Groenhofje Hamiëd and its constructed wetland

The project Groenhofje Hamiëd will be finalized this week. On 13 June at 2:00pm the official opening ceremony will be held at nursing home Hamiëd. During the official ceremony, approximately 50 students from Marnix School and Kolegio Santa Clara will present what they have learned from conducting the project. The minister of Finance and the minister of Health, Environment and Natural Resources will also participate in the ceremony. Each minister will plant a fruit tree to officially open the courtyard. During the ceremony the constructed wetland will be unveiled. The constructed wetland purifies wastewater from, amongst other sources, the bathroom and the kitchen to be reused for watering the fruit trees and the vegetable garden in Groenhofje Hamiëd.

The initiative was launched in May by RBC Royal Bank and Aqualectra, in collaboration with Stichting Huntu Kòrsou and Fundashon Instituto Splikami, to create awareness about water conservation and the reuse of water under eight graders from Marnix School and Kolegio Santa Clara. Because of the project the nursing home now has a suitable place for social, recreational and therapeutic activities for the residents.

These past few weeks, the participating students were taught in several sessions and under guidance of Aqualectra staff how to reduce water consumption at home. The student who managed to reduce his or her household water consumption the most will win a price on the day of the opening. In addition to classes about reducing water consumption, the children learned about the importance of clean water. Part of the project was to plant cucumber, watermelon and green beans in the Hamiëd courtyard and water the vegetables with the purified water from the constructed wetland. Through this project RBC and Aqualectra want to become ambassadors for increasing awareness of the importance of water in societies.

This project is part of RBC Royal Bank’s global programme “Blue Water Project”. In March of this year on World Water Day, a seminar on “Efficient water use in Budget Planning” was organised as part of the Blue Water Project. In order to ensure continuity of this project, the intention is to run this project on new locations and in collaboration with other elementary schools in the coming years.

The Blue Water Project aims to raise awareness of the importance of clean water in the community and make drinking water more accessible. For the financial year 2013-2014 the Blue Water Project focuses on supporting initiatives that contribute to protecting and preserving water in villages, towns and residential areas.