About Azulatis
Optimizing water flows to suit businesses
Brecht Vermeulen, president of The Water Group, explains the strategy of the spin-off: “As a spin-off subsidiary, Azulatis can fully focus its attention on circular water and sustainable water projects. This allows us to even better help our clients achieve concrete goals (better ESG ratings, lower water footprint, savings on tap water purchases, etc.). Azulatis does not serve a public mission but it does have a great social importance. By developing water-on-demand projects for water-intensive production processes, Azulatis can engage with greater clout in the transition to a climate-robust water system for Flanders.”
Better service and faster innovation
Azulatis is a private limited liability company, which also has practical advantages, says Frank De Poortere, CEO ad interim of Azulatis: “By corporatizing the industrial water activities, we can respond faster and more competitively to the demands of industrial customers. The structure of Azulatis is more flexible, which among other things allows us to realize projects faster and set up targeted collaborations with other parties.”
“With Azulatis, we can make a stronger commitment to innovation,” says Hans Goossens, general manager of De Watergroep. “The water economy is evolving with the transition to circular industrial water. Azulatis can focus on introducing new techniques and establish partnerships with specialized partners to that end.”
What services does Azulatis offer?
Azulatis always starts from an analysis of the client’s water flows: the available water sources and the desired water quality form the basis for the choice of technology. These are usually DBFMO contracts: design, build, finance, maintain & operate, in which Azulatis completely unburdens the client according to the principle of “water as a service. Other forms of cooperation are also possible. Increasingly, this involves effluent reuse plants and cradle-to-cradle projects. In this process, treated wastewater is further treated to process water quality rather than discharged to surface water.
Azulatis has a portfolio of about 40 projects, mainly in Flanders. Together they account for sales of 9 million euros. Azulatis mainly targets large water consumers in Flanders. In addition, growth is possible with collectively served customers in Flanders (e.g., business parks, agricultural irrigation projects) but also with customers abroad within a 300 km radius of Flanders.
Why are companies betting on sustainable water projects ?