with it.

Their company Cellvation (a partnership with Recell Group), which has been producing 200 to 400 kilograms of Cellulose daily since 2017, also attracted a lot of attention.

A striking feature of all CirTec’s activities is that they are bringing us closer to a circular economy, step by step. The company will be in the limelight once again in June 2021, this time with the CellCap machine. CirTec owner Coos Wessels calls it a global first; a breakthrough in extracting cellulose from sewage. His ambition is to sell a hundred units a year in the next five years.

COOS, LET’S START WITH THE QUESTION: WHAT DOES THE CELLCAP DO? The CellCap is a fine screening machine that consists of two parts. This is also what makes it unique—there are, roughly speaking, only two steps. In step 1, the cellulose washer removes the dirt (fats, hair, seeds, etc.) from the water and in step 2, the IntenSieve®—an improved, energy-efficient, rotating belt fine sieve—removes the cellulose. We are the only party in the world doing this.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS? By sieving suspended matter such as undissolved solids from sewage water, WWTPs can reduce their energy consumption and CO2 footprint.

The sieved material is referred to as screenings. Research shows that screenings contain an average of around 70% cellulose and that Dutch sewage contains 180,000 tonnes/year of recoverable cellulose. In Western Europe, it amounts to nearly 4.5 billion tonnes/year.

The quality of cellulose in sewage water is exceptionally good, making it ideal for use as a high-quality, renewable raw material.

WE UNDERSTAND THAT THERE IS STILL SOMETHING TO BE DONE AFTER SIEVING? Correct. The cellulose still has to be purified. The challenge was figuring out how to strip cellulose of contaminants so that it can be reused and how to use those contaminants for biogas production. After years of development in various projects, we developed CellCap, a composite machine that purifies water and separates cellulose during the process (inline). This is the first time that this can be achieved in a single process.

WHAT DOES IT PRODUCE, EXACTLY? In addition to cellulose, the CellCap also yields a fermentable residue stream which can be used to produce biogas or methane. It all gets rather technical here, but a study conducted by an independent research agency concluded that the use of 1 tonne of recovered cellulose as a high-grade raw material across the entire chain would lead to savings of 2 to 2.5 tonnes of CO2 eq in comparison to the reference situation.

For a treatment plant with a scale of 300,000 pollution units, the above means that using CellCap technology can achieve an emission reduction of over 4,300 tons of CO2 eq per year.

To put that into perspective, it is equivalent to the CO2 emissions of over 30,000 return flights from Amsterdam to Paris or the combustion of over 1.37 million litres of diesel!

WHO STANDS TO BENEFIT FROM THIS? Our planet, first and foremost. Humans have made a pretty big mess of things.

That has to change. The sooner we achieve a fully circular economy, the better. But we also see enormous advantages for water treatment plants with the CellCap. They will make their processes cleaner, more energy-efficient

and in many cases they will also be able to make new products from residual materials.

The rotating belt sieve (IntenSieve®) which is part of the CellCap technology also offers major benefits for industries.

It can minimize water consumption at fish farms, reduce discharge costs or in-house purification costs at vegetable processing companies, and recover fibres in the paper industry.

THE WATER TECHNOLOGY SECTOR DOES NOT USUALLY EXCEL AT EXPRESSING MAJOR BUSINESS AMBITIONS, BUT YOU HAVE ALREADY STATED THAT YOU WANT TO SELL MORE THAN 100 MACHINES PER YEAR WITHIN THREE YEARS. Ambition is necessary; there is nothing wrong with that. We have more than ten years of experience in sieving sewage and industrial wastewater. The technology was developed very carefully and after years of research, and it works.

Now we are rolling it out. We have already found partners in Italy, Austria, France and China, and we are talking with representatives in England and Russia. Things can always go wrong, of course, but I am optimistic.

WHERE WILL THE MACHINE BE MANUFACTURED? In the Netherlands, as far as I am concerned. There may come a time when you need to build machines locally, if only to reduce transport and thus CO2 emissions. But first and foremost, I want to be loyal to the country that helped us develop this innovation through various grants.

Cellulose—the main component in paper—is a natural fiber found in plants and trees. It is an extremely useful raw material for humans.

Among other things for paper, but also as a sustainable insulation material for the construction industry. One downside is that trees have to be felled for paper production. By recycling cellulose from wastewater, this is no longer necessary.

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Koos Tamminga

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FORU-Solution marketing their oil Skimmers

A Foothold in Saudi Arabia Robust, compact and highly efficient. FORU-Solution’s Oil Skimmers—the result of extensive development—are highly effective at cleaning up oil spills. After seven years of development, the focus now lies on marketing. After landing two orders with Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco, worth around €1 million, a celebration was in order. “We are not there yet,” says owner-director Koos Tamminga. “Keeping our business healthy will require around €2 million in sales per year.”

