Clean and safe drinking water is a basic human right and essential for our daily life. With pollution from urban and industrial activities as well as agricultural runoff, obtaining healthy drinking water is a challenge.
Hence, it makes sense that increasingly stringent national and European regulatory standards exist with regard to the treatment and supply of drinking water in order to guarantee the highest quality of water intended for human consumption.
Brabant Water makes use of Sibelco’s high quality calibrated filter sands in several of their drinking water treatment plants. One such plant is the drinking water treatment plant in Veghel in the Netherlands which treats approximately 2,000 m³ of water an hour. In normal weather conditions the plant can supply 26,000 to 27,000 m³ of drinking water a day while in summer it can supply up to 40,000 m³ a day.
Groundwater is pumped up and undergoes an aeration and degasification process. Afterwards eight sand filters are used for the removal of iron, manganese and ammonium in a prefiltration phase. Subsequently, the water is softened and goes through eight carryover, multimedia filters combining both sand and anthracite to remove remaining calcium particles. High pressure pumps transport the produced drinking water to consumers in Veghel and surrounding villages as well as “the Land of Cuijk”.
Ensuring safe and healthy tap water is the main priority of Brabant Water. In the Netherlands, the quality requirements for drinking water are very tight. Most importantly, the drinking water from the Veghel plant has to be completely free of any pathogenic bacteria. Iron, manganese, turbidity and hardness of the water are also important parameters that need to be reduced and controlled.
The potable water treatment plant Veghel is using Sibelco narrowly grades filter sands. Grain sizes have to be accurate and within precise specifications in order to contribute to optimal plant performance. Also the cleanliness of the filter sand, especially the bacteriological aspect, is important to make the filter system operate successfully.
DID YOU KNOW?
In normal weather conditions, Veghel supplies between 26,000 to 27,000 m³ of drinking water per day and in summer this can rise to 40,000 m³ per day.
