F2AGRI-effluent to agriculture

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Water is a crucial resource for agriculture. Due to increasing climate change, however, various agricultural areas are facing a general problem with drying out. What is more, for many years, there has been an excessive extraction of groundwater that threatens both quantity and quality. The scarcity of healthy groundwater poses challenges for the agricultural and horticultural sectors. In both the Netherlands and Flanders, farmers are therefore proactively seeking alternative water sources. Water is also indispensable for industry: in both the Netherlands and Flanders, companies need water for their processes, after which it is purified and discharged into surface water. F2AGRI aims to make industrially-purified wastewater – otherwise known as effluent – available on farmers' and horticulturists' land. It is a sustainable approach in terms of time investment, energy, transport and water reuse. The Bavaria brewery (Lieshout, the Netherlands) and the vegetable processing firm of Ardo (Ardooie, Flanders) are taking part in this project. Although neither of the two family firms has any obligation with regard to providing effluent and they will not earn any immediate return, they are striving for sustainable water use both within and outside the plant. A water distribution system will be installed at Bavaria and an irrigation network at Ardo. 120 farmers will eventually be able to use the purified water.

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