Foru-Solution is a member of the Water Alliance and is based in Harlingen, a port city in the north of the Netherlands, along the Wadden Sea. The idea for the FORU skimmer originated in 1989, when the ExxonValdez oil tanker spilled 100 million gallons of crude oil into the ocean off the coast of Alaska. For engineer Wim Schuur, it was the catalyst for the development of the skimmer. When Schuur retired, owner-directors Koos Tamminga and Bert Sibinga continued to develop the concept further. Most of the testing was performed digitally, and FORU-Solution used the Norwegian Coastal Administration’s test centre in Horten for physical testing. The end product can pump out around 340 cubic metres of oil per hour and is of interest to salvage companies, oil companies and the offshore industry, among others.

Simplicity

The concept’s strength lies in its simplicity, explains Tamminga. “Imagine an empty bucket held upright, just below the water’s

surface. It causes a large influx of surface water, with the oil coming to the surface. The oil can be skimmed and pumped into a storage facility such as a container, bin or bladder.

A major advantage is that the skimmer hardly pumps any water away.”

The compact skimmer can also be used in difficult locations. Tamminga: “Ships cannot go everywhere, and our skimmer can often be taken to the location by car or amphibious vehicle.

The skimmer can also be used in very shallow water; our compact FORU-70 was specially designed for the vulnerable shallow parts of the Wadden Sea (UNESCO World Heritage).”

A skimmer on every support vessel The concept’s simplicity triggered Abdulhakim al Gouhi, vice president of Aramco. Tamminga met him in Dubai during a demonstration of the skimmer. The introduction eventually led to two orders for a total of nine FORUs, with a total order value of approximately

€1 million. “The idea is to eventually have a skimmer on every support vessel in the oil industry,” explains Tamminga. FORU-Solution is currently working on a plan to help Aramco with their oil spill department.

“We hope to take it out of their hands entirely in the long run. The focus for an oil company is on sales; cleaning up oil is not their passion. Many of their oil spill specialists will soon be retiring. It is an excellent opportunity for us to help them with our expertise. We are working together with local people and ex-Aramco employees. We have now also established a branch in Saudi Arabia.”

‘The idea is to eventually have a skimmer on every support vessel in the oil industry’

The cooperation with Aramco is an important step forward, but it is not yet enough. Acquisition mainly takes place through video calls and webinars.

“We have ongoing contacts with Russia, Indonesia and Vietnam. B2B business takes a long time to get going, but it will pay off. Slow and steady wins the race”, concludes Tamminga.

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Vi va VI DA! In late May 2021, the closing event of the VIDA project was held online. VIDA is an abbreviation for the somewhat lengthy Valueadded Innovation in fooD chAins. The project’s main goal was to support European SMEs in making the food industry more sustainable. Vouchers were an important tool to achieve that. Dozens of European SMEs that want to make the food industry more sustainable have received a VIDA voucher in recent years, enabling them to accelerate the introduction of their innovation into the market by a major manufacturer. What are the experiences? We spoke to Marissa de Boer (SusPhos), Mateo Mayer (Water Waves), Willem van Baak (Water Future) and Francisca Medina Pappermann, who was involved in the project coordination as project manager at the Centre of Expertise Water Technology (CEW).

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“We have taken a big step, in part thanks to the voucher”, says Marissa de Boer, CEO of startup SusPhos. “We would have succeeded in scaling up without the voucher, but it would have taken much longer. We would have had to find other sources of funding. The VIDA voucher helped us get a lot closer to our goal.”

SusPhos, founded in Amsterdam, wants to recover phosphate, magnesium and ammonium from wastewater on a large scale and convert it into high-grade products such as fertilizer and flame retardants. What started with a few grams in the lab is expected to become tonnes at the test site—the water treatment plant in Leeuwarden—in 2021.

De Boer applied for the voucher in late 2019. “It arrived at exactly the right time.

Our technology was ready to scale up, but we were still lacking a good design.

The voucher enabled us to enlist the services of an external company with a lot of experience in this field for the design.”

Three vouchers

The three-year VIDA project strives to make the food processing industry in Europe more efficient in its use of water, energy and raw materials. With a budget of five million euros, the VIDA consortium has been funding all kinds of innovations since May 2018.

These are ‘Key Enabling Technologies’ (KET) in the fields of microtechnology, nanotechnology, industrial biotechnology, advanced materials, photonics and advanced manufacturing technologies.

The consortium led by The Centre of Expertise Water Technology (CEW) provided three different vouchers. The

Francesca Medina Pappermann (left) with VIDA Voucher recipient Beatriz García.

innovation support voucher of up to €5,000 was intended for individual SMEs looking to purchase knowledge from a third party. For SMEs that wanted to use a test facility, such as SusPhos, there was a validation voucher of up to €25,000. The demonstration vouchers had a maximum value of €250,000 and could be applied for by joint ventures involving at least two SMEs and a potential user.

