After more than ten years of work, research and preparation, the time had finally come on Thursday: the completely renovated drinking water production company for Eindhoven was officially put into use. The new installation on Antoon Coolenlaan cost more than 100 million euros and produces approximately 25 billion liters of drinking water annually. That is enough to fill the PSV stadium to the brim about sixty times.
Everywhere in the building you see thick pipes, large cranes and countless meters. Mayor Jeroen Dijsselbloem is amazed during a tour with Brabant Water director Rob van Dongen. “This new water factory is a milestone for Eindhoven. With this impressive installation, the city can continue to grow and the 40,000 additional households that will be added can safely turn on the tap in the coming years,” says Dijsselbloem.
“This groundwater production location is the largest and greenest in the Netherlands,” says a proud director. “Here we produce approximately 25 million cubic meters of drinking water every year. This is the second time that the drinking water supply for Eindhoven and the surrounding area has been renewed. This previously happened in the 1970s.
The installation will supply drinking water to approximately 350,000 residents and tens of thousands of companies in Eindhoven, Veldhoven, Waalre, Valkenswaard, Nuenen and Geldrop in the coming decades. The new building is located on Antoon Coolenlaan, right next to the Witten-bollen water tower.
“We want to create a kind of Evoluon for water here.”
This new construction means that the old water factory will become vacant. “We want one there water experience center will be built in,” says Van Dongen. “A kind of museum where everyone can see what is involved in ensuring clean and safe drinking water comes out of the tap. A place where you can also do experiments and experiment with water. A kind of Evoluon for water,” says Rob van Dongen, laughing.
“According to experts, we have the tastiest water in the Netherlands here.”
According to the director, the new water factory is also the greenest in the Netherlands. “The installation is modern and energy efficient, the building is partly constructed from circular materials such as recycled facade panels and iron sludge tiles, there is a natural roof and rainwater is collected in wadis. The rinse water released during drinking water production is also purified to drinking water quality, so that no water is lost. And there is an energy exchange with the Pieter van den Hoogenband Swimming Stadium, so that the swimming water can be heated there with residual heat.”
When asked whether the new water factory can also better remove pharmaceutical residues, microplastics and other contaminants from drinking water, director Van Dongen explains: “The water we use here comes deep from the ground and has often been there for more than ten thousand years. Back then there were no microplastics and such. Here in Brabant this is different from the coastal provinces where they also make drinking water from surface water. Moreover, according to experts, we have the tastiest water in the Netherlands here.”
