More and more attention is being paid to greenery in urban areas and buildings. Architects are increasingly making challenging designs in which greenery plays an important role. Technical irrigation systems are necessary for a long life and sustainability of the greenery in these projects. Comgate spoke with Kris Bouhuijzen, Director Owner of HB Water Technology. The specialist who designs, supplies, realizes and manages these systems. For a carefree irrigation system, sensors are used that measure soil moisture, temperature and water pressure and which can be monitored and managed via an online dashboard. To be able to access the data, HB Water Technology has opted for Capestone hardware and Comgate's connectivity with an eSIM.
HB Water Technology was founded in 1997 as HB Tuintechniek and is a real family business. In 2010 Kris Bouhuijzen took over from his father Henk. In 2016, the choice was made to fully equip the high-quality installations for the business segment. Many opportunities were seen in this market. A good choice, because this focus resulted in a turnover growth of 30% in the same year.
“HB Water Technology is the specialist in water-technical activities in gardens, greenery in the broadest sense of the word and water features. Our water technical activities consist of irrigation systems and irrigation systems for roof gardens, vertical gardens, inner gardens, planters and other high-quality green projects. We are a technical partner for gardeners, contractors and (garden) architects in the business market, but we also work directly for companies and government institutions. In good consultation, we take care of the entire process from advice and engineering to delivery and installation of our products. Because we develop and design the products ourselves, they are very user-friendly. Something that is recognized and appreciated worldwide in the collaborations we enter into ”, says Kris Bouhuijzen.
To control and monitor accurate irrigation of green projects from a distance, HB Water Technology and its sister company IMC developed the IMC box; Irrigation Moisture Control. The 'iMC Box' is an innovative combination of the operation of an irrigation system with the current data from moisture sensors, a water pressure and flow sensor, a temperature sensor and various free monitor contacts. Fully remote controllable via the internet with a smartphone, tablet or PC via the browser or APP. This box generates real-time data communication that can be read via a dashboard.
“To establish this connectivity connection, we ended up at Comgate. It was soon indicated that our data needs could be fully met with 4G routers suitable for an industrial environment and a eSIM data bundle. The generated data is at the interface of multiple parties and stakeholders such as the municipality, building manager and contractor, who make grateful use of reports for irrigation and water management in the broadest sense of the word. For example, the reuse of rainwater is becoming an increasingly important element in water management, linked to weather data”.
The 'iMC Box' is connected to a server via a mobile internet connection, which is created with a 4G router. If necessary, each box can be safely reached via a fixed IP address. The Box is fully adjustable both locally and remotely by means of the APP. The display of the data from the sensors is combined with remote control of the irrigation. In this way there is one clear overview from which everything can be controlled and managed.
Topology HB Water Technology
Future vision
Fully automated water-technical activities also help customers far beyond the Dutch border. “Our roots in“ waterland ”The Netherlands certainly work to our advantage. We see many opportunities around IoT in the field of water management. Different data resources will be increasingly linked in the future. A party such as Comgate is complementary to us. For example, we purchase the hardware and connectivity in a subscription form, fully pre-configured and ready for use. The easy upscaling and downscaling of our sales is a plus for our cooperation, also in the future ”.
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