Almost a customer

Water Future applied for a demonstration voucher in the fall of 2018. The startup from Dongen has developed a water purification system that enables the agricultural and greenhouse horticultural sectors to efficiently remove salt from wastewater. “We were already testing at a horticulturalist when Wetsus told us about the vouchers”, recalls director Willem van Baak. He and his partners submitted the application. “It wasn’t easy. You have to thoroughly substantiate your plan and be able to explain things like the environmental impact of your innovation. My experience with grant applications came in handy, but CEW also helped us a lot.” Like SusPhos, Water Future took a big step towards commercialization with the voucher. “Without the voucher, our user would have had to invest a lot of money themselves. The tests are going well. We still have a few finishing touches to go, but once that is done, our user will buy the system and we will have our first customer.”

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VIDA Project making the food industry more sustainable

‘Big steps taken thanks to VI DA voucher’ Independence

Water Waves from Leeuwarden also obtained a demonstration voucher.

Mateo Mayer’s company has joined forces with other parties to develop an all-in-one concept for greenhouse horticulturists, tackling issues such as greenhouse wastewater. With the help of the voucher, the concept could be tested at a strawberry grower. The collective submitted its plans in spring 2019, with the Water Alliance as a sounding board.

“It was important to think not from the technology, but from the user’s point of view. Our launching customer had to state in the plan that our innovation’s goal was achievable at their company,” discloses Mayer. Mayer and co also secured a VIDA validation voucher, which will be used to have Wageningen University validate the technology as an external party. “Validation is necessary to get on the government’s ‘BZG list’, which lists the techniques horticulturalists can use for innovation.”

Mayer says that the VIDA project has provided a “tremendous opportunity”.

“The two vouchers enabled us to demonstrate that our concept works and we are ready for the market. What I also find important is that we have been able to maintain our independence. I don’t think that would have been possible with any other form of financing.”

Dream

Looking back, Francisca Medina Pappermann, project manager at CEW, is still impressed by the experience.

Together with CEW director Jeroen Rijnhart, she was responsible for the coordination. “The most impressive and touching part of the process was

Francesca Medina Pappermann (left) with VIDA Voucher recipient Antonio Idá.

‘It was great to see how inspired all the SMEs were about making a real difference’

starting the network”, says the Chilean, who studied in Chile and Switzerland and now works at WaterCampus Leeuwarden. “It was great to see how inspired all the SMEs were about making a real difference. Everyone clearly felt that they were being offered a great opportunity; they were all prepared to go the distance. The results speak for themselves. I think we have all made huge strides in making the food industry circular. As an additional advantage, where necessary, we were able to introduce companies to working with a customer focus rather than a product focus— in other words, developing solutions together with large commercial clients. We still have a way to go, but steps have been taken in this process that others can build on, which is why I am in favour of maintaining the network. My dream is that we will still be in touch in three years, and that companies will be able to bring the circular economy even closer with new projects.”

Editor’s note: for the remarkable VIDA story of Drop2Drink Water Solutions, see elsewhere in this magazine. They helped Hooghoudt in Groningen produce jenever from rainwater.

Water Alliance has already had two successful projects filmed you can check them here: Drop2Drink Water Solutions and Hooghoudt:

Water Waves and APM Strawberries: VIDA also celebrated the completion of the project with a short film, which can be found here:

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Walter van der Meer became chair of the Water Alliance Supervisory Board on 1 February 2021.

Van der Meer succeeds Wilma Mansveld, who took up the role in 2017. Van der Meer (61) is the CEO of water supplier Oasen in Gouda. He has had a long career in water technology and has specialized in membrane technology over the years. A brief introduction.

Walter van der Meer

Photo: Wiep van Apeldoorn

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five questions for Walter van der Meer

Moving towards a circular economy together WHY DID YOU BECOME CHAIR OF THE SUPERVISORY BOARD? It was an easy decision. The Water Alliance is a good way of connecting the world of scientists and inventors with the business world. It is exactly what the drinking water sector needs because that collaboration is essential to achieving a circular economy, which is the greatest challenge facing our sector.

It’s great to be able to contribute to the solution like this.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FACING THE WATER SECTOR AT THE MOMENT? Like I said, making the world’s water use circular.

We already have a lot of knowledge and ability, but we don’t apply it enough yet.

Imagine being able to reuse fifty percent of all the wastewater in the world as a source of drinking water. That could solve a lot of the world’s problems. The massive, unilateral migration of people to coasts or river valleys would no longer be as necessary. You would only have to bring a quantity of fresh water to destination X or Y once, and it would last a long time. That could literally change the world. I am a firm believer that membrane filtration will play a key role in this.

WE UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE ALSO WORKING ON THIS WITH OASEN? Correct. Together with the Department of Material Science and Polymer technology at the University of Twente and industrial partners NX Filtration and Artecs, we are conducting research as part of the 24water project.

