Vaporous sidewalk tile wins RIONED innovation award

The ZOAK® clinker from TileSystems has been named sewer innovation of 2020 by participants at RIONED Day. The clinkers and tiles made of Very Open Waste Ceramic allow rainwater to pass through and can store 6.5 mm of water. That water evaporates again and contributes to temperature reduction.

Rob Alards and Maarten Rijs of TileSystems presented the new paving for sidewalks, squares and terraces. "With the ZOAK® clinker you tackle two climate problems: rainwater harvesting and heat stress reduction" says Rob Alards. Maarten Rijs adds: "ZOAK stands for Very Open Waste Ceramic and is a fully circular product made from recycled ceramics." The clinker is frost-resistant, noise-reducing, colorfast, very strong and can itself be recycled.

Participants at the RIONEDdag on Feb. 6 in Utrecht chose the winner of the RIONEDinnovation Award after presentations by the four nominees. The RIONEDdag is the annual congress in the field of urban water management with this year more than 700 attendees from municipalities, water boards and companies.

Demonstration ZOAK® clinker, winner of RIONED Innovation Award 2020
(Photo RIONED Foundation/Michelle Muus)

The three other nominations were:

- Better digital collaboration: The combination of BIM, SE and GIS enables better digital collaboration. A new development from the Municipality of Rotterdam (Corné Helmons) and Area Managers (Peter Caesar).

- Kolkgoot: With the Kolkgoot, rainwater flows through the sidewalk. An innovative product from Bleijko (Peter Broos) and the municipality of Veere (Thomas van Sluijs).

- SAM4: SAM4 enables predictive maintenance of pumps and other critical assets. An innovation from Semiotic Labs (René Wellens) and Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland (Richard van Leeuwen).