Meet our people: Nicole

Let us introduce you the people behind our film and water storage solutions

Nicole started her carrier at NPI in our warehouse, where she easily outworked her male colleagues. She was a brilliant order picker but after a few years she needed a new challenge, which our production management was happy to give her. She joined our production team.

Initially, as first lady at our pond liner department where she processes mother rolls to neatly stacked pallets with sealed pond liner rolls. Now, she is a real allrounder: welding different films and getting to know the intricacies of our special products department. Here we manufacture 3D pond bags and we produce many different film products to measure. And don’t forget her highly valued role in the projects on location these days. Welding and assisting in all weathers!

Nicole is our powerhouse. Always optimistic, always with a can-do-attitude and no challenge is too big for her. Keep up your good work, Nicole!

Cold spring nights with temperatures subzero lead to exciting days for (fruit) growers. Overnight frost can cause significant damage to fruit blossoms, threathening the harvest of entire fruit orchards with failure. 

The past years we have lined various excavated basins and silos for (fruit) nurseries at home and abroad. Irrigation techniques have been shown to be very effective in the protection of fruit, trees or crops from frost damage. The water sprayed on buds from water sprinkler systems, connected to the basin, forms a protective film around the plant.  It cools down the plant and it keeps the buds above its critical damage temperature.

Important in this frost protection method is that permanent sprinkling with water must be maintainted as long as there is a risk of the plant freezing due to frost. If the sprinkling of water would be interrupted, the water film would freeze completely and the plant would freeze to death.

Read about a few of our frost protection systems in Serbia, Poland and the Netherlands.

All about our newest liner: the chlorine resistant liner

For many applications clean water storage is indispensable. Despite of the fact that the use of chlorine is not desired in the horticulture sector, chlorine is a common helping hand in keeping water storage systems clean, avoiding contamination and bacteria growth in water. Due to the aggressive and unpredictable nature of chlorine, it is hard to always use the correct levels of chlorine in water storage. For instance, every increase of 10 °C of the water will double the activity of chlorine. Especially when the water is already clean, chlorine searches substances to react with. Most of the times this is the tank liner.   

Together with leading raw material producers and processors NPI has developed a new type of liner material, specifically suitable for the storage of clean water with higher doses of chlorine. ENPEX CPL (Chlorine, Potable water liner) combines good mechanical strength and UV resistance with a maximum Cl absorption of 250 ppm. This is 10 times more than the current usual liners used for storing clean water.

NPI is highly certified in processing the ENPEX CPL, and is able to provide supervision and training for its customers to make correct installations and or process the liner at location when necessary.

NPI delivers the ENPEX CPL as a standard in 0,75 mm and 1,00 mm. We can also supply 0,60 mm on project base.

Ensuring the highest quality of water in all circumstances!

Fresh and clean water is the key to your business! For many applications, a reliable supply of clean water is indispensible. The water needs to meet drinking water standards and/or needs to be free of dirt, debris, contaminants and bacteria. UV light should be blocked to avoid the growth of algae.

When you are looking for the maximum protection of your water we recommend you to install our steel roof. Our galvanised steel roofs are the most reliable and robust covering systems on the market. The roof is designed for all weather circumstances and can withstand snow loads and strong winds. The roof prevents:

The roof consists of lightweight, easy-to-handle panels that can be linked together to create a watertight roof. The steel roof is provided with two hatches as standard to allow access to the tank.

Let us introduce you the people behind our film and water storage solutions

Jerryt entered NPI in his late adolescent years, son of one of our fellow production employees. What started as a temporary job, soon grew into something serious. Jerryt became a highly valued, permanent member of our production team within no time. He learned quickly and with his precise way of working, he soon mastered all the work. And more! Jerryt has a strong sense for technology and he was put to work on the more specialised tasks, producing different kinds of custom-made film products for specific purposes and welding 3D pond bags.

For the past five years, Jerryt has been production manager. He manages the indoor and outdoor welding team and is first point of contact. He keeps an eye on continuity and improvement of the production processes and is an indispensable link between the office, management, the production team and planning. This loyal, always cheerful guy (okay, except for 9 AM) gets every day the best out of himself and out of his colleagues.

What he enjoys most is the diversity and to play a role in contributing to improving, both quality and quantity wise. To many more years of Jerryt at NPI!

When your water storage tank is empty, it absolutely needs to be secured. As written before, it is really important to have a proper foundation. Besides this, it is also very important to give good stability to the tank, especially in situations when there is no water in the tank. Wind can slightly move the tank, potentially causing damage to the liner or deforming the circular shape.

In many occasions the tank base is excavated for approximately 40 cm deep, but also many water tanks are installed directly on the concrete base. When installed on concrete, we always use tank base brackets. These brackets are L-shaped and their job is to join the concrete bottom with the erected metal tank wall at a 90 degree angle, creating a whole lot of extra support.

