In addition to water tanks, we have also supplied and constructed many excavated basins worldwide. These reservoirs are made up from earthen walls, lined with a film. They have many advantages and sometimes they are chosen over metal water tanks, especially when cost-effectiveness is important, an extra large storage capacity is needed or when sufficient land is available for installing a basin.  

Also in developing countries we have supplied liners for excavated basins. They serve as a good water storage solution in these areas, because many developing areas suffer either from drought or from excessive rain fall. In both situations, it is a good idea to let basins collect and store rainwater. Rainwater falls for free and is most of the times of good quality.

For developing countries, excavated basins have extra advantages. The liner for an excavated basin can be delivered prefabricated, welded in our production facility under perfect conditions. It happens that on the installation site there is no electricity, no advanced (welding) machinery or no specialized labour. Sending a fully assembled liner minimizes the need for specialized labour, as the liners arrive ready to be placed without special skills or machinery needed. This makes an excavated basin a practical choice for areas with limited technical expertise and facilities.

For irrigating plants, crops or flowers, a clean irrigation and water storage system is a must. Even though using chlorine is not ideal in horticulture, in some parts of the world it is used frequently to keep water storage systems clean. Chlorine helps prevent contamination and stops bacteria from growing in the water. Chlorine is aggressive and unpredictable though and therefore it is hard to always find the right dosage. For example, every 10 °C increase in water temperature doubles chlorine’s activity. This is why growers in warm climates often have issues with chlorine reacting with the tank liner. When the water is already clean, chlorine looks for other substances to react with, and most often, that is the liner.

Our ENPEX CP liner is specially designed for storing clean water with higher chlorine levels. ENPEX CP (Chlorine, Potable water) combines strong mechanical durability and UV resistance, with the ability of handling up to 250 ppm of chlorine. This is 10 times more than typical liners used for clean water storage. Bear in mind that proper dosing is key to ensure the chlorine is evenly spread through the water.

NPI is highly certified in handling the ENPEX CP liner and can offer supervision and training to help customers with proper installation or process the liner on-site.

NPI supplies the ENPEX CP liner as a standard in 0,75 mm.

At NPI, we pay a lot of attention to the optimisation of our products. We further developed our ENPI-float (air cover). What changes have we incorporated?

In very windy areas, ENPI-floats in large diameter water tanks sometimes are challenged to stay in place. We have been testing the addition of a floating tube on the outer edges of the cover, to give the cover an increased buoyancy. This floating tube is a perforated tube that fills with water, enhancing the cover’s stability and ensuring that it stays in place even better.

We have installed the covers with the tube system on multiple tanks in windy areas. The test results we have received back are very positive. The wind has less grip on the covers, and the covers stay perfectly in place.

All in all, we believe this is a simple but very effective addition to our ENPI floats. Moreover, it is an inexpensive solution and easy to install.

We are working on making this optimisation available for order in our client portal soon. Stay tuned!

We would like to introduce the people behind our film and water storage solutions

Our colleague Gerard works at NPI since the beginning of 2022. He is an all-round worker in our warehouses and works at all our warehouse locations. Lately however, he has mainly been stationed at our headquarters. This warehouse is situated next to the production site, where we produce most of the custom-made films and a part of the liners for water and manure storage. Gerard explains what kind of work he does at this location: “I am mainly responsible for packing and preparing the custom-made film orders for transport. I load and unload trucks and I also help the production with the supply of materials. Of course, there are also many ad-hoc tasks and general assistance required on a daily basis.”

He enjoys working at this location. “I work with multiple departments here: colleagues from production and the office. I like this interaction and collaboration.” He adds that he also really enjoys the variety in the work. No day is the same, and that appeals to him a lot.

Gerard has also worked in warehouses at other companies and has an IT background. His broad warehouse experience and background are very useful in understanding and optimising processes and workflows. This way, a logistical challenge is rarely too big for Gerard!

More than 20 years ago we changed the method of securing the liner to the tank; we started making use of the Install+ liner fixing system. Install+ is a simple system where a coloured band is threaded through a prefabricated slot in the tank liner. The band can then be tightened with ratchets, ensuring the cord gets taut and it keeps the liner neatly in place.

Before the Install+ system was applied, PVC and later stainless steel eyelets were welded in the hem of the liners. Ropes were threaded through the eyelets and attached to metal hooks, keeping the liner in place. This method was more labour intensive and water would accumulate in the ropes, dripping down at the hook locations. This often led to the first signs of rust.

Install+ is a simple system, but it offers several mayor benefits to customers:

The Install+ system ensures extra protection for the metal, the liner and the top of the tank, which in turn guarantee a longer service life of the water tank.

Steel water tanks ensure optimal water quality!