We are developing and testing new, advanced membranes that can remove organic pollutants from surface water.

Many people think of pollutants as chemical substances and medicine residues, but seawater intrusion and low river levels cause salinization and can cause all kinds of organic pollution. To counter that, Oasen is contributing to this project by testing new membranes as they are developed, and providing the knowledge and experience of a membrane user.

THE QUESTION IS: IF IT ALL TURNS OUT TO WORK REALLY WELL, HOW CAN YOU ACCELERATE THE ROLLOUT TO THE GLOBAL MARKET? That is exactly what we need the companies for. Entrepreneurs see opportunities and dare to take risks.

That is why I am a great advocate of partnerships between knowledge institutions, scientists and companies.

You have to realize that they have different ‘blood types’. Scientists often feel that their innovation is never finished, which can lead to a delayed market launch: “I will have it further developed by next month”. It’s like going to a computer store to buy a video card and the salesman saying “come back next week, I’ll have a better one for you”.

The reality is that there will be another better card a month after that, because technology is always evolving. That is why you also need entrepreneurs who see the commercial opportunities and take action.

BUT SURELY KNOWLEDGE INSTITUTES ARE GRADUALLY GETTING USED TO MARKET FORCES?

We are definitely seeing that development, which is great.

Researchers and scientists also realize that you have to present your ideas to the outside world and that a good showcase in the market can also facilitate follow-up research. I think that is an excellent development. Science and business can learn from each other and, together, they will have to make the transition to the circular economy.

WALTER VAN DER MEER AND RESEARCH The concepts of water, innovation and membrane technology have always played an important role in Van der Meer’s career. He started as a process technology engineer for water supplier Vitens in 1992. In June 2009 he joined the board of directors, in charge of business operations and water technology. Van der Meer became the CEO of water supplier Oasen in February 2012.

In addition to his managerial positions, Van der Meer continued to conduct active research. He earned his PhD in Civil Engineering from the Delft University of Technology in 2003 and served as a part-time lecturer in Membrane Process Technology at the University of Twente from 2005 to 2011. He served as a part-time lecturer in Innovative Water Purification Processes at Delft University of Technology from 2011 to 2016 and, since 2016, has been a part-time lecturer at the University of Twente and holds the chair ‘Membrane Technology and Engineering for Water Purification’.

Walter van der Meer is married to Corine, has two sons (Sven and Jim) and lives in Sneek.

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water technology innovation chain

The Water Technology Innovation Chain The WaterCampus brings together a complete chain of innovation for water technology, from first idea, research, specialized laboratories, various demo sites, launching customers to commercial international applications by commercial companies. Indeed from knowledge to business. It is driven by the idea that technological development and innovation is needed to develop new markets andcreate new business opportunities.

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the story of FORU-Solution

The Story of

FORU-Solution

FORU-Solution is a member of the Water Alliance and is based in Harlingen, a port city in the Northern Netherlands, along the Wadden Sea. The company developes oil skimmers which make it easy to clean up oil from the sea. The innovation is starting to get a lot of exposure worldwide, but getting there took years of hard work and belief in their abilities.

Wadden Sea

Harlingen

North Sea

We helped FORU-Solution obtain financing through the water technology financing table and the Bison Foundation, all part of the WaterCampus. The financing enabled FORU-Solution to pre-finance their major projects in the Middle East. It is a great way to help an innovative SME take things to the next level.

The company has been working hard on its own for years. Water Alliance provided support in the form of marketing (including publications in WaterProof Magazine), matchmaking and the WIS Award.

The company’s patience was rewarded: oil company Aramco from Saudi Arabia signed a contract with FORU-Solution.

Netherlands

FORU-Solution now has its own office in Saudi Arabia and provides training and consultancy there.

The company’s ambitions go much further, however.

“We have ongoing contacts with Russia, Indonesia and Vietnam”, says owner-director Koos Tamminga. “B2B takes a long time to get off the ground, but it will pay off. Slow and steady wins the race.”

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The sun as a shining example Barbara Berson, CEO and owner of Wapure International GmbH/UVOX Redox® technology, explains the concept of the UVOX Redox® system passionately. She supports her story with illustrations and graphs held up to the camera on her laptop—an advanced course in water purification using ultraviolet light. As a listener, it is not hard to share her enthusiasm. “It is actually the most natural form of water purification—through the reproduction of sunlight.” Portrait of a relatively new Water Alliance member.

Berson is Dutch, but worked in Germany for a long time. At the beginning of this year, together with Paul Poels, she founded UVOX Benelux BV in Linne [in the province of Limburg, the Netherlands] to regain a foothold in her native country and to supply turnkey systems. The UVOX Redox® system has two patents: the UVOX Redox® basic patent and the UVOX Redox® flexbank patent for public drinking water and communal wastewater. The latter is now being further developed and produced with UVOX Benelux BV. Berson’s father, Johannes Berson, also has a key role in that development.

