Water
Our climate is changing, sea levels are rising, and fresh water is becoming increasingly scarce. Good water management is therefore crucial for municipalities, business and industry. TAUW cooperates with a wide variety of partners and parties on water issues. Naturally, our focus is on sustainability and innovative solutions for a safe future environment.
New flexible and sustainable way of water treatment
A new sewage treatment plant has been completed in Weert (Limburg, the Netherlands), developed according to a revolutionary, sustainable and modular construction and design technique.
Compared to a traditional water treatment technique, this concept is not only more energy efficient, but the annual net costs for construction, maintenance and operation (Total Cost of Ownership) are also more than 20% lower and the construction time has been reduced by 60% compared to traditional construction. Above-ground tanks and separate modules can be linked together and scaled up and down as required making it possible to respond flexibly to climate change, demographic developments and innovations in the field of water purification. The individual modules can also be reused (circular) and can be used worldwide. This reinvented wastewater treatment can offer significant added value in developing countries dealing with increased population growth or local treatment problems.
The new sewage treatment plant in Weert is the result of an intensive and successful collaboration between various parties. TAUW, in close cooperation with the Limburg Water Board, provided the civil engineering design and ensured the integral coordination with the technological design (by Royal HaskoningDHV), the mechanical design (by RWB Waterservices) and the electrical design (by the combination Mobilis TBI and Croonwolter & Dros) .
In 2021, this water treatment technology will also be introduced at other locations.
The Shoreliner goes international!
More and more plastic waste is floating in our rivers, oceans and seas. This plastic soup is a global problem which cannot be ignored. With the Shoreliner we can catch floating debris so that it does not end up in the sea. The ‘trapped’ plastic waste is then recycled. Because the wind blows the waste into the ‘trap’, better water quality can be achieved more sustainably (energy based on wind and water currents). The data collected during the capture, measurement and sorting of the floating waste can then be used to gather and share knowledge and to shape policy around the plastic soup problem.
The Shoreliner is a perfect example of an effective solution to a contemporary sustainability issue. TAUW designed and realized the Shoreliner in collaboration with TenCate Geosynthetics, Dow Chemical and JP Schilder BV. From the first pilot in 2016 for the Port of Rotterdam, the Shoreliner has been further developed and optimized. In 2019 it won the prize of Most Sustainable Port Project in Rotterdam. Now this solution concept enables international cooperation between TAUW countries and is suitable for many different markets, customers and situations. In 2020 TAUW was appointed to carry out a feasibility study for applying the Shoreliner technology in the Taranto area in Italy. This is a very important and challenging project for TAUW due to specific characteristics of Taranto, a city with a significant industrial past that is now reshaping its future in a sustainable way. Other possible market opportunities for the Shoreliner solution are being evaluated in different TAUW countries.