Rijk Zwaan has underground rainwater storage installed at its new building in De Lier. The principle of underground rainwater storage is actually simple, according to Arno van Steekelenburg of Rijk Zwaan.
"We collect rainwater from our greenhouses and hall in a basin with a capacity of 15,000 m3. When the basin is more than 80% full, we inject the water underground l until 70% of the basin capacity is reached. This creates a freshwater bubble at a depth of 35 meters during wet periods. In dry periods, we replenish the basin from this freshwater bubble. At 50% fill, we recover water to 60% of capacity," he explains at Rainlevelr.
Rijk Zwaan no longer needs tap water for cultivation in dry periods and is already anticipating possible regulatory changes. In addition, the company hopes it will counter subsidence.
"Our expectation is that we can infiltrate 50,000 m3 on an annual basis and recover about half of this. This will increase the freshwater bubble over time; the capacity underground is infinite. But a nuance is necessary, given the groundwater flow from De Lier to Delft. We will use every drop that falls to the maximum. We are open to installing a Rainlevelr as well. Together we are investigating how we can combine Rainlevelr with infiltration."
Certhon is installing the SanAquastore (an Aquifer Storage & Recovery system, aka ASR system).
For more information:
Rainlevelr
[email protected]
www.rainlevelr.com
Rijk Zwaan Nederland
[email protected]
www.rijkzwaan.nl