Foxhol/Groningen, 12 March 2008 - AVEBE U.A. and North Water BV have signed a contract for the construction of a new process water treatment plant at the AVEBE location in Ter Apelkanaal last week. Various starch products used for applications including food production are manufactured at this location.
AVEBE has decided to improve the quality of the water that comes into contact with these starch products in the various processes. North Water BV proved to be the ideal partner to build the new process water treatment plant. North Water is a joint venture between Waterbedrijf Groningen, Evides Industriewater and Waterleidingmaatschappij Drenthe.
The new water treatment plant has a processing capacity in excess of 600 cubic metres of water per hour, and will produce about 3 million cubic metres of process water a year. The building of the new process water treatment plant and the accompanying infrastructure involve a total investment of around 10 million euros.
AVEBE is a season-based organisation, which means that the demand for water is substantially higher than normal during the potato harvesting season. The design takes the different capacities into account. In view of the potato harvesting season that starts in August of each year, the construction of the new treatment plant will have to be completed by 1 August 2009 at the latest.
The technology for the new process treatment system has been especially designed to treat surface water originating from Stadskanaal. The process water produced will therefore be of approximately the same quality as normal drinking water.
The high quality process water will be used not only for AVEBE's starch products, but will also be suitable for use as feed water for the combined heat and power plants and steam turbines present on the site.
The technical design is based on fully automated operation, producing water 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, for AVEBE's various operational processes. North Water will be responsible for day-to-day operations, exploitation and maintenance.
By entering into this partnership with North Water AVEBE has secured the long-term quality of the water supply at the Ter Apelkanaal location.