Partners for Water Projects

In sunny South Africa, DHV will use algae to treat wastewater. In Poland, the firm will optimise a drinking water system whilst in Vietnam the project will provide institutional strengthening of the drinking water sector.

Together with South Africa's Rhodes University, DHV and its South African sister company SSI will build a large demonstration plant for Makana Municipality near Grahamstown to treat wastewater using algae. This sustainable low-tech, low-cost system is suitable for areas with lots of sun and space but little water and electricity. Besides providing clean water suitable for irrigation the technology produces algae sludge immediately usable as fertilizer. Moreover, the captured methane and the fermentation of the biomass are alternative sources of energy for local use. Dutch partners in the project are the Hollands Noorderkwartier Water Board and Genap, a Dutch manufacturer of plastic foil that will be used in the construction of the plant. This will be the first large algae-based wastewater treatment plant with a capacity of 2,500 population equivalents.

A significant amount of energy is used when extracting, treating and transporting drinking water. Controlling these processes in a smarter way makes it possible to reduce energy consumption and thus lower costs and ease the burden on the environment. For this purpose DHV developed OPIR, an operating system that predicts water demand and calculates the best possible operating regime for the drinking water system. In the Polish city of Poznan (with a population of more than half a million), Dutch and Polish DHV staff and Dutch drinking water company Oasen are starting a demonstration project using OPIR to achieve a significant reduction of energy consumption and create a more efficient water supply.

The Vietnamese government plans major improvements to the country's water supply and sanitation infrastructure. Dutch and Vietnamese DHV staff have set up a capacity building program for the water sector, together with the Dutch-based World Water Academy (Stichting Wateropleidingen), the Vietnamese Water and Sewage Association and the Academy for the Management of Construction in Cities. In two periods of three weeks, managers of drinking water companies will receive training in financial and technical operations, HRM, asset management and quality management. The project is directed towards 28 water companies that jointly hold 85% of the Vietnamese drinking water sector. After the demonstration project the intention is for the Dutch and Vietnamese partners to continue these courses independently so as to reinforce the water sector permanently.

The Partners for Water 2010 programme supports ambitious parties in the Dutch water sector by providing grants to carry out innovative projects in other countries. The result of the most recent tender was announced early January 2011. Eighteen of the 58 subsidy requests were approved, including three from DHV.