International Grower of the Year embraces ASR-Coastal for freshwater supply

Following the earlier reference and replication sites in the Subsol project, a new ASR-Coastal was taken into operation in the Westland area near The Hague (The Netherlands). Here, the ambitious and sustainable Orchid grower Ter Laak is extending their greenhouse to a total area of 14 hectares. The rainwater from the greenhouse roof is stored in an aboveground basin (capacity for 50 mm of rainfall). But, once high levels in this basin are reached, the surplus water is automatically infiltrated in a brackish (2000 mg/l chloride) sand aquifer at 15 to 35 m deep using the new ASR-Coastal scheme. From there, it can be recovered during drought with the ASR-coastal system. It is estimated that a yearly average of around 40.000 m³ can be infiltrated. A projected 25% of this will be recovered unmixed to meet the water demands during droughts. The remaining 75% is left in the aquifer and helps to counteract the ongoing salinization of this coastal aquifer. 

The ASR-coastal system was loaded with the most recent insights from the Subsol project, including strategically place infiltration and recovery wells and the automated control unit.

• Ter Laak recently won the 'International Grower of the Year' competition.
• The feasibility study and preliminary design was performed by SALutions, the new public-private partnership on market replication of Subsurface Water Solutions, led by KWR and Arcadis.
• Engineering and installation was performed by Subsol partner Codema
• The system has close attention of the local water board, as the contribution of ASR-Coastal will result in important retention space (around 15 mm) in the aboveground basin for retention during (intense) rainfall events.