Aquaenergia and Deschacht join forces for repair of CIRO irrigation system
In the Limburg municipalities of Kinrooi and Maaseik, the CIRO irrigation system was installed in the early 1980s as part of the Ophoven land consolidation project. CIRO stands for Coöperatieve Irrigatie Ruilverkaveling Ophoven. A section of the main supply pipeline—constructed in DN500 GRP in 1990—was renewed at the end of 2023. For this replacement, contractor Aquaenergia used Deschacht's new DN500 ductile iron supply pipes.
Aquaenergia – headquartered in Beringen – has more than forty years of experience in installing and renovating underground pipelines and in creating new and renewing drinking water and sewer connections. In late 2023, client CIRO asked to replace part of the eighty-kilometer-long pipe network – which irrigates no less than 2,200 hectares of agricultural land. The reason? Since 1990, about ten water leaks had been identified in the heavily used pipes. So it was urgently time for a thorough repair.
Unique irrigation network
“The CIRO irrigation network is unique in Belgium and far beyond,” says Dominiek Ryelandt, general manager of Aquaenergia. “The network features a pump station with a capacity of up to 2,200 m³ per hour, with an operating pressure of 11 bar. Spread across 80 kilometers, there are 462 tap points that bring the water from the Meuse all the way to the plots.”
“The network is composed of pipes with various diameters. A 600-millimeter pipe starts at the pumping station, followed by 500 millimeters after the first junction, narrowing further to 150 millimeters at the ends. On a key section, our technicians replaced 800 meters of 500-millimeter glass-fiber reinforced pipes with DN500. We chose ductile iron—supplied by Deschacht—and matching fittings because of its long lifespan and high reliability.”
Ductile iron makes the difference
“With Deschacht, we are the exclusive distributor in Belgium of ductile iron from Electrosteel, which has been a manufacturing specialist in it for over sixty years,” confirms Jeroen Walgraeve, account manager for the Flanders utility pipelines team at Deschacht. “We offer our customers a complete range of ductile iron pipes, fittings, valves, and accessories.”
“In practice, we notice that these products have excellent mechanical properties, making them very strong and elastic,” adds Dominiek Ryelandt. “Our technicians enjoy working with this material, as assembling joints and cutting pipes and bevels goes very smoothly.”
Exceptionally long lifespan
With high wear resistance, tensile strength, and impact resistance, Deschacht’s ductile iron pipes guarantee an exceptionally long service life. Jeroen Walgraeve: “A lifespan of more than a hundred years is a major advantage of this material. This long lifespan ensures extra sustainability in various areas: fewer leaks in the pipes, fewer repairs, and less loss of precious water. In this way, Deschacht—together with partners like Aquaenergia—is doing its bit for sustainable projects such as the CIRO irrigation system.”
More info about this project? Contact Jeroen Walgraeve via 0497 58 88 61 or via [email protected] .
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