The innovative energy and space saving Nereda® technology is used by the Netherlands' Rijn & IJssel Water board for a new facility to replace an outdated sewage treatment plant in the town of Dinxperlo. DHV, a Dutch engineering consultancy was awarded the US$10.5 million contract. Construction of the plant will be integrated in the Brüggenhütte plan, in which the water board and municipality of Aalten are jointly turning a former waste disposal site into a public water garden and green area.
Philip Schyns, project leader at Rijn & IJssel Water Board, commented on the decision to implement Nereda. "This combination is why we chose this innovative method. Besides needing less space, this technology will enable us to save energy and costs in the longer term. These advantages have knock-on benefits for efficiency and the environment." The strength of the Nereda technology is its special bacteria that grow in concentrated and fast-settling granules.
Conventional methods of treating wastewater use bacteria in fluffy flakes, which take much more time to separate from the treated water.
Nereda-treated wastewater will flow through water and reeds in a public water garden. The water board and the Aalten municipality have collaborated to create an attractive area in tandem with construction of the new treatment plant.
Piet van Helvoort, a DHV board member, explained that Nereda technology is regarded as a breakthrough in wastewater treatment and is expected to become the new global standard. Trough the National Nereda Research Program (NNOP), Dutch water boards are closely involved in the ongoing development of this invention by the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). NNOP is a joint venture of STOWA (the joint water boards' Foundation for Applied Water Research), TU Delft, DHV, and five more water boards.
DHV is pleased that Dutch water boards are opting for this homegrown innovation, according to Van Helvoort. The Nereda innovation could become an important export product, and it is imperative to have full-scale references in the home country in order to gain acceptance in other countries, he added.