Rietland has been designing and building constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment since 1994.
Dion van Oirschot, founder and still business owner, combined his technical background from Eindhoven University of Technology with his passion for the environment. Since the start of the company, several hundred systems have been designed and built in Belgium and the Netherlands. Initially, the emphasis was mainly on the treatment of domestic waste water of private homes in the non-sewered rural area and at ecological housing projects. In addition, various projects were carried out with the treatment of rinsing water from dairy farms. A number of projects have also been realized for Water Boards for the removal of nutrients (N and P) from surface water and drainage water. Thus we have gained a lot of experience with different types of reed beds, each with their specific strengths.
In the first years, Rietland mainly worked with the vertically flowed helophyte filter, or percolation reed field. This system was further developed by Rietland into a robust, compact and efficient system for wastewater purification. In 2009, this development marked a milestone in obtaining the CE mark. This made Rietland the first and only European company to date with a CE-certified reed bed in accordance with European standard EN 12566/3. Rietland also participated intensively in a number of educational projects at schools in Mechelen, Westmalle and Oudenbosch and in the Huizingen provincial domain.
Businesses also showed growing interest in the purification of their wastewater with plant systems. Clients included Fluxys, Sibelco, Bebat, Antwerp Port Authority, Warsco Units, Novotel, Microflor and Dow Chemical.
To exchange knowledge and experience with other experts, Dion van Oirschot visited various international conferences of the IWA and WetPol and fruitful partnerships were established with Ingenieurbüro Blumberg (D) and Naturally Wallace Consulting (USA). Rietland started to focus attention as well to the treatment of industrial waste water and the dewatering of sludge. A new type of treatment wetland was also introduced: the aerated reed bed, which can handle larger loads at a lower surface requirement. A very noteworthy application of the aerated reed bed was realized on the Badboot, a floating swimming pool in Antwerp. In 2014, Rietland won the Project Innovation Award of the International Water Association in the 'design' category. Rietland further developed the aerated reed bed concept in the Phyto series with the Phytocube® for private individuals, the Phytoair® for larger applications and the space-saving Phytoparking®.
Internationally, Rietland worked on projects in Dubai (UAE) and Jordan and participated in the HIGHWET project (EU – FP7) in collaboration with research partners Aimen (Sp.) and Aarhus University (Dk.). The other two participating SMEs were Kilian Water (Dk.) and Sedaqua (Sp.). Rietland also worked on various projects in Italy, together with Iridra. And in China, a number of canal water projects were realized together with DeHua Ecotech. The Multisource Horizon 2020 project started in 2020, where research is being conducted with international partners on Nature Based Solutions for water purification, storage and reuse. The first project in Kenya under a G-STIC subsidy program followed in 2022.
Rietland combines thorough expertise with creativity and versatility in finding the best solution for your wastewater problem. We strive for a solution that is both green and profitable. And one you have as little as possible need to worry about.