Midden-Drenthe gets clean drinking water thanks to new production station

New drinking water production station for WMD

Since August, residents of Midden-Drenthe have been receiving pure and soft water from the new drinking water production station of Waterleidingingsmaatschappij Drenthe (WMD) in Beilen. Brands Bouw was the main contractor, together with Van Haarst. They ensured that the new building, including offices, clean water cellar and filters, ended up on WMD's existing site.

"For the tender we signed up as a combination with contractor Van Haarst, who supplied the concrete work. We did the complete civil and structural work, including the infra," says Richard Menzen, project manager at Brands Bouw. The completely new production station constituted a large project, with the filters located in the concrete basement. Above ground level, the building consists of a steel structure, limestone walls, masonry and Corten steel at the top. The brick facade is overgrown with plants, while the triangular/wavy movements in the corten steel perfectly fit the theme of water.

Reservoir and new sources

The old production station dated back to 1946. New construction was necessary to meet the requirements of our time again and to obtain softer water via a softening plant. Today, the station also supplies Vitens, for which a new pipeline was laid from Beilen to Appelscha. An adjacent clean water cellar forms a reservoir for drinking water. New wells have been tapped for pumping groundwater, which is purified and softened at the production station.

Process Plant

"In particular, coordination between the ancillary contractors was a chore. We built the building, but it happens inside. That whole process plant was the single most important point of focus," Menzen continues. "To get this done, there was intense collaboration from the beginning so that we came to a common goal. To pour all that into a funnel and get the noses in the same direction was a challenge. It worked out well, because the client is satisfied with the end result and so are we. We are proud to have created such a production station together with Van Haarst."