[00:01] Climate-Adaptive Solutions for Public Spaces
Roel van Gils: Welcome to another new episode of GWW-BOUWMAT, the podcast. Public spaces are under pressure. We’re increasingly facing extreme rainstorms, longer periods of drought, stricter sustainability requirements, and a growing need for smart, future-proof solutions. But how do you ensure that all these challenges don’t lead to piecemeal solutions, but rather to an integrated design that will continue to function for years to come? Today, we’ll be discussing this with Willy Bruckers of the TBS-SVA Group. Creating a more sustainable solution. Willy, welcome.
Willy Bruckers: Thank you. It's nice to be here.
Roel van Gils: Look, that's great. I don't think it was that far.
Willy Bruckers: No, it's what you'd call a home game.
Roel van Gils: Well, well, absolutely. Could you maybe introduce yourself first, Willy?
Willy Bruckers: Yes, that’s possible. As you mentioned, my name is Willy Bruckers. I’ve been working at the TBS-SVA Group for about 30 years as commercial director, and as such, I’m ultimately responsible for everything related to sales and marketing.
[01:07] TBS-SVA Group and its various companies
Roel van Gils: Yes, as you mentioned, the TBS-SVA Group consists of several entities. Can you tell us a little more about that?
Willy Bruckers: Yes, the group actually came into being with the merger of TBS and SVA. Those were both separate brands in the market. They were also two separate companies, with two separate production sites. And both had a market share of approximately 40% at the time of the merger. After merging into a single company, you end up with a market share of around 80%. And then you can definitely call yourself the market leader, so to speak. We’re now a group of four. Two more companies have been added. One is DDC in Heinenoord, which stands for Drain Design Construct. The other is IE Systems, a company that specializes exclusively in sewer gas control.
[02:02] Drainage Products and Solutions
Roel van Gils: Okay, so it’s a comprehensive offering in that sense. Because many people might know you for just one product or one solution. Could you describe your product line a bit?
Willy Bruckers: I certainly can. I think most people in the civil engineering sector know us as a supplier of drainage products. And by that, you’re mainly thinking of street drains, sidewalk drains, and drainage channels. But also, for example, the very simple manhole cover—or “manhole lid,” as it’s often called—that you see in the street. But let me put it this way: we’ve come up with perfect solutions for those as well in recent years.
[02:41] Changing Client Demand
Roel van Gils: Look, yeah. Because when it comes to what clients ask—if we think about it—what’s the question you get asked most often?
Willy Bruckers: Well, one of the questions we get asked time and time again is: Okay, we’re working on a new plan. We’d like that new plan to take climate change into account as well. And how can you help us with that? They want to look beyond just the traditional street drain and manhole cover.
Roel van Gils: Yes, because, in fact, you’re not just a supplier of products, but above all a partner who helps come up with solutions.
Willy Bruckers: Yes, of course we’re a manufacturer and supplier of products, but in recent years we’ve been positioning ourselves more and more as consultants. An account manager—or, well, back in the day they used to call that a sales representative, but these days we like to call it an account manager. But we also work with project consultants. And those project consultants can help a municipality, a landscape architect, or an engineering firm—so to speak—think through how to actually implement climate-adaptive solutions in their designs. That’s how we work.
[04:06] Getting involved in projects earlier on
Roel van Gils: So you get involved in the project much earlier—and of course, you’re involved then, too. Instead of just coming in at the very end as a supplier?
Willy Bruckers: Yes, that’s right. Look, of course, when you’re talking about traditional drainage products, most engineering firms and municipalities knew a thing or two about them, so to speak. But when you have to take a broader approach and integrate multiple systems, you sometimes have to look beyond your own products. You can also provide advice—and this is a good example—where you say, “Okay, in this case, it would be best to use Company X’s product, combined with a few of our products.”.
[04:53] Collaborating with Specialized Partners
Roel van Gils: Well, look at that. And that actually brings me to another point: namely, that we’re increasingly turning to partnerships. Okay, can you give an example of that?
Willy Bruckers: Just what I said. BVB Landscaping is actually a company that specializes in growing media. We know a great deal about concrete and cast iron, a little about steel, and a little about stainless steel, but we really don’t know the first thing about substrates. Well, they’re the absolute experts in that field. And the combination of their substrate with, for example, a solution that not only brings greenery to public spaces but also provides water buffering and filtration. That way, you can actually enhance both aspects together.
[05:46] Six Steps in Water Management
Roel van Gils: Yes, yes. Because why are the solutions—the products—that you offer becoming increasingly important?
