The Pharmafilter Concept emerged as the overall winner in the four categories. The jury report speaks of ‘a very innovative way to achieve better water quality while also saving on water and energy consumption … the system took the most innovative approach of all the applicants’. Earlier this year, the Pharmafilter Concept already received other awards, such as the Dutch EEP Award and the prestigious ‘De Vernufteling 2008’ award, in which report the Pharmafiler Concept was referred to as 'the most innovative’.

The Pharmafilter Concept
The importance of hygiene to hospitals hardly needs any amplification. It costs time and money. Moreover, medicines (residues) are discharged into the water environment through the hospital’s waste water disposal system. Commissioned by the Reinier de Graaf Gasthuis (hospital) in Delft, the company Pharmafilter, in close cooperation with Grontmij, developed an entirely new concept, based on biologically decomposable cutlery, packaging, incontinence material and IV bags. These items are processed along with the hospital’s waste water, at the hospital, into a slurry that is easily purified. It is then purified outside the hospital. This enables the hospital to make substantial savings with regard to personnel, waste taxes and transport costs. It also takes the burden off of the environment.

Sustainable care
The concept zooms in on every single phase of the care process, with a view to arriving at more sustainable working methods. The application of the Pharmafilter Concept, which is a combination of optimised logistics and ultra-modern technology, culminates in a marked reduction in both the need for labour at the bed and the waste (water) emissions.
 
Initiative
This project was undertaken at the initiative of the Reinier de Graaf Gasthuis in Delft. Grontmij designed and further developed the aforesaid project together with Pharmafilter. A team of Grontmij experts worked on this project. The initiator was Dr Jelle Roorda Eng, whereas Nico Wortel Eng and others directed the project in Delft. After the initial tests with this working process, the Reinier de Graaf Gasthuis is so enthusiastic about it that the hospital’s new construction project (scheduled for 2012) will completely incorporate this principle. The Aquatech Innovation Award is a prestigious international award that is presented to the most innovative entry in the area of water.