Underground pipes pump water from the construction site to the brewery

The building firms Democo and MBG will soon be pumping the building site water from the residential projects Vivid and Lucid of the real estate developer AG Real Estate in Leuven to offer it to the neighbouring Stella Artois brewery through underground pipes. ‘Normally the water would be pumped into the River Dijle, but now it will be used for the brewery’s technical processing operations. A much more sustainable solution,’ they explain.

Pipes are running from the site via the container directly to the brewery. The water is pumped into the container, to be led to the brewery via pipes running under the crossroads and the Tervuursesteenweg. In the brewery, the water is purified and reused as process water before being purified a second time and partly returned to the Dijle. The container is fitted with an overflow, which will drain off the water that AB InBev does not use into the Dijle in a controlled manner.

Purified water

Without water, no beer. Water efficiency is a crucial and intrinsic topic for AB InBev. The brewer continuously keeps water consumption during its brewing process as low as possible and gives the used water a second life by, for example, donating the purified wastewater to the City of Leuven for the maintenance of its vegetation. By cooperating with various partners such as the City of Leuven, the Belgian Farmers Union (Boerenbond) and local building firms, the brewer tries to encourage circular water use in a creative way.

‘The building site next to our headquarters offers up the option of collecting the water in a container next to the site and pumping it to our processing operations on the other side. In that way the extracted site water gets a second life’ says Alexander Soenen, brewery plant manager in Leuven.

Building site water

At almost any building site the groundwater has to be temporarily pumped up to be able to start working. It is necessary to do so in order to keep the excavation stable while work is in progress.

‘Whenever we have to pump up groundwater, we look for a more sustainable and creative solution for the use of the water. The majority of our sites offer water to local residents for private use. For this site we were on the lookout for a partner who can make better use of the water. AB InBev shares our vision of dealing efficiently with natural resources. So our collaboration is a logical choice,’ say Democo and MBG.

AG Real Estate also fully endorses its commitment to sustainable development with this joint initiative. ‘As a diversified real estate developer and investor we keep the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals permanently in mind, both during the design phase, during construction and in the management of our portfolio. In an effort to preserve the environment, AG Real Estate is developing local and targeted actions on specific themes, in particular by giving a second life to as many materials as possible and by reducing residual waste to a minimum.’ says Philippe Monserez, Chief Design & Build Officer of AG Real Estate.

Sustainability at the heart of the city

Together with its partners and entrepreneurs, the city of Leuven wants to take actions that respect the environment and the climate. With the involvement of its private partners, the city is encouraging the search for innovative solutions and the development of initiatives aimed at instilling sustainability in everyone.

David Dessers, Leuven's alderman for climate and sustainability, confirms:"As a city, we are very pleased with this initiative and we hope that it will encourage many building project owners to do the same. Groundwater reuse is a priority for the city of Leuven. We strive for water-neutral projects and promote water reuse wherever possible. Where this is not possible, we encourage building owners to make groundwater available to local businesses or residents. In this way, we avoid filtered water being used for applications for which groundwater is also suitable, because every drop counts.”