Willy Bruckers: Yes, look, of course, first of all: citizens don’t want flooding. And the clients—or the municipalities, which are often our clients—naturally don’t want complaining citizens either. That’s what climate adaptation is all about. And so we’ve actually reached a point where we said: okay, we’re the absolute specialists and the largest—the market leader—in the field of drainage. But between ordinary drainage via a street drain and, so to speak, the complete purification of water, there’s still a whole step-by-step plan. And that’s actually where we want to go. We call these the six steps in water management. They actually start off a bit like what we’ve always done: draining or collecting. Collection. Often done quickly. But now the question is often: Can you slow that water down? Can you let it infiltrate afterward? Can you treat or filter that water? Because that’s obviously a very important aspect as well. It’s one of our pet projects. In fact, that’s what inspired us to found AquaCare.
Roel van Gils: Look, we'll come back to that later. We shouldn't rush things. But yes, from one to six—those six steps—you can all do them, right up to the cleaning part.
Willy Bruckers: Absolutely, yes.
[07:18] From Rapid Drainage to Water Retention
Roel van Gils: So those challenges are also different from what they were, say, ten years ago.
Willy Bruckers: Yes. It used to be very simple. The task was to drain the water as quickly as possible.
Roel van Gils: Yes.
Willy Bruckers: That’s completely outdated now. Of course, you have to remove water from the street for traffic safety reasons. But then you have to ask: What does the water look like? Where does it go, and how much space do I have for that? Because that’s obviously very important, too. You can want all sorts of things, but of course you also need to have space underground and space above ground. Well, that’s exactly where one of our project consultants can help you figure it out.
Roel van Gils: Yeah, yeah. So in the past, it was perhaps mainly flooding, but now you also have to take drought into account.
Willy Bruckers: So, essentially, yes. It’s a combination of, of course, preventing flooding and then keeping groundwater levels as high as possible, so to speak. In the Netherlands, that’s very important, especially in the western part of the country, because salty seawater keeps pushing deeper inland when the groundwater level is too low. Of course, a lot of groundwater is also used, so you have to return water to the ground. And another very important factor is, of course, that the water you put back into the ground has to be clean.
[08:32] An integrated approach
Roel van Gils: Yes, yes, yes. Okay. We touched on this briefly earlier. You often talk about an integrated approach. What exactly is that?
Willy Bruckers: Well, what we’re thinking is that you really need to look at the whole process from A to Z—and then also consider the management aspects. So very often, you see that the facilities management and maintenance department in municipalities tends to be a bit skeptical about new technologies. So, really, you need to try to bring multiple parties to the table. Then you need to figure out: what are the… What’s the budget? Because, of course, you can want all sorts of things, but it also has to fit within the budget. And when you’re sitting down with a group of people, you start to come up with a plan that covers everything from A to Z: drainage, traffic safety, water treatment, filtration, and buffering. Well, the whole range, so to speak.
Roel van Gils: Yes, yes, yes. So, a standalone solution, indeed.
Willy Bruckers: So what you’re suggesting is a comprehensive package. Perhaps exploring the possibility of partnering with another firm to create a combination. This would allow us to truly provide the municipality and the engineering firm or landscape architect with a holistic approach.
[09:54] Gully Box, Mini Rain Garden, and Cool City Drain
Roel van Gils: And can you give an example of a project where that integrated approach really comes into its own?
Willy Bruckers: Yes, so if you look, for example, at an inner-city plan that also called for addressing heat stress. Paved surfaces, concrete, limited space—very little space underground due to cables and pipes. And in the end, they decided to buffer and infiltrate the water using the Gully Box. That’s a new product of ours. It’s actually a product you can install very close to the surface of the pavement, so you don’t have to dig down a meter or a meter and a half into the ground. Buffering and allowing the water to infiltrate slowly. But the water you feed into it comes from drains equipped with a filter. So the water was actually cleaned in two steps: first through sedimentation, then filtered again. So the water you feed into that Gully Box is clean. This prevents clogs in the long term—because that was a very common recurring question: “Yes, we have an infiltration system here, but it gets clogged with silt.” That’s why you end up with the approach of filtering first, then infiltrating. And finally, they also implemented—so to speak—Mini Rain Gardens and Cool City Drains. The Cool City Drain is essentially a small gutter lined with plants. That water is also filtered—first by the plants, then by the substrate, and finally by a filter. It’s also connected to the Gully Box. It’s completely filled with BVB’s famous substrate, to which Urban Active Coal has been added, which provides additional purification. And large plants—so you end up with a beautiful, let’s just call it a luxurious planter, because that’s how it appears to the public. But it drains water, it buffers water, and it filters water. And then you can simply direct that water to a wadi further down the line or even a surface stream. So, on the clean side, that is.
