Aviko, Lomm, discovers the need for effective water management

Many companies neglect their water management. Often, water is not part of their core business. It gets taken for granted; that is until problems arise in the production process. That's what happened at the Lomm-based company Aviko in 2013. The company managed to resolve its problems thanks to a successful collaboration with WML and Evilim.

Water from its own wells
Aviko is a major potato processor that supplies potato products to supermarkets and the hospitality industry. At its factory in Lomm, water is used to transport, clean, and pre-cook potatoes. Water is also used to create steam in the boiler house. Every year, the company obtains 400,000 m³ of water from its own two wells. Problems arose in 2013, with an increasing number of failures in production and an increasing amount of leakage involving water, steam, and condensation.
According to Roel Sillen, head of the technical service for Aviko's factories in Lomm and Cuijk, the quality of the water was inadequate ‘because the water was not being properly deferrized and softened. Something needed to be done quickly to prevent damage to the boilers. That's when we approached Evilim and WML.’

No time was lost
Evilim (a subsidiary of WML) installed a mobile RO system in Lomm. ‘In urgent cases, we can do that within a day,’ explains Cock Mudde, the director of Evilim. The mobile RO system was installed in Lomm for four months. With the assistance of WML, Aviko used this time to address the causes of the problems directly. WML's well team inspected and cleaned the wells from which groundwater was drawn. Meanwhile, Aviko replaced its water softening system.

* The RO system purifies water using reverse osmosis.

Peace of mind
The water facilities at Aviko have been restored and stabilized since the start of 2014. ‘We now have a much clearer understanding of the importance of effective water management,’ says Sillen, ‘as well as the importance of hiring experts in this area. Water management is not the core business of a technical service. We are now working on a new approach that prioritizes safety and quality above costs.’ This means setting up a good management plan that safeguards water quality in the long term.

According to Cock Mudde, Evilim can help companies like Aviko in all of these areas ‘so that they can focus on their core business and have peace of mind.’