From polluted seawater to crystal- clear drinking water

As a consumer, one does not yet notice much water scarcity in Europe, as there is enough tap water to do anything you want. At most, there is a temporary ban on filling swimming pools, washing cars and irrigating gardens, such as in France and Spain. Consumers notice it mainly through increased attention in the press. And a result of this heightened media attention, our behaviour changes. For instance, we take shorter showers. And we tend to use less water for watering our gardens – or we use water from the rain barrel. There is a real trend emerging where we collect, store and use rainwater as clean water. Among major water consumers, awareness of water scarcity has been increasing for a longer period of time. Almost all of these companies have placed it on the agenda, although the urgency is not yet present everywhere.

Some companies are already experiencing water scarcity, especially if a company pumps and consumes a lot of groundwater. For example, temporary restrictions are placed on the use of surface water and groundwater locally, such as farmers irrigating farmland. To prepare for the future, companies can identify ‘quick wins.’ They can perform a so-called ‘water scan’ that gives them insight into their own water management. Through such a water scan they can assess the current situation as well as their future water needs. Water savings are often possible, for instance by improving internal water flows, purification (for reuse) and water collection.

Saving and reclaiming water is already happening on a fairly large scale and is only increasing. But there is also a lot of research and innovation going on. A great new application for especially high-grade concentrated saline wastewater is EFC, a method by which valuable substances can be recovered by element. Previously, this could only be done by evaporation. The great thing is that this can be used to recover rare earth metals, among other things, which are mined in mines in conflict areas, for example. After EFC treatment, the water is pure and ready for reuse. This makes this form of wastewater treatment completely circular.

In addition, given the rising world population and the increase of the industrial, agricultural and horticultural sectors, it very important that freshwater production from salt water increases as well. A lot is happening in that area too. For instance, since 1970, the energy consumption of RO desalination¹ from salt to fresh water has been reduced to one-tenth of the energy amount needed in the past – from 20-30 kWh to 2-4 kWh per cubic metre anno today. Salt water can also be useful in its own right, as is the case with so-called Blue Energy. This involves generating electricity from the difference between salt and fresh water – something that is being done at, for instance, the Afsluitdijk in the Netherlands.

^{1 Reversed osmosis (RO desalination) is a technique that can convert polluted and saline water into fresh water}

We operate in regions that face a structural shortage of fresh water, including Asia, the Middle East, the US and Kenya. In the United Arab Emirates, among others, there are desalination plants that convert seawater, which is abundant there, into fresh water. Not only for drinking water, but also for tourism-related purposes, such as swimming pools, golf courses and green spaces. We also convert seawater into fresh water that is used for industrial processes and for agriculture and horticulture. And we are active in Africa, in Mombasa, Kenya’s main port. We supply this port with drinking water, by desalinating and purifying locally the salt- polluted harbour water from the Indian Ocean.

In 2006, we celebrated our 100th anniversary with all kinds of festivities, but we also wanted to do something structural as a drinking water specialist. We decided to move into a coastal area close to Mombasa, where there was virtually no water supply, nor a sewage system. Water shortage there was becoming increasingly dire, posing a threat to the local community and to the development of the economy. The groundwater there was salinized, partly due to increasing groundwater depletion and infiltration from the ocean – as such unusable for consumption. We started turning that salinized, contaminated groundwater into clean drinking water. We now supply drinking water to local people and to dozens of poor schools in the region. As a result, schoolchildren stay healthier and there is less drop- out due to illness. There is a reason why clean drinking water is one of the UN’s sustainable development goals. After all, sufficient good-quality drinking water is essential for health and for growth towards prosperity.

What does Hatenboer do?

Hatenboer-Neptunus is a family company, based in the port of Rotterdam. Since 1906, the company has provided storage and distribution facilities for water, in varying quantities of the desired quality, using ships and tankers. Hatenboer- Water, based in Schiedam, specialises in services, products and installations for drinking and process water. For example, it has been making desalination equipment since the 1980s, which can convert brackish and seawater into reliable drinking water. Peter Willem Hatenboer constitutes the fourth generation in this company.