FOR INNOVATION

Water Alliance member and former WIS award winner Hydraloop’s ambitions seem set to continue until the world has been conquered and water is used more efficiently on all continents. The company now has branches and agencies in many parts of the world. Nevertheless, it still conducts great showcase projects in its home country of the Netherlands—sometimes even near its home base at WaterCampus. For example, Hydraloop is working with Dutch property developer Wind Groep to build around 200 homes in a state-of-the-art housing development in Lemmer (in the south of the province of Friesland, along the IJsselmeer). The goal is to enable residents to save up to 45% of drinking water and wastewater using Hydraloop technology. Harmen Wind (Managing Director of Wind Groep) and Frank Verschoor (COO of Hydraloop) signed a letter of intent to that end.

“We do not want to wait until watersaving measures are mandatory; we want to facilitate homes with an additional water supply system now”, says Harmen Wind. “This fits with our sustainability ambitions and, more importantly, means a future-proof and value-proof home for the residents. Recent Dutch research shows that homes not built energy efficiently are worth less and are harder to sell during the current energy crisis. Predictably, the same will happen with water in the future.”

Without the user of water-saving techniques, the Dutch use an average of 129 litres of drinking water per day— the vast majority of which disappears directly into the sewer after use. A Hydraloop device can reduce drinking water consumption to about 75 litres per person per day. By showering with treated rainwater, that number can be further reduced to 30 litres per person per day. Wastewater production decreases by up to 45% and implicitly reduces energy consumption and CO2 emissions for residents, water utilities and water boards.

The Frisian company’s system has won prestigious awards, including innovation awards at CES 2020 and CES 2023 in Las Vegas, USA; the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO) Global WIPO Award in 2022; and, last but not least, Water Alliance’s WIS award.

There are numerous projects in Europe involving government financial support to SMEs developing innovative solutions in any field. With the CircInWater project, water sector SMEs can now also benefit. “CircInWater can offer European SMEs financial support for the development of water solutions within the agrifood sector and energy-intensive sectors such as pulp & paper, mining, steel and chemicals”, explains project manager Stefan Bergsma. “There is a budget of more than one million euros available for activities in innovation, knowledge and external expertise and internationalization. SMEs can receive between 20,000 and 60,000 euros.”

There are certain conditions attached to the financial support. Proposals can be submitted until 31 May. For those who can participate in time despite the short notice, we recommend reading the Guide for Applicants before submitting a project proposal. Check the QRcode below.

Editor’s note: It will be possible to apply for financial support for external knowledge (help with export plan, marketing strategy, etc.) and internationalization later this year.