AMSTERDAM — Vitens has won the Aquatech Innovation Award 2013 for their humic acid project, which reuses the humic acid byproduct of water treatment as a plant and soil improver called HumVi used in the agricultural sector, according to a press release.
Vitens had already won a prize in the subcategory Water Treatment before being awarded the overall prize out of five finalists, the release noted.
"The overall prize shows that we are on the right track by no longer regarding our waste as waste, but as valuable residual substances," said Rik Thijssen, business development manager at Vitens. "It is therefore that I dedicate this prize to all our creative researchers who fulfill this promise in actual practice."
An added benefit of the HumVi project is the reduction of artificial fertilizer and phosphate use, which in turn reduces the amount of fertilizer that enters groundwater.
Please visit the Vitens website for more information.
