InternalWaterCircle

General objectives

Water as a production factor has been taken for granted for a long time. But in the international scope, Flanders has now been categorised as a region at risk of a water shortage and declining water reservoirs. The potato processing industry is a major consumer of high-quality water, so it is important for companies from this sector to strive towards a more sustainable water consumption. The focus is on the re-use of water, finding alternative water sources and recuperating energy and valuable components from the companies’ internal water flows.

Companies’ insight into their own water management is currently limited and most have no clear idea of their water risk. Therefore, we aim to develop and apply tools to optimise water (re-)usage. There is also a need for research on water treatment technologies that make cost-efficient recuperation of energy and/or valuable components from internal water flows (including water treatment) form companies in this sector possible.

Expected results

• Optimised water consumption and availability in potato processing companies and vendors
• Upgrading by-products and rest products that contain a lot of water
• If possible, closed water cycles in potato processing companies and vendors