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Hein Molenaar (left) and Rudy (middle), Water Alliance’s
e Robbert Lodewijks in Singapor
7 Questions for Rudy Dijkstra Who are you, and what do you and your company do?
I am Rudy Dijkstra, CEO of Acquaint. Acquaint develops hardware and software to determine the quality of drinking water and wastewater pressure lines and predict when they will fail.
Why is that good for the world? Anticipating ageing infrastructure is the top priority for the Western world. Consider this: somewhere between thirty and sixty per cent of all drinking water produced is lost to leakages during transportation or distribution. That problem is only going to get worse as water scarcity increases. We can prevent new leaks and increase the efficiency of the available personnel.
Can you name two examples where your involvement in the Water Campus has been good for you? Acquaint owes a lot to Wetsus’ Smart Water Grids research theme. We are actively participating in four ongoing studies here. We also regularly work with the Water Alliance when it comes to export.
‘We work with the Water Alliance when it comes to export’ You heard via an online connection that you had won the Leeuwarder HET entrepreneurial prize while in Singapore. How was that? ‘Út de skroeven’, as they say in Friesland. It was three in the morning here, and we were anxiously waiting for the announcement. There was an incredible surge of emotion when we finally heard we had won.
Let your business desires run wild for a moment: where will you be in three years? We will be active on every continent.
You recently travelled to Singapore with the Water Alliance. What was your goal? Our goal was market exploration and orientation regarding potential operating partners, as well as holding talks with water companies from Asia and the Pacific.
How do you look back on it? It was highly successful. We had good meetings with concrete results that exceeded our expectations. I definitely expect to come back here. The Water Alliance also introduced us to the Water Company of Singapore, which was very inspiring!
Acquaint’s Douwe Kooistra (left) receiving the HET prize from alderman Abel Reitsma. Photo Simon v.d. Woude
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