10th anniversary of KWR Industry Water Network Group

KWR’s Industry Water Network Group (NWG) consists of approximately 20 companies from the Netherlands and Flanders. These companies are active in the (petro)chemical sector, food sector, utilities sector and the drinking water sector. The companies’ representatives within the NWG are specialists in the field of process water supply and/or process water treatment. The atmosphere is marked by the open attitude taken towards the challenges being addressed. The companies show no hesitation in informing each other about possible solution paths. This is an added value that is difficult to find elsewhere.

Meetings and consulting support

Participants in the NWG pay a modest annual fee, which assures them access to three annual meetings organised by KWR. One part of the day of these meetings is set aside for networking and learning about company-specific developments in the field of water. The other part is dedicated to a thematic workshop or excursion, focused on developments that could be of interest to these industrial users, and includes case studies from practice. Besides access to the meetings, the participants also have the right to a number of consulting hours from a KWR expert, to help them answer specific water-related questions.

Various subjects and interesting excursions

Over the Network Group’s 10 years of existence a variety of subjects have been dealt with, including digitalisation of the water sector, substances of very high concern, Water Footprint, mobile treatment, freshwater scarcity and the role of hydrogen in the energy transition. The excursions were welcomed enthusiastically, as in the case of the visit to an Evides Industriewater demiwater plant and the Wilp Water Factory.

Excursie naar Evides Industriewater

Excursie

Reactions of participants

The celebration of the 10^th anniversary of the NWG in 2023 presents a good occasion to canvas views on the significance of the platform. What do the members themselves think of the NWG meetings? What value do the meetings add? Do the members have any tips for the future? We asked a few loyal participants these questions.

Roy van Lier, Principal Process Engineer at Yara: ‘The Industry Water Network Group offers exactly what it is meant to offer: networking opportunities with professional colleagues. The meetings are interesting, useful and also simply fun. You keep up to date with what’s going on while getting to know each other. Through the years I have seen innumerable recommendations and projects that originated in the Network Group being realised at my own organisation. I wish the NWG a long life, which will involve even more companies and end-users, including ones from Flanders. I’d particularly like to see young, new participants!’

Niek van Belzen, Senior Environmental Analytical Manager at DOW: ‘Besides the chance to meet other water professionals from industry, the NWG is interesting because it allows one to keep abreast of new projects and developments at KWR. The meetings always offer an interesting mix for instance of presentations by suppliers about new technologies with current developments at other companies. The excursions are also interesting since they offer a great opportunity to take a look ‘behind the scenes’ elsewhere. There is an informal atmosphere at these meetings, which also makes it easy to contact each other and to share information in other contexts. Concretely, the Network Group has for example contributed to our using the experiences of other companies in the area of cooling water disinfection, to approach specific suppliers for possible applications in our own situation. As far as I’m concerned, the NWG can go on for a long time with the organisation of meetings at varied locations.’

Rudy Lamond, Growth & Innovation leader Water Treatment at Air Liquide: ‘For us the Network Group meetings are interesting because of the open communication. They keep us up-dated on the lessons learned at other companies. We are happy to come, because of the positive and instructive ambience that prevails. One of the NWG’s added values is that it is a place where you can get government information, and where you can have direct contact with the academic world. A context where we can work on our brand recognition and pick up indirect leads; and it has also been at the origin of projects. I think the number of meetings could be increased from three to four per year – preferably of course without any added costs. The fourth meeting could take the form of an excursion to one of the partner companies.’

Contact

Is your organisation an industrial end-user or in the utility sector, and would you like to find out what the NWG can mean to you? If so, then please contact KWR (see experts shown next to this report), or visit the KWR stand (D211) at the Aqua Netherlands Vakbeurs trade fair in Gorinchem (21-23 March). The next NWG meeting will be held alongside this trade fair on 22 March. We look forward to meeting you!

You will find further information about participation in the Industry Water NWG on our website.