Improved Freshkeeper Reference site. Improved Freshkeeper reference site in Noardburgum, the Netherlands (TRL7)

“Salinization of freshwater abstraction wells and freshwater well fields can be mitigated or even prevented by the interception (abstraction) of the intruding or upconing saline water. This is called the Freshkeeper concept (Figure 1). In 2009, drinking water company Vitens started a first field pilot to test this concept in an abandoned well field in Noardburgum, the Netherlands (Oosterhof et al., 2013). Fresh and brackish groundwater were abstracted simultanouesly (one well, two seperate filter screens) at similar abstraction rates (50 m3/h). The freshwater was distributed directly to the nearby drinking water production plant; the abstracted brackish water was desalinated (brackish water reverse osmosis; BWRO), after which the fresh permeate was distributed to the production plant, while the BRWO concentrate was disposed of by deep well injection (seperate injection well) into the underlying (brackish) aquifer. This pilot ran until 2013, with unforeseen success regarding prevention of salinization: simultaneous abstraction of fresh and brackish groundwater had even provoked a downconing of the fresh-brackish water interface, i.e. a freshening of the production aquifer.
This report provides (1) an overview of the technical setup of the Noardburgum Freshkeeper, and (2) the results of Freshkeeper testing between June 2015 and
November 2016. Conclusions and practical lessons from this report (D1.2) and SUBSOL report D1.1 (Rijpkema and Van Doorn, 2017. Validated regional scale groundwater model Noardburgum) have been valuable input to full-scale Freshkeeper implementation at Noardburgum in April 2018.”

(Citaat: Oosterhof, A., Rijpkema, S., van Doorn, A., van Dooren, T. – Improved Freshkeeper Reference site. Improved Freshkeeper reference site in Noardburgum, the Netherlands (TRL7) – SubSol D1.2 (2018))