"I thought my system was closed and that it could not end up in the surface water," a grower who made the Dutch news with an illegal discharge allegedly said. We quote from a column (in Dutch) by Jacco Vooijs of Glastuinbouw Westland in Het Hele Westland. In this column, he reiterates that incidents like these can damage the sector's reputation. He also highlights that it's important to ensure that a greenhouse is not leaking.
"We jointly invest in water coaches to help entrepreneurs with mapping water flows. Apparently, some are not open to this advice, as some are convinced that their greenhouse is closed. To those entrepreneurs, I say, prove me that you're right, that your greenhouse is closed." As far as he is concerned, measuring is key, otherwise an illegal discharge will ruin all the credit that the sector built thanks to public events such as Varend Corso and Tour de France Femmes."
The Water Day held last month was also about preventing leaks. Growers were given plenty of practical tips. Growers themselves can also do a lot, provided they are aware of possible leakage risks. Jim van Ruijven discussed a whole list at the Water Day. What might help in the future is that Glastuinbouw Nederland consults with HortiQ, known for its certification for engineering companies. Water leaks should be better prevented by automatically including additional technical safety features in installations. Jim's list can be found in this presentation (in Dutch), alongside another list by Guus Meis of Glastuinbouw Nederland.