Water management as an expertise

Aliaxis' mission is to help the world with clean water, sanitation, AND energy accessible to all. Operating in 40 countries and headquartered in Brussels, the company makes advanced plastic piping systems to drain rainwater, among other things.

Commercial director Hilbert Pool: "Within Aliaxis we work with different teams, one of which is solely concerned with rainwater drainage. Managing water is becoming increasingly important. The peak load is ever higher, so it is important to calculate how much water can end up on a property, especially in large buildings such as distribution centers, where this can mean a large amount of extra weight. Every milliliter of water that doesn't stay on the roof reduces the amount of steel and concrete needed in construction."

Recyclable and superior

To dispose of water even more effectively in a sustainable way, Aliaxis developed the first recyclable rainwater drainage system, called Akasison. This was installed at the Dutch Davo Publishing Company, among others. The entire system is made of PE and mounted with steel, making it 100% recyclable. Says Pool, "Moreover, the superior performance of the system significantly reduces the maximum weight a roof has to bear. Almost all parts of Davo Publishing's building can be recycled or reused elsewhere. For this circular building project, we sat down with the developer, architect, contractor and installers. This gave us the opportunity to share our expertise, introduce the Akasison system and have an impact on the design of the building." 

Global expertise

Aliaxis likes to think about stormwater drainage early in the construction process. "This is advantageous for all parties. We think very solution-oriented and have built up a lot of expertise worldwide." 

Water drainage is important not only in commercial buildings. "For residential buildings, a good internal water management system is essential, but green or blue roofs also contribute to stormwater treatment. Many companies have nice sustainable talk, but our main goal is to provide beautiful and sustainable solutions."

At the company's test center, rainwater runoff is provided insight. "We can actually test any practical situation, we build up the roof and run water over this to see what happens, especially now that there are huge spikes in water loads, this is important. This is something we need to do together. Drain water, but also store it and give it back in doses. Managing water, instead of throwing it over the dike."