Using steel water tanks for fish farming offers several advantages. One of the main advantages of fish farming in steel water tanks is the controllability of the environment. We will take a closer look at this controllability in this blog.

Fish farming in steel water tanks is often a preferred choice because breeding fish in tanks means working in a closed system. There is no connection to open water or sea. Because fish tanks are closed systems, there are many parameters that can be monitored and it provides a high level of control over water quality. Crucial obviously for a good production.

We will take you step by step through the benefits of fish farming in steel tanks, a closed system:

The steel water tanks are part of a closed system, which means that there is control over all materials entering the water. Steel water tanks can be connected  to various systems such as filtration, aeration and monitoring systems. This enables control over parameters like water quality, oxygen levels, temperature and pH.

Steel water tanks also ensure that water can be reused. This recycling reduces the need for fresh water input and minimises water wastage, promoting sustainability in fish farming operations.

The nutrients present in the water are also often effectively recycled and reused. Thus, with steel tanks for fish farming less nutrition gets wasted.

Read more about NPI water tanks for fish farming and their other advantages here.

Poor water quality is the most common cause for diseases caused by the environment. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to maintain optimal water quality in the system at any time. Fortunately, in a closed system, water quality can be monitored and adjusted when needed. This way, optimal conditions for fish are created, resulting in good fish welfare and product quality.

We would like to introduce the people behind our film and water storage solutions

This month: a short interview with our longest-serving employee, Jouke Jippe. Jouke Jippe has been working at NPI for 31 years.

Jouke Jippe is an allround welder. He works with a high level of independence and can work on almost any production floor. He works in the pond liner department, he now and then works in the sewing department where he sews covers and produces fleece to measure, but Jouke Jippe really excels at the special products department. This is where he works 90% of the time.

In this department, we produce a wide variety of custom-made film products. If you would walk in at any random moment, there is always a different product on the production floor: from tents, ice rinks, pond liners, air cushions, water beds to sails. Customised products, repair and maintenance, Jouke is skilled in all of them. He is a true craftsman, working precisely and with an eye for detail.

He had to think for a moment. “The gigantic film roof we produced for a recycling center in Hamburg, in 2012. That was a challenging project in many ways, but it luckily worked out well.” This project involved covering a waste collection and recycle center with a film construction that included 2.700 m2 of film.

He chooses this project in Germany again! And he adds: “I also liked a project in Sweden. We produced a film roof for a stage at a Swedish festival. That was quite a unique project.”

“No day is the same. Every day, a different product needs to be custom-made, which makes the work very varied.”

We would like to introduce the people behind our film and water storage solutions

Yaso joined NPI in 2021. He started with operating our welding machines that perform batchwise welding. He quickly also mastered the use of handheld welding devices, which makes him deployable on all our production floors. He is a valued team member at our large production floor, where we weld custom film sheets up to 5000 m2. Here, we also produce our silo liners, where Yaso is often involved. Additionally, Yaso often works independently in our sewing atelier, confectioning anti-algae covers for our silos. He even helped out at our warehouse, when they had busy times.

However, he enjoys production work the most. Particularly because of its variety. While he enjoys welding on the main floor with the team, he also takes pleasure in sewing covers or running the pond liner department alone. But his teammates enjoy having him around! Yaso is a hard worker who never complains and never gets stressed.

And he has further expanded his experience and expertise. Two years ago, Yaso started accompanying Jan for welding jobs on outdoor projects. Yaso has since completed numerous projects!

Keep up the good work Yaso!

This World Water Day, NPI raises awareness for the 2 billion people still living without access to safe water. As a leader in water storage solutions, we once again underline the importance of the collection and storage of water. The global water crisis is bigger than ever, with long periods of drought that affect various geographical areas around the world. 

It is all about taking action to mitigate the effects of drought and the global water crisis. NPI contributes with our water storage solutions in different ways. How?

Our water tanks are installed in communities that face challenges in accessing clean and safe water. These challenges include climatologic factors, geographic location, lack of infrastructure, pollution, poor groundwater quality, rapid urbanisation and population growth. Installed tanks often store harvested rainwater or water trucked in from nearby areas. The water serves as drinking water or for domestic use, such as cleaning, washing, flushing etc. This way our water tanks serve as possible tool in the water crisis, helping directly to improve the health and well-being of thousands.

We have already installed thousands of water tanks at greenhouses, fish farming, farms and (food) processing plants. Water is essential in many sectors; it ensures good yields, production and is a cornerstone in many industrial processes. In this way, our water storage tanks feed the world’s population.