Berson sees numerous advantages in moving to the Netherlands. “The

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collaborations we enter into with and through the Water Alliance also have a lot of added value. We cannot do it alone. The Netherlands is a country of water, and the Water Alliance has an incredible amount of knowledge. The Dutch are enterprising and often dare to think a step further. The Water Alliance enables us to engage in an open dialogue and optimize solutions together.”

Three processes in one UV light has long been used to purify water, but not in the way the UVOX Redox® system does it. A single UVOX lamp performs three cleaning processes. In the air phase, air is irradiated with

UV light with a wavelength of 185 nanometers (nm). In this process, oxygen is converted into ozone.

Ozone oxidizes, rendering viruses, algae and bacteria harmless. As the UVOX lamp also emits UV light with a higher wavelength of 254 nanometers, two additional cleaning processes take place in the water phase. UV disinfection takes place and the created ozone is converted into hydroxil radicals. In technical terms, that conversion is called the advanced oxidation process (A.O.P.), which alleviates the need for an ozone filter. An even greater benefit is that the resulting free radicals tackle micro-pollution and even resistant microorganisms in the

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Barbara Berson CEO UVOX Redox®

‘The Dutch are enterprising and often dare to think a step further’ water. Think of the degradation of dangerous substances in water, such as pesticides, drug residues, hormones, etc. “All sorts of things end up in our water—residues from contraceptives and painkillers, but also things like sunscreen in swimming water. The UVOX Redox® system deals with all of that. We also recently had a study done on what our system does to the SARS-CoV-2 virus (coronavirus), and it destroys 99.99% of the virus.”

Highly versatile

UVOX Redox® systems do not use any chemicals, which makes them very durable. They do not change the pH value of the water and the systems only require minimal

maintenance. “Our products are highly versatile. They are perfect for public pools, because they virtually eliminate the need for chlorine to keep the water clean. This allows the water to be reused. UVOX Redox® can also be used in the industrial sector for process water, drinking water and communal waste water, Legionella prevention, in aquaria, or water for washing or irrigating crops. There are also applications in air purification, such as CO2 reduction around intensive livestock farms.”

Drinking water is a basic right

Like any entrepreneur, Berson wants to run a successful business,

but her drive runs much deeper than that. “Our blue planet is incredibly vulnerable and we have to do everything we can to protect it. Water pollution and scarcity problems are arising all over the world. We want to contribute to solutions. Access to clean drinking water should be a basic right for every person. UVOX Redox® makes water purification easy, so we can create possibilities for the use of cleaner drinking water in countries where drinking water is scarce.

Our products can be used for air purification to help combat CO2 emissions and can also be used to combat micro-pollution that poses a threat to public health. If we can contribute even a little bit to a better, more sustainable world with UVOX Redox®, we are happy to do so.”

the uvox redox® system

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Heavenly Water In March this year, Groningen-based jenever manufacturer Hooghoudt and water technology company Drop2Drink Water Solutions (member of the Water Alliance), presented a world first: jenever made from rainwater. The match-up of the two companies came about through mediation by the Water Alliance. The innovation’s development was made possible with HORIZON 2020 funding as part of the Value Added Innovation in Food Chains (VIDA) project, and is possibly a key step towards smarter use of the world’s scarce supply of fresh water.

Alderman Chakor of the municipality of Groningen with the first bottle of rainwater jenever. Behind her, left: Arno Donkersloot. Right in the background Johan Bel. Photo: Jan Buwalda

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Drop2Drink Water Solutions

“Rainwater is an excellent source of water available to everyone. With water shortages increasing worldwide, it is great to be able to work on something like this”, says Johan Bel of Drop2Drink Water Solutions. “With the Drop2Drink unit, we have developed a safe and easy method to save water in industry. It was a wonderful adventure, but it takes guts and tenacity. Ultimately, it also takes a launching customer who feels the same urgency as you do.”

“Only by innovating, taking on challenges and fully understanding what you stand for are you able to remain relevant to future generations as a family business”, says Arno Donkersloot, CEO of Hooghoudt, explaining the company’s commitment.

“Innovation and technology are part of that, as they enrich the craft of distilling.

Creating the world’s first jenever from rainwater fits perfectly with the journey of discovery started by Grietje and Hero Jan Hooghoudt in 1888.”

The Drop2Drink unit provides users with their own fresh water supply.

The treatment system ensures 100% microbiologically safe water. Rainwater is purified with a microfilter, activated carbon filter, membrane filter (UF) and UVC unit —all in a single step.

Bel: “The membrane filter is selfcleaning and constantly monitors its own performance to guarantee the water quality. But a UVC unit provides additional microbiological purification for additional security. With the system, we can achieve vast water savings for the food and beverage industries.”

