Ronny: “Iv-Water immediately began with the integration of a treatment plant on the FrieslandCampina site. For example, the return water pipeline had to be tapped and other pipelines also laid or diverted. As part of our EPC (Engineering, Procurement & Construction) role, we also supervise all the civil engineering for the installation, such as foundations and structures. Another good example of where sustainability and cost savings go together is the fact that we were able to reuse a building, which was released from another project, as new accommodation for the microfiltration system.” The reverse osmosis installation is situated in another building that FrieslandCampina previously constructed for similar installations. “This multifunctional use of space again reduces project costs”, says Ronny. Iv-Water also creatively adapted the project planning. Ronny: “We were able to ride alongside another, larger project that was in progress at approximately the same time. This allowed us to blend our work activities in such a way that the daily work of FrieslandCampina experienced as little inconvenience as possible. The planning of the larger project was leading for planning time slots for placing installations and connecting or integrating installations into the existing production environment.”
The purification system is now in operation. Ronny: “In March we were able to transfer the installation to the operators of FrieslandCampina, with which we successfully completed a project of two years from the outset. These two years were from the initial idea to the handover. The actual construction time was much shorter. The majority of the installations were supplied as complete modules so that only the connections had to be performed on-site. And of course, adapting the piping required quite some time and knowledge of engineering.” The water is still being used in applications whereby it doesn’t come into direct contact with the product, such as the production of steam, cooling water for the cooling towers and for the iced water generator. But Sjoerd doesn’t exclude the possibility that in the long term, other processes may also use this water. “The quality of the water is the same as that of drinking water”, says Sjoerd. “I can imagine that in the long term, this water can be used more widely. The treatment plant is currently constructed at a capacity of fifty cubic metres of water per hour, but part of the return water is still being discharged. We could, therefore, in the long term, expand further with a second installation. There is enough space and because a proportion of the new pipes are already oversized, a second installation can easily be integrated. We have already taken a considerable step in reducing the water footprint, but more can still be done.”