The municipality of Oost Gelre and REMONDIS Smart Infra will jointly carry out the management and maintenance of the pressure sewers and sewage pumping stations in the municipality for a period of at least eight years in a construction team. A unique partnership that, according to both parties, offers more room for innovation, optimization and sustainability.
Until recently, the management and maintenance of the pressure sewers and sewerage pumping stations in the municipality of Oost Gelre was contained in a conventional contract form. "Two years ago, we started rigging a different type of contract to make more use of knowledge and expertise from the market," says Arjan Spaargaren, manager and supervisor of the sewers and urban water within the municipality of Oost Gelre. "In doing so, we first conducted market research to gauge whether market parties are ready and, above all, whether there is interest in this new way of working together in a construction team context for the management and maintenance of the sewers. Because, in our humble opinion, it is unique by Dutch standards."
In the traditional contract form for maintenance of pressure sewers and sewage pumping stations, the division of roles was very clear. The municipality specified what needed to be done and market parties could price it out. In contrast, actively involving the maintenance contractor in the design drives innovation, according to Spaargaren. "This is because the contractor himself has a say in how he approaches maintenance as efficiently as possible based on his years of expertise. That is also why a deliberate choice was made for a long contract period of at least eight years, with two two-year extension options, in order to make it as attractive as possible for all parties and precisely to stimulate innovation." Wim Osseweijer, director of REMONDIS Smart Infra can agree, saying, "In the new situation, we are indeed stimulated and motivated to invest in quality and can effectively respond to potentially changing situations in the future. So the operational reliability of the installation is increased because the budget is used efficiently. Together we ensure an optimal system so that the residents do not experience any inconvenience from sewage."
After a fruitful design process, the implementation phase was awarded to REMONDIS Smart Infra on March 4, 2022. In total, this involves the management and maintenance of more than 700 pressure units and 30 pumping stations. REMONDIS has already initiated a number of actions, such as risk-based maintenance. "For example, we have determined the risk profile for all locations. At locations with a high risk profile, we perform more intensive maintenance than at locations with a low risk profile. These are accelerated and renovated. Risk-based maintenance also means that we can deploy our employees more efficiently, which also prevents unnecessary transport movements," explains Stefan Beerten, project manager at REMONDIS Smart Infra. "A failure is analyzed in detail to minimize the number of follow-up failures. And the moment we find, for example, textile in the pumps, photos are taken of it and a letter is subsequently prepared and delivered to the connected parcels of land in order to create more awareness about our sewer system."
The entire system has been fully calculated by REMONDIS Smart Infra via Pipe-Flo. "This prevents us from correctively performing an action somewhere that causes an obstruction further on," Osseweijer says. "And in that, interesting things come up, such as the unnecessary oversizing of pump setups, for example. When replacing them, we can now sometimes apply lighter pumps. That saves in purchase, energy and efficiency. A win-win situation, it cuts both ways. As REMONDIS we have all the expertise in-house to implement this innovative contract of the municipality of Oost Gelre with our own people. A contract that, as far as we are concerned, will soon be followed up."