The Netherlands boasts very high quality drinking water, which is cheap, compared to many other places in the world. Nevertheless, there is an urgency to use fresh water more sparingly, Bel explains. “Even the Netherlands is starting to feel the increasing pressure on the water supply. Other parts of the world are already much worse. Climate change is putting increasing pressure on the world’s fresh water supply, and it is time to introduce these kinds of innovations worldwide.”

Check Drop2Drink Water Solutions and Hooghoudt on WaterProof TV:

The first production run of rainwater jenever is a limited edition batch of 700 bottles of ‘premium young jenever’.

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Waterbedrijf Groningen has five production locations and supplies 44 billion litres of freshwater to over 575,000 private and business customers. The company also produces industrial water through the joint venture North Water and, together with WMD, formerly Waterleidingmaatschappij Drenthe, owns WLN, formerly Waterlaboratorium Noord.

Waterbedrijf Groningen also has various heat projects.

Riksta Zwart has been managing director since 2014. Ronald Wielinga of WaterCampus Leeuwarden interviewed her.

‘innovation is essential’ RIKSTA, YOU HAVE BEEN MANAGING DIRECTOR OF WATERBEDRIJF GRONINGEN FOR OVER SIX YEARS NOW. WHAT HAVE BEEN THE MOST IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS AT WATERBEDRIJF GRONINGEN DURING YOUR TENURE AS MANAGING DIRECTOR, BOTH WITHIN THE COMPANY AND IN YOUR ENVIRONMENT?

One critical development in recent years is that we have brought the outside world in. We now have a much better understanding of what is going on around us. We work closely with important stakeholders, such as the Hunze en Aa and Noorderzijlvest water boards.

In addition to the urgency of the energy transition, we also see increased attention to the need for a water transition. The sufficient availability of high-quality drinking water is under pressure.

Our society uses increasing

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amounts of water—partly due to economic growth and partly due to increasingly dry and hot summers as a result of climate change. As a water company, we have developed a roadmap with regional parties. The main goal is to secure the drinking water supply in Groningen sustainably and actively contribute to a province where water production, nature, agriculture, economic developments and quality of life reinforce each other.

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST BARRIERS CURRENTLY DELAYING THE ACHIEVEMENT OF YOUR OBJECTIVES?

We need to invest heavily in our infrastructure in the coming years—things like replacing pipelines and renovating production installations. We also feel a social responsibility to invest in making our business operations more sustainable.

Also, as I indicated before,

we are in a water transition.

Social changes take a lot of time. Raising awareness and reducing water consumption are long-term processes that must be implemented with conviction before a water company can lay claim to scarce new resources. With the water transition, we are aiming to complete all steps simultaneously.

WHAT ROLE DOES INNOVATION PLAY IN SOLVING THESE CHALLENGES?

Innovation is essential. Let me give a few examples.

Innovative approaches and purification techniques are essential when supplying custom water to industry, such as the use of effluent from the WWTP. Another example is reducing our CO2 footprint; one way of achieving that is the reduction of CH4 emissions from groundwater extraction. After the test phase, we are now designing the groundwater treatment

interview Riksta Zwart

‘We are using smart algorithms for our production and distribution processes’ plant. WLN also developed the PCR method, an accredited method used to detect low concentrations of pathogens in drinking water. It is much faster than culture methods, providing our customers with a quicker answer about the biological safety of drinking water. KWR recently applied this technique to detect COVID-19 in sewage.

IN ADDITION TO THE INNOVATION NECESSARY TO TACKLE CHALLENGES, WATERBEDRIJF GRONINGEN ALSO FACES OTHER DEVELOPMENTS, SUCH AS THE EXTENT TO WHICH WE CAN LEVERAGE DATA. WHAT OTHER TECHNICAL CHANGES DO YOU SEE IN STORE FOR THE DRINKING WATER SECTOR, AND MORE SPECIFICALLY, FOR WATERBEDRIJF GRONINGEN?

Our sector has been digitalizing for a long time. We are using smart algorithms for our production and distribution processes. The challenge lies less in producing data than in translating it into valuable information that we can use to predict vulnerabilities in our distribution network. Combining data is also important; by combining social media data from our customers regarding water outages in our area with our >>

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‘We encourage our employees to be creative and develop solutions to the challenges we face as a water company’ internal operational data, we can quickly determine the location and size of an affected area. In addition to preventing calamities, decisionsupport software will also play an important role in deciding whether or not to replace pipelines. Drinking water networks last approximately 80 years. You don’t want to replace them too late, but you certainly don’t want to replace them too early either. Decisionsupport software can be of great help here.

It should also be noted that good data analysts are essential for the whole digital transition.