To cope with the weather extremes, we contribute with our films in sustainable drainage systems to retain more water. For instance, our films are installed for infiltrating gutters, green roofs and wadi’s. These water management systems collect run off water directly from roads, squares and parking lots. There they gradually filter the water into the ground. During heavy rainstorms, the sewer system is relieved and the soil gets well saturated.

Improved water storage solutions can make the difference between water scarcity with all its consequences and ensuring a sustainable future. Join us and let’s build climate resilience: let’s make every drop count!

An invisible yet essential component of the steel water tank!

We take the time to tell something about an invisible yet absolutely essential component of the water tank: the protection fleece. Let’s share the ins and outs of our protection fleece.

Our protection fleece is a non-woven geotextile, manufactured from 100% polypropylene staple fibers. The fibers are mechanically bonded through needle-punching process and also thermally bonded to form a strong, flexible and dimensionally stable fabric structure.

The mechanical properties of our fleece guarantee a high resistance against mechanical damage and pressure. It has excellent permeability properties to air.

Our water tanks are supplied with protection fleece as standard. The felt should cover the metal walls of the water tank and preferably also the floor before the silo lining film is installed. The pieces of fleece should overlap slightly. This ensures that the film is protected against mechanical damage from sharp elements in the ground.

Protection felt also serves to divide the pressure by spreading the weight of the water evenly across the surface area of the silo liner. This prevents localised pressure points, reducing the risk of damage to the liner and ensuring its longevity.

The fleece acts as a barrier between the metal tank and the silo liner. It also prevents interior condensation, in different ways. As separation layer it helps to prevent direct contact between the liner and the metal surface, reducing the likelihood of condensation forming on the inner surface of the tank. It also can provide insulation. By adding an additional layer between the metal tank and the silo liner, the fleece helps maintain a more stable temperature inside the tank, minimising condensation. Moreover, the fleece can absorb moisture to a certain degree, reducing the potential for condensation to form on the liner.

Our protective felt is applied for several reasons:

Our protective fleece is always supplied with the steel water tanks in a standard thickness. However, at NPI, we offer various thicknesses of fleece. Available per roll or in sheets of any size, made to measure by welding sheets together.

Our fleece finds its way into many different applications and projects worldwide, including ponds, projects in the civil engineering sector, green roofs and projects where we install buffer fields. In fact, for almost all projects where we install film, we also install protection fleece!

Let us introduce you the people behind our film and water storage solutions

Jan is perhaps the most talked-about person of NPI ánd the most talking person of NPI. You often hear him long before you see him, and that has been the case for a remarkable 24 years! Jan joined NPI in 1992. With his welding skills, he quickly evolved into a true all-rounder. Over time, however, he developed his own specialisations. Jan excels in the special products department, where he welds customised items such as sleeves, covers and 3D ponds. But even more so, he is the leading man for NPI’s outdoor projects at location. In case his face is familiar to you, we get that. As our main outdoor welder, he is often the one seen in photos!

Although he took a brief detour to another employer, when NPI asked him to rejoin the outdoor work team in 2008, he was back on a welding project within a week. He says, “It was as if I never took a break; I hadn’t forgotten how to weld! I could dive right back in.” Dive in he did, traveling the country and the world over the following years. He welded hundreds of ponds, basins, cultivation floors, breeding tanks, covers and more. The film projects took him to nearby locations and to very exotic locations: Portugal, England, Germany, Mexico, Canada, Angola and many more. He found the projects in the United States and Sweden the most exciting. In Sweden, they lined construction reservoirs for the new to be built Øresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden. A unique project!

Today, Jan’s enthusiasm remains unchanged. While ten years ago, he wouldn’t have accepted not going on an outdoor project, he now appreciates the variety in his work and paves the way for new talent. Jan is a wealth of knowledge and experience, now actively passing it on to younger colleagues!

We are excited to introduce our updated installation guide for our steel water tanks! We took the time to rewrite our manual and the installation steps are now illustrated with graphics.

Installing our water tanks has always been easy; a small team and some basic tools are all you need. However, with this manual we try to make installation even simpler. We designed this manual for our customers so they can optimise the installation of our water tanks and get the most out of them.

The guide explains, step by step, how to install our water tanks from A to Z. With the manual it is easy to identify the different components and the required parts. We also pay attention to preparing the groundwork and getting the foundation ready. We explain how the protective fleece and liner should fit into the tank. Later it tells how the tank should be filled with water, how to install in/outlets and how to install an anti-algae cover. We conclude the installation guide with maintenance tips.

This manual is from now on included with all our orders. The English version is included as standard but the manual is also available in other languages (Portuguese, Spanish, German and French). As an extra service for our customers: we also developed a neutral version of our installation guide, free from logo’s and branding. As we continuously strive for improvement, the development of this manual is an ongoing process to align perfectly with our customers’ needs.