[12:18] Management and Maintenance of Climate-Adaptive Systems
Roel van Gils: You’ve listed a lot of products there in a nutshell. What does that entail in terms of management and maintenance?
Willy Bruckers: That’s exactly what makes it so great. We thought this through very carefully. Because one of the many questions we received from municipalities was: Isn’t all of this too difficult to maintain? So what did we do? Take the Gully Box, for example, to start with. It uses drains with filters. So you can feed filtered water into it. It’s also designed so that there are several access hatches or large manhole covers on top, allowing you to, so to speak, enter the system. And because the system is located so close to the surface of the pavement, it’s also easy to reach. You have to imagine that many other systems are often one meter, one meter fifty, or even two meters deep underground. And by designing things like this… Take the Mini Rain Garden, for example. It’s easily accessible from above. You take the plants out, you remove the substrate, you add new substrate and new plants if needed. Yeah, and you’re good to go. You don’t have to dig anything up. Okay, that makes it all more accessible and easier to maintain.
Roel van Gils: And does the municipality handle that on its own, or do you perhaps play a role in that as well, in collaboration with partners?
Willy Bruckers: Well, for example, you can, of course, also work with partners who handle the maintenance. But we’ve noticed that if it’s simple enough and you can explain it clearly to the municipality, they can maintain it perfectly well on their own. Or they can incorporate it into their regular maintenance routine—such as cleaning storm drains.
Roel van Gils: Oh, that's possible.
Willy Bruckers: When cleaning storm drains, you can also clean a Gully Box. Landscape maintenance can also include maintaining a Mini Rain Garden. So maintenance is actually quite accessible.
[14:14] The Origins of AquaCare
Roel van Gils: That's exactly right. You mentioned it briefly earlier: AquaCare. What exactly is that?
Willy Bruckers: Well, people know us, of course, for our drainage products. We started developing AquaCare because of one specific fact, and I’d like to explain that briefly. It’s that we conducted a study. It’s quite unusual. We were researching whether we could potentially use gully sand—that is, the sludge left behind in the gullies—as a secondary raw material in our production. Okay, how do I get that sand? Who collects it? Et cetera. And after a great deal of research, we discovered that there are about seven million manhole covers in the Netherlands that are maintained. And that, on average, eight kilograms of debris… And now I’m just saying “debris” in general.
Roel van Gils: No sand.
Willy Bruckers: And it’s no longer sand, but waste. And why do I say “waste”? Research shows that if you clean that sand, you’re left with six kilograms of cleaned, usable secondary sand that we can use—and are now using—in our production. Two kilograms of those eight kilograms are heavily chemically contaminated—PAHs, PCBs, microplastics, heavy metals. You name it, it’s in there. And that got us thinking: okay, so much water is flowing—often without even entering a storm drain—but straight into underground infrastructure. And all that rainwater falling on public infrastructure carries all that debris with it. So we’re actually creating remediation sites for the future. On top of that, the municipalities raised the issue: it’s all getting clogged up.
Roel van Gils: Yes, that's the reason.
Willy Bruckers: And that’s how we started—by making filter bowls. And eventually, you end up… You start coming up with your own ways to buffer water and filter it. Over the course of two years, we’ve developed a whole range of products that we now sell under the AquaCare brand.
[16:30] AquaCare as a product line and service offering
Roel van Gils: So it's actually a product line, but it's also more of a service, right?
Willy Bruckers: That kind of service—because we have three project consultants who can truly advise the engineering firm, the landscape architect, and also the municipality.
Roel van Gils: Yes, yes, yes. And is this just about drainage, or does it also involve infiltration?
Willy Bruckers: It’s actually the entire step-by-step plan. So drainage—that’s where it starts. You divert water away to keep the street safe. But what are you going to do with that water? We say: treat it, store it, delay its discharge, or let it infiltrate. Well, choose whatever works best for you. Ultimately, the goal is to relieve the sewer system and raise the groundwater level—but with clean water.
Roel van Gils: Well, look at that. So AquaCare has been going for two years now?
Willy Bruckers: Yes, well, it's been two years now, and the first real projects are underway.
Roel van Gils: And do you ultimately remain involved in those projects as well?
Willy Bruckers: We’re certainly committed to the first projects for the short term. Because, of course, we also want to monitor them over the longer term. How does it measure up? Look, you can test any new product on paper and in our own water channel. But, of course, there are always real-world conditions to consider. But we’re convinced that we’ve developed a product—and a product line—that works and will continue to work in the long term. The question now is: maintenance, how often it’s needed, and other details like that. Only practical experience will tell.
[18:04] Sustainability at TBS-SVA Group
Roel van Gils: Yes, I see. You were just talking about the reuse of dredged sand. That actually brings us to a broader concept. What does sustainability mean to the TBS-SVA Group?