IN MY INTERVIEW WITH CONSTANTIJN VAN ORANJE, HE INDICATED THAT ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE WATER INDUSTRY IS CHALLENGING BECAUSE A LOT OF THE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE WE COULD BRING TO THE MARKET BELONGS TO PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS. DRINKING WATER COMPANIES, SUCH AS WATERBEDRIJF GRONINGEN, ARE AN EXAMPLE OF THIS, EVEN THOUGH ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS NECESSARY TO INCREASE THE SECTOR’S ECONOMIC IMPACT AND SOLVE SOCIETAL CHALLENGES. HOW DO YOU STIMULATE

IN THE CONTEXT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP,

ENTREPRENEURSHIP WITHIN YOUR

I’M TALKING MORE ABOUT NEW BUSINESS.

ORGANIZATION?

MANY WATER COMPANIES, INCLUDING

Water companies are enterprising utilities. While we certainly try to encourage our employees at Waterbedrijf Groningen, it is always to develop the social interest we have established as a public limited company. We encourage our employees to be creative and develop solutions to the challenges we face as a water company.

WATERBEDRIJF GRONINGEN, PARTICIPATE

NATURALLY, AS A WATER COMPANY, YOU DO YOUR BEST TO STIMULATE ENTERPRISING BEHAVIOUR AMONG YOUR EMPLOYEES, BUT

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IN SUBSIDIARIES. WHAT IS THE STRATEGY BEHIND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THESE ACTIVITIES? WHY DO YOU CHOOSE TO TAKE UP CERTAIN ACTIVITIES AND NOT OTHERS? WHERE DO THE BOUNDARIES LIE?

The decision to participate in a subsidiary, such as North Water or WarmteStad, is made in agreement with our shareholders. The request often even comes from the shareholders. We consider whether participating will contribute to our objectives as a water company. For

example, North Water allows us to supply customized water to industrial users in our supply area, which positively affects the availability of our sources for the supply of drinking water. That contributes to our intended water transition. In other cases, such as heat networks, our shareholders ask us to play a role in the energy transition because of our expertise and experience. Don’t forget; we have 141 years of experience in infrastructure management and soil knowledge and expertise. Heat networks have a lot in common with the infrastructure we currently manage.

interview Riksta Zwart

‘We have to provide safe and reliable drinking water 365 days a year, 24 hours a day’

make long-term investments. Our infrastructure must be reliable and sound. After all, we have to provide safe and reliable drinking water 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. But that does not mean we are not open to new, innovative technology. That much is clear from the challenges we face as an organization.

DON’T PROCUREMENT REGULATIONS HAMPER YOU?

It has to be legally correct, of course, but there are plenty of options when it comes to innovations, such as a test site or at one of our other entities. If the innovative solution provides added value, it will score highly during any tendering procedures.

IS IT POSSIBLE FOR THE WATER COMPANY AND ONE OR MORE PARTNERS TO DEVELOP AN INNOVATION THAT COULD BE COMMERCIALIZED? SPECIFICALLY, A SITUATION WHERE THE WATER COMPANY WOULD CONTINUE TO PLAY A ROLE IN THE COMMERCIAL PHASE. WOULD WATERBEDRIJF GRONINGEN BE WILLING TO PARTICIPATE FINANCIALLY IN A TECH COMPANY?

The drinking water supply always has the highest priority when considering participations. Other activities are placed in separate legal entities to prevent associated potential risks from affecting our drinking water customers.

INNOVATION AND SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHING A WATER TECH COMPANY IS A HIGHLY COMPLEX MATTER. IT OFTEN REQUIRES LARGE INVESTMENTS, MARGINS ARE RELATIVELY LOW, AND MANY CUSTOMERS ARE RISK-AVERSE—MANY ENTREPRENEURS DEVELOPING A TECHNOLOGY STRUGGLE

GRONINGEN COULD BE A LAUNCHING CUSTOMER. IF A COMPANY WANTS TO TEST ITS INNOVATION ON YOUR PREMISES, IS THAT POSSIBLE? IF SO, HOW SHOULD THEY GO ABOUT THAT? WHAT ARE THE DIFFICULTIES IN THESE PROGRAMMES?

Yes, we are very open to that, in principle. I would say get in touch—we are always happy to meet with entrepreneurs, not just for Waterbedrijf Groningen. We also have an extensive network, including our subsidiaries, such as WLN and North Water, and other organizations in the region and the rest of the country.

As a water company, we are happy to share our knowledge and join forces as partners. We are frequently involved in European projects, and we always play a role in your annual WaterCampus Business Challenge for starting entrepreneurs, for example.

However, we will not engage in commercial activities on behalf of the water company—that’s not our role.

But please, consider this an invitation to contact us when entrepreneurs want to exchange ideas with us about something they are developing.

TO TURN AN INTERESTED END-USER INTO A FIRST CUSTOMER. WATERBEDRIJF

I would like to add that we always

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Following Rembrandt ‘Vivianite is initially colorless, but becomes blue after oxidation and eventually turns black.

