Water scan: Hanssens Catering
Hanssens Catering is a catering company specialized in the production of hot meals. These meals are freshly prepared daily and delivered hot (> 60°C) mainly to schools. The company NV Frans Hanssens involves the new production site (2019) in Wevelgem. Additionally, there are production sites in Oosterzele and Groot-Bijgaarden. Across the three locations, approximately 50,000 meals are prepared daily.
Witteveen+Bos was commissioned to conduct water scans for both the Wevelgem and Dilbeek sites. During the water scans, it quickly became clear that Hanssens (especially at the new site in Wevelgem) was already taking many measures to save water. However, our experts were able to suggest a few areas for improvement. Now, about a year after the water scans, Hanssens has implemented a significant number of measures to further reduce water consumption:
- A procedure was established to prevent emergencies, ensuring no unnecessary loss occurred in 2023;
- Several old industrial dishwashers were replaced with new, more efficient models;
- At both sites, Hanssens increased the number of meals produced without increasing water consumption for the daily cleaning of production areas and machines;
- At the Dilbeek site, an RO installation was placed as a pre-treatment for the water used in the steam boiler. This achieves (limited) water savings and energy savings (by reducing boiler blowdown);
- Rainwater usage for irrigating outdoor plants was reduced.
Effects of the water scan
Thanks to these measures, Hanssens managed to achieve a total water savings of 713 m³ of tap water per year across the two sites. This has made the production process even more water-efficient, which is nicely reflected in the specific water consumption. In Wevelgem, it decreased from 3.0 liters per meal to 2.6 liters per meal, and in Dilbeek, it dropped from 3.5 liters per meal to 2.5 liters per meal.
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