Introducing students to decentralized water recycling system

‘Hydraloop enables people and organizations to save water and energy with smart and affordable water cleaning products,’ says Emil Herder, Technical Support Expert at Hydraloop.

The Leeuwarden-based company developed a cleaning system that makes bath, shower, and washing machine water eligible for reuse in the home, business, and garden. Twenty second-and third-year Technician Smart Engineering students and BOL students from ROC Friese Poort attended the guest lesson on Friday, April 1, 2022, under the supervision of teacher Pieter Hoekstra.

‘We see gray water in a house as a second water source. We can do something with that,’ guest speaker Herder continued. ‘The Hydraloop cleans and recycles water from showers, baths, sinks, washing machines, and air conditioning systems. Many water treatment systems use chemicals and use membranes or filters. Hydraloop does things differently through six steps: sedimentation, flotation, Dissolved Air Flotation, foam division, an aerobic bioreactor, and disinfection of the cleaned water with UV light. This technology is durable and low maintenance. A trained installer can perform a service on the Hydraloop within half an hour.‘

It’s important that homes are delivered Recycle Ready, Hydraloop’s Technical Support Expert believes. After all, the decentralized water recycling system – whether new construction or renovation – depends on the correct installation of pipes. ‘The construction industry plays an important role in the future of recycling systems. Freshwater will only become scarcer. We have to respond to this and we can. People can continue to enjoy showers and baths while saving water and energy. We are committed to ensuring that within 10 years every new building constructed will be recycling water in a decentralized way,’ says Herder, describing the benefits of the Hydraloop. ‘Europeans consume an average of 133 liters of tap water per person per day in the home. When using the Hydraloop this drops to 74 liters. In this way, Hydraloop saves up to 45% of drinking water. This means that you also produce 45% less waste water – and that has a considerable impact on your CO2 emissions.

The guest lesson was much appreciated by the students, Pieter Hoekstra tells us. The Hydraloop is an example of new development in our field. What’s more, it’s a Leeuwarden company that has also won international awards. This real-life guest lesson is a great addition to our teaching materials.‘

Lifelike education

Guest lectures, such as this one by Hydraloop about a decentralized water recycling system, are examples of lifelike education in six steps. ‘In addition to providing regular, theoretical lessons, we want our students to experience, discover, and do,’ says project leader Roeland Westra from ROC Friese Poort’s Centre for Sustainability. In this way, they combine the best of two worlds. We achieve this by offering (online) excursions, Challenges, Duurzaam Doen lectures, practical days and guest lessons. In this way, the young people develop into professionals of the future. Moreover, in this way, they come into contact with sustainability, one of the most important themes of our time.

(C) This article was written in Dutch by Richard Tjalstra and published on the website of ROC Friese Poort