Willy Bruckers: I think we’re very progressive in this area within our industry. To start with, we asked ourselves: How can we make our products using less cement? We managed to achieve a cement reduction of as much as 50% without compromising the strength or quality of the product.
Roel van Gils: So, alternatives to…
Willy Bruckers: Well, with different mixtures. In addition, we use at least 30% secondary raw materials. So that includes, among other things, RKG sand—from sewers, storm drains, and pumping stations, so to speak. We also take back products. Those products are crushed; the concrete is cleaned, so to speak, and reused in our production. All of our internal concrete waste streams are also reused. And we’re currently fully focused on electrification. So we have a truck that operates full-time, powered entirely by electricity. Our raw material deliveries are also powered by electricity. We make sure that we only use trucks with Euro 6 engines.
[19:36] Modernization of the production facility
Roel van Gils: Yes, but you also mentioned that your production facility is currently being redesigned and expanded, with an eye toward the future.
Willy Bruckers: Yes, our production facility is currently being equipped with a modernized control center featuring a state-of-the-art buffer silo. This should allow us to use a wider variety of raw materials than we do today. That was one of the limitations we faced. But that should be resolved by the end of the summer break. In addition, we’re also in the process of paving the site. And we’re doing that in an environmentally conscious way as well, with water retention basins and other such measures.
Roel van Gils: Look, of course you use your own products for this.
Willy Bruckers: Of course.
[20:23] More integrated collaboration in the future
Roel van Gils: And if we look a little further ahead, what other changes do you see happening over the next five years, Willy?
Willy Bruckers: That municipal departments will coordinate more closely with one another. That municipal departments, the firms they hire—such as engineering firms and landscape architects—their own divisions, as well as suppliers, will make use of the suppliers’ consultants to jointly arrive at a comprehensive solution. Because that’s where the expertise lies, of course. They often propose solutions that have been used by other municipalities. You don’t always have to reinvent the wheel three times, as I always say. But we’re still missing that integrated coordination just a little bit. I hope that will improve in the future.
Roel van Gils: If we're sitting here again in five years, that will have been resolved.
Willy Bruckers: That would be a dream come true for me.
[21:31] Alternative Raw Materials and FILCOTEN
Roel van Gils: And in terms of developments, which ones are you following closely?
Willy Bruckers: Let’s say: the use of alternative raw materials. First, material savings. Just to give a good example. We currently have a line of drainage channels in our product range called FILCOTEN. It’s made of high-strength concrete, which allows you to make the wall of the drainage channel just as strong. It’s a polymer-concrete channel, but this is just regular concrete and doesn’t contain any BTEX substances. Polymer concrete contains BTEX substances, which are harmful to the soil. It’s actually no longer allowed, but, well, it’s still being used.
Roel van Gils: Because there's no alternative?
Willy Bruckers: Because there’s no alternative. We now have a line of gutters in our product range that are BTEX-free. So they’re basically just made of concrete, but of a high-strength variety.
Roel van Gils: Lifespan—I assume, a long lifespan.
Willy Bruckers: Same lifespan.
[22:40] TBS-SVA as a Knowledge Specialist
Roel van Gils: Yes, yes, yes. And what role do you see for the TBS-SVA Group in the coming years?
Willy Bruckers: That people are increasingly turning to us as the expert in the field of climate-adaptive solutions. People know us, and we’re truly recognized in the Netherlands—especially by government agencies—as a quality supplier of drainage products. That people will also come to see us as a quality supplier and consultant for climate-adaptive solutions.
[23:17] Monitoring in Practice
Roel van Gils: Yes, and does monitoring play a role in that as well?
Willy Bruckers: Yes, definitely. We’re conducting a pilot project together with Rijkswaterstaat. We’re part of that effort. There are several parties involved. But we’re working very closely with Rijkswaterstaat, the client. Monitoring is being conducted. So that will also allow us to see what actually happens in practice over the long term. And this is truly a situation with a lot of traffic, including heavy traffic—you name it.
Roel van Gils: He's really got his hands full.
[23:55] Comprehensive Solutions and Closure
Roel van Gils: Finally, what do you hope listeners will take away from this episode? And perhaps clients as well?
Willy Bruckers: That clients do indeed see us not just as a supplier looking to sell a product, but as a source of expertise they can turn to with questions. And that we want to think beyond just our own product to offer a comprehensive solution.
Roel van Gils: Okay, that's well said, Willy. Thank you.
Willy Bruckers: You're welcome.
Roel van Gils: And listeners, thank you for listening.
Willy Bruckers: Hi.
