Van Remmen UV Technology, Jotem Water Solutions, and NX Filtration are providing Fort Island Pampus with its own water purification system. This will enable visitors to safely drink water from the surrounding IJmeer. A unique project in the Netherlands and a significant step towards a sustainable and self-sufficient Pampus.
Water on Pampus
The Dutch Fort Island Pampus has a rich history as a military stronghold in the IJmeer, defending Amsterdam. Currently, the fort island is part of the UNESCO World Heritage and a popular recreational location with a museum and restaurant. This requires safe drinking water for over 100,000 people annually. Despite being surrounded by water, drinking water had to be transported by boat as there is no water pipeline to Pampus. In the past, Pampus collected rainwater, but nowadays, the fort guards have to sail to Muiderslot every morning to fill up with 3,000 litres of water and bring it to Pampus. This labour-intensive and time-consuming task involves significant fossil fuel usage, which Pampus wanted to eliminate.
A unique water purification system
The historical fort island aims to be fully self-sufficient in water and energy by 2024. To achieve this goal, it collaborated with Van Remmen UV Technology, Jotem Water Solutions, and NX Filtration to develop a local ‘watermaker.’ This full-scale, off-grid water treatment system upgrades water from the surrounding IJmeer to top-quality drinking water. The system utilizes slow sand filtration, innovative nanofiltration membranes, and validated UV disinfection, providing the highest quality drinking water under any circumstances, even with minimal maintenance. Importantly, the system is powered by the accompanying solar panels.
Pampus water
The result is that visitors to Pampus will soon enjoy authentic ‘Pampus water.’ This drinkable water meets the strictest standards, surpassing the quality of our tap water and major bottled water brands from supermarkets. With the watermaker on-site, Pampus no longer needs to transport drinking water from the mainland, avoiding costly boat trips and potential infection risks during transportation.
A step towards the future
Pampus is taking a significant stride towards complete self-sufficiency and aims to be a shining example for the rest of the world. As we face increasing challenges of resource shortages, water scarcity, heavy dependencies, and ecological issues in many places, innovative solutions like those implemented on Pampus are urgently needed. Tom van Nouhuys, the director of Pampus, says: “This is a microcosm, a self-sufficient island seeking sustainable solutions in water and energy. Innovative solutions that are crucial to restoring balance between humans and their environment in the world. We found this common mission in the collaboration with Jotem Water Solutions, NX Filtration, and Van Remmen UV Technology, resulting in the fantastic outcome of the unique sustainable ‘watermaker’! Now we want to share this with the rest of the world because if it can work here, it can work anywhere.”