Rembrandt and Vermeer used the bright blue dye on their canvases’

Phosphate is a scarce raw material that we desperately need for our food supply. At the same time, phosphate is very harmful to the environment in large quantities, causing eutrophication and algal blooms. To avoid its harmful effects, phosphate is removed as best as possible at sewage treatment plants. Recovering phosphate is not easy, however.

Existing techniques have limitations in efficiency and area of application, but there are positive developments towards a more circular economy. The mineral vivianite plays a key role in those developments. We interviewed Wetsus scientist Leon Korving.

Together with their industrial partners, researchers from Wetsus and TU Delft discovered that the phosphate-rich vivianite is created when iron salts are used to bind phosphate in sewage treatment plants. This is a commonly used technique for phosphate removal, but recovering the phosphate has proven difficult with existing

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techniques. Research by Wetsus showed that vivianite is relatively easy to extract from sewage sludge using a magnetic separation technique borrowed from the mining industry. The technique enables the recovery of up to 80% of phosphate from the sludge.

Recovery Technology

Phosphate is a valuable and scarce raw material (see info box). Sewage plants normally have two methods of removing phosphate. Wetsus scientist Leon Korving clarifies, “You can opt for biological phosphate removal, the advantage being that there are no chemicals necessary.” However,

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interview Leon Korving

Leon Korving at the Nieuwveer sewage station, near the Dutch city of Breda. Photo: Margret Tielemans purification is more complex and may result in higher energy consumption.

Another commonly used technique is adding iron salts to bind the phosphate in the sludge. The two techniques offer different starting points for recovery.

“In the biological separation method, the phosphate can be precipitated as struvite by adding magnesium salts.

This technique is currently in use at a number of treatment plants. The downside is that the recovery efficiency is limited to 10–50% of the phosphate in the sludge”, explains Korving further.

Until now, however, there was no recovery technology for purification plants using iron salts. “We decided to work with Professor Mark van Loosdrecht’s group at TU Delft to find a method to recover phosphate in these purification plants as well.”

Vivianite as a phosphate carrier

Together with his colleagues, Korving discovered that the combination of iron and phosphate reacts to form the mineral vivianite. Vivianite binds phosphates and stands out because of its colour. “Vivianite is initially colorless, but becomes blue after oxidation and eventually turns black. Rembrandt and Vermeer used the bright blue dye on their canvases,” says Leon Korving.

Vivianite makes smaller crystals than struvite, which complicates extraction.

“Fortunately, we realized that vivianite is paramagnetic—it becomes magnetic as soon as there is a magnet nearby. Our industrial cooperation partners pointed out that magnetic techniques are already widely used in the mining industry.

Professor Rem from Delft University of Technology had experience with

the techniques, which allowed us to quickly demonstrate on a lab scale that the principle works for sewage sludge”, continues Korving.

The operation of the magnetic phosphate removal has since also been tested in practice with European funding from EIT Raw Materials. A trial set-up at the Nieuwveer sewage treatment plant of the Brabantse Delta water board [near the city of Breda] proved that the method is highly effective. “The magnet removed up to eighty percent of the vivianite in the sludge residue from the digester. The next step is to translate it into a commercial-level pilot plant.”

Circular phosphate extraction

The vivianite can be used directly as iron fertilizer in agriculture. It is particularly suitable for olive trees, vines and citrus trees, species that suffer from iron deficiencies. The researchers are also looking for a way to separate iron and phosphate as efficiently as possible. “The phosphate can be used in agriculture as a fertilizer, while the wastewater treatment plant can reuse the iron salt for purification, making phosphate extraction circular”, according to Leon Korving.

road to mass production? “The most important step we need to take is to demonstrate that the plant is robust even with longer operating times, and yields the same results with different sludge types. We have set up a Business & Technology Roadmap with the project partners, in which we want to take steps together to demonstrate this, first with a mobile plant and later with a demonstration plant, for example. We must also ensure that there is a market for the recovered vivianite. We are now discussing this with parties from the fertilizer industry. It takes perseverance and patience now, but if the next stages of development are also successful and phosphate extraction is increasingly mandated by the government, things can move quickly in a few years.”

Phosphate Every year, around 40 million tons of phosphate is extracted from phosphate mines worldwide. Eighty percent of this is processed into fertilizer. The largest deposits are in Morocco, China and the United States.

The European Union has no reserves of its own and, due to its strategic importance for food production, included phosphate in its list of 20 critical raw materials in 2014. At the same time, the fertilizer poses a problem if it enters surface water in large quantities. It causes excessive algae bloom, resulting in a lack of oxygen in the surface water, with numerous negative consequences. As such, wastewater treatment plants are required to remove phosphate.

A phosphate mine

Business & Technology Roadmap

The patented technology not only recovers phosphate, but also reduces the costs of sludge removal by ten to twenty percent. In future, the scientists want to investigate whether the mining technique can also be applied to animal manure, which could lead to additional commercial opportunities.

What obstacles does Korving see on the

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