BESIX celebrates World Water Day

Today, on 22 March, the world celebrates World Water Day. This United Nations initiative raises awareness for the global water crisis and the target of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.

This year’s theme is valuing water. The value of water is about much more than its price – water has enormous and complex value for our households, food, culture, health, education, economics and the integrity of our natural environment.

Did you know BESIX support this SDG n°6, along with 16 other SDGs, through numerous projects and initiatives? Keep on reading for some of the sustainable solutions we created for a better world:

1. Leuven: 200,000 m³ of water recycled on bicycling parking site in Leuven (BE)

At the Leuven railway station in Belgium, BESIX has built underground floors to increase the number of bicycle parking spaces up to 4,000 for the Belgian National Railway Company. One of the remarkable aspects of the project is the recycling of hundreds of thousands of litres of groundwater for the city.

About 200,000 cubic metres of water have been pumped up for reuse, such as for watering trees in the city. Together with the recycled water that the Leuven Green Service collects from brewer AB InBev, the city saves 50,000 litres of water every day.

2. Supplying more than 3.4 million people with drinking water

Over the years, BESIX has delivered several projects that focus on improving drinking water provision in regions where this is not a given, and we continue to do so.

In Africa, BESIX recently completed the civil works of the La Mé Drinking Water Treatment Plant in Ivory Coast, for instance. Soon, the plant will treat almost 240,000 m³ of water a day from the river La Mé, which will serve specifically the inhabitants of the city of Abidjan.

In Asia, BESIX delivered back in 2016 a modern wastewater treatment facility in the Monaragala and Buttala region (Sri Lanka). The vast infrastructure to collect, treat, store and distribute potable water was designed by BESIX Environment, and built largely by local workers. The plant has a treatment capacity of 6,000 m³ of potable water a day.

Finally, in the Middle East, the project of the Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) Plant in the Jebel Ali Power Station, Dubai, is progressing. For this Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract, BESIX and its JV partner are working to deliver a fully operational production plant.  The facility will have a capacity of 182,000 m³/day, or 40 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD).

All these projects combined, we can state that BESIX contributes to supplying more than 3.4 million people (!) with daily drinking water.

3. More environmental projects

BESIX’s European portfolio as well is filled with several environmental projects related to the water sector. Notably, the affiliate LUX TP and the BESIX Environment department have played an increasingly important role in this field in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, having won several contracts together these past years. Among those, are the modernisation of the wastewater treatment plant in Mamer and Bous. And another affiliate, Socogetra, has more than ten wastewater treatment plants on the order book for 2021!

4. BESIX Foundation supports Young Water Solutions

BESIX Foundation equally does its part to contribute to SDG n°6. The Foundation recently signed, for instance, a significant new partnership with Young Water Solutions. This non-governmental organisation supports young local entrepreneurs who want to contribute to a better quality of sanitary life in developing countries. They develop innovative projects to provide solutions to water supply, sanitation, and hygiene problems, to meet the needs of the communities and the challenges of sustainable development. Candidate-entrepreneurs are supported at all stages, from the launch to the development of their project. This new partnership made the organisation of a national campaign possible in Ivory Coast, a country where Young Water Solutions was not yet active. Eight new projects are planned to be launched in 2021.