Lying on the Scheldt, in the northern-most part of the port of Antwerp, BASF Antwerp has a 600-ha site, where 54 production plants form different, fully integrated production lines. BASF Antwerp’s product range comprises basic and specialist chemicals, synthetics and preproducts, processed products, mineral fertilisers and inorganic products. The semi-finished products made at BASF Antwerp are used in virtually all processing industries, such as the building industry, the paper and leather industry, agriculture and horticulture, the car industry, the toys and sports products industry, and the textile and pharmaceutical industries.

The total production capacity amounts to more than 15 million tons. On its industrial site, BASF Antwerp employs more than 3,500 own members of staff, plus a daily average of more than 1,200 contractor personnel.

Despite a continuous focus on saving water, total water consumption at BASF increased as a result of its successful growth strategy. BASF therefore put out a global water tender at the start of 2007. The objective was to increase its demineralised water capacity on the one hand and on the other to analyse whether it was possible to optimise existing water management in such a way that the dependence on valuable ground water could be reduced. Brackish port water and fresh Biesbosch water were two alternative water sources available.

Finally, the tender presented an open contract form option: realisation in accordance with turnkey delivery of plants, or the supply of process water and demineralised water on the basis of a DPFO (Design Build Finance Operate) contract.

When BASF awarded this contract to Evides Industrial Water, the positive experiences of other customers from the south-west of the Netherlands played an important role. Dow Chemical (Terneuzen), Shell/Air Liquide (Pernis) and Yara (Sluiskil) do not only use the demineralisation plants designed by Evides Industrial Water, they also rely on the expertise of Evides for their daily operations. Partnerships based on DPFO agreements have led to long-term relationships between Evides the water specialist and industrial consumers.

In addition to quality and experience, sustainability also played a major role in the decision-making process, as valuable potable water in the industrial water supply will be replaced with raw Biesbosch water (water from the Maas River). Finally, the double industrial water pipes and the built-in redundancy in the PWTP and DWTP contribute to increased supply reliability for BASF Antwerp.