Our events
Our events
Water doesn't just magically come out of the tap. We want to make more people aware of this. We do this at events large and small, with a nice (free) glass of tap water from our water bar. Or we invite people to visit one of our water production centres on World Water Day or Open Bedrijvendag, so that young and old can take a look behind the scenes and see for themselves how tap water is made.
School children visit De Watergroep for World Water Day
22 March 2019 was World Water Day. To mark this event, 420 school children visited our water production centres at Kluizen and De Gavers, where De Watergroep’s employees explained how surface water is transformed into drinking water.
Through a photo hunt, the children learned how the water that comes out of the tap in their homes is treated at a water production centre beforehand. Using experiments, they were able to see for themselves how drinking water is made: they started the photo hunt with polluted water and ended it with drinking water they had made all by themselves. Herman Verbruggen, better known as ‘Marcske’ from the Flemish TV series ‘FC De Kampioenen’, was also present in Kluizen. As the main face of the ‘drinKraantjeswater’ project, he championed the cause for drinking tap water: “Tap water is healthy and good for the environment, and it meets the strictest quality standards. On top of that, it’s 200 times cheaper than bottled water. Still, Belgium is amongst the biggest consumers of bottled water in the world — and I want to help change that.”
1,300 visitors at Kluizen for Open Bedrijvendag
On Sunday 6 October 2019, De Watergroep opened its doors to the general public as part of Open Bedrijvendag, an open day for businesses across Belgium. Regardless of the poor weather, more than 1,300 visitors came to take a look behind the scenes at the water production centre in Kluizen.
‘Producing’ water involves a long chain of processes. During Open Bedrijvendag, we offered people the chance to take a look behind the scenes:
employees of De Watergroep guided visitors on a journey throughout the process of turning surface water into drinking water. Every step in the process was explained in detail, and our younger visitors got the chance to take part in experiments to see things for themselves. If that wasn’t enough, there was also a bouncy castle, face painting and a balloon artist. Herman Verbruggen, better known as ‘Marcske’ from the Flemish TV series ‘FC De Kampioenen’ and the face of the drinKraantjeswater project, was also on hand to serve glasses of water and have a chat with visitors at the free water bar. All in all, the event attracted more than 1,300 visitors.
Free water bar a hit at events
To promote tap water among the general public, we have been supplying free water bars and water dispensers to events ranging from local sports competitions to Rock Werchter — Flanders’ biggest music festival — for a number of years. These water bars are proving to be a big hit.
De Watergroep has three mobile water bars and multiple water dispensers available for use all over Flanders.
In 2019, De Watergroep received 429 applications for free water bars or water dispensers at events. We were able to attend 56 percent of these events. Our peak season started in May and ran until October, but our water bars remained popular throughout the colder months. Among other places, our water bars could be seen at Rock Werchter, the biggest music festival in Flanders, and at the Kortrijk location of De Warmste Week, a funding drive in aid of thousands of charitable causes. Surveys organised during the summer months revealed that visitors were not just delighted to receive a free glass of water, but that the campaign had also encouraged them to drink more tap water at home. In 2020, we launched the water bar 2.0, which will be even more attractive and efficient.