Complex process automation of Haarlem Waarderpolder WWTP

The Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland Water Board has started an extensive renewal of waste water treatment plant Haarlem Waarderpolder. ICT Group is to realize the process automation of the highly complex installation. Additional challenge: during construction, the purification plant must continue to operate. 

Haarlem Waarderpolder (HWP) is one of Rhineland Water Board's largest projects. The aging wastewater treatment plant on the east side of Haarlem is getting a makeover to meet new requirements for water quality and to accommodate the growth of residents and businesses in the region. When completed on schedule in 2031, the treatment plant will be able to process the wastewater of some 296 thousand households and businesses with a capacity of 9,000 cubic meters of wastewater per hour. The wastewater treatment plant will also process sewage sludge from other Rijnland treatment plants to make energy-rich biogas. 

In close cooperation with Rijnland, ICT Group will realize the process automation for the new treatment plant. "We at Rijnland have a framework agreement with three ICT suppliers, who do many automation projects for us and know our software standards well," says Peter Dubbelman. He is technical manager integrality on the project from Rijnland. "After a mini-competition, ICT Group emerged as the winner. In the assessment, we looked at quality, cost control and who provided the best team with the right project experience for this project and vision for the technical elaboration." ICT Group is involved in a large number of sewage treatment plant renovation projects in our country. The existing process automation at Haarlem Waarderpolder was also built by ICT Group.

One party for all control software

The major rebuilding of the treatment plant with a good portion of new construction will take place in phases over the next few years. Two contractor consortia have been appointed to build a new water line and a new sludge line. Five engineering firms are working on the design of the new wastewater treatment plant. "Because of the integral interplay of treatment and sludge processing, we chose one party to make all the control software," Peter explains. "The process automation must be able to accurately control this complex whole. The complexity also lies in the various conversion steps. Everything must continue to function properly and understandably for the operators. They also have to master the automation and be able to work with it properly and easily."

Rebuild and purify at the same time

An additional challenge is that the current treatment plant must continue to operate during the renovation and new construction. New installations will be added, such as the post-treatment of the treated water. Installations that are no longer needed will be decommissioned. Temporary installations are also needed for sludge processing, among other things. "We have to translate these dynamics to the process automation to be able to control all the different installations at the right time," says consultant and design leader PA Jurg Bremmer of ICT Group. "The control system must be able to support this transition flawlessly. Not only per installation, but also to monitor the entire process. For example, the volume of incoming wastewater can change. If it rains, a lot of water arrives at the treatment plant. The processes must be able to cope with that. With smart ICT solutions, we can proactively control the treatment steps of the water further down the process. Security is also an important issue."

Based on the software standards Rijnland uses for its process automation, ICT Group also plans to develop standard building blocks that are also suitable for process automation at other Rijnland treatment plants. "This will make the control software ready for the future," adds project leader PA Marcel Struike of ICT Group. The new treatment plant in Haarlem will apply Nereda® technology, which is already in use at a large number of sewage treatment plants. At many of these treatment plants in the Netherlands, ICT Group provided the process automation. "For Rijnland, Nereda is a new technology. So we are bringing our knowledge to this project," says Marcel. Rebuilding and new construction will start in early 2026.