Rijk Zwaan and Certhon bet on renewed technical solution to water challenges

For its De Lier location, vegetable breeding company Rijk Zwaan has commissioned Certhon to install the latest underground SanAquastore (an Aquifer Storage & Recovery system, also known as ASR system). This underground water storage system stores rainwater in a water-bearing layer in the soil. The stored water can then be pumped back up at a later time, as needed.

“Locations in the Westland, such as this one in De Lier, require innovative technologies,” indicates Gerard van Lier, Technical Manager of Irrigation at Certhon. “The flow rate of the underground water and the chlorine content must be taken into account. In order to do that, the system is equipped with multiple infiltration and abstraction sources and various sensors.” An automated pre-filtration system also ensures that the rainwater, that is to be infiltrated, is purified to within 2 microns to prevent clogging of the underground sand layer.

Construction of the project began this month. Rijk Zwaan has been working with Certhon Computer System (CCS) software in climate cells for some time. “For the complete control of the underground SanAquastore, only an extension of this CCS software is needed,” Van Lier said. The project will be commissioned in the coming months.