When installing a water tank, always fill the tank first before attaching the tank base brackets to the concrete. This allows the tank to settle first.

A cost effective, simpel but strong solution to cover your water tank

Your water tank is located outside and is year-round exposed to the elements. And thus, so is your stored water. Algae formation, evaporation, heatening of the water by UV radiation and dirt worsen the quality of your water and could eventually lead to malfunctioning of the irrigation system and plant loss. To maintain the quality of the stored water optimal it requires a cover that protects your water. 

A good all-rounder is the ENPI-float. Since it is available in any size it is also extremely suitable for water tanks with larger diameters. This smart and relatively new solution is made from polypropylene and it is covered with small, air-filled bubbles which give the cover a high degree of buoyancy.

The top layer of the cover is white, which reflects UV rays. This reduces heating of the water in areas with high levels of sunlight. Also in harsh climates the ENPI-float does a great job. Especially for larger tanks it can be a challenge to keep a covering system in place in bad weather. Due to the shape of the bubble, the ENPI-float creates a vacuum on the water so the cover sucks itself onto the water surface. When firmer anchoring is necessary; the ENPI-float can also be delivered with weighted bags for wind protection.

The ease of installation is great; centre poles or reinforcement rings are not necessary. Moreover, the product can be installed on empty or full silos. Installing an ENPI-float is a typical one man job.

Read more about our other types of covers.

Another great achievement

Quality and doing things better have always been priority within NPI. Sometimes this means that we apply even more procedures than advised by the different approval authorities.

In addition to purchasing only the highest quality of certified materials from our suppliers and having elaborated certificates from KIWA, ISO and AEO for our own processes, we are pleased to announce that we now have CE marking on the full waterstorage system. Making the quality even more visible!

The CE-marking is a clear indicator of a product’s compliance with EU legislation. With CE marking, it is declared that our products have been tested against all applicable EU legislation requiring CE marking and are in compliance with the health, safety, performance and environmental requirements relevant to our products. Another great achievement for NPI!

Let us introduce you the people behind our film and water storage solutions

In the spotlight! Romke: one of our longest-serving welding specialists! Romke joined NPI almost twenty years ago. He is highly skilled and within NPI known for his marvellous detailed connections and hot air welding. He strives to continuous improvement of his welding techniques and even after 20 years he manages to find out a new welding technique.

His technical understanding has also contributed to the development of a variety of tools and equipment. One of his merits is related to the development of the perforator for punching the holes for the Install+ system, our system for connecting the liner to the tank.

During the years Romke did many welding jobs on location, both in the Netherlands and across the border. One of the projects that stands out most is the welding job they carried out in England. Romke was part of a welding team that welded prefabricated film panels together for a basin for a riding stable of polo horses.

But above all, he is proud of his team and the great output they deliver. We could not agree more!

All about the first and very essential step in constructing a water tank

Preparing your site and base is one of the most important steps in installing a water tank. Remember that every liter of water is one kilogram of weight, so your metal silo easily amounts to tonnes of weight.

In our latest installation instruction we explain in detail the first and very essential step in the construction process: digging in the basin. However, we love to share just a little more on this topic. We set up a short Q&A to provide more in-depth information about how to prepare the site for your water tank.

Q: A clear X mark is visible in the centre. Why is that?
A: The tank needs to be built in a perfect circle. In order to do so, you just take a piece of rope and check. If it is not a perfect circle, pressure can build up to one side and the liner will appear not to fit on one side.

Q: The infographic shows the liner materials placed inside the tank. Why?
A: Placing the liner materials inside the tank avoids struggling to get a 500 kg liner over a tank wall of three meters high, once put up.

Q: I see clearly the suggestion to place the tank in an excavated area. Why?
A: This is for additional wind stability. When the tank is empty, the steel shell is vulnerable to wind. It would not be the first tank to be blown away.

Q: The instruction says the diameter of the construction has to measure 1 meter more than the diameter of the basin. Why?
A: This 1 meter creates required working space.

Q: I read the basin should be dug 1 meter from the wall of the plant/green house or approximately 1,5 meter from a ditch. Why is this?
A: This distance is needed to create working space. It also creates stability and security.

Q: The instruction says the pitch should be covered by a layer of sand of minimal 10 centimetres. Why?
A: This layer prevents sharp objects in the soil coming through, such as branches, stones etc. The sand layer also gives the liner some extra space to settle.

Q: A concrete foundation is recommended. Why?
A: Tanks must be placed on a very solid, even and levelled surface. Concrete is by far the most apt material for this.

Q: The manual sets out the bottom ring of the basin must have an extra, durable coating on the outside. Why?
A: The coating gives an extra protection to the bottom ring. The bottom ring is the point where ground and air meet each other and is this is always a vulnerable area.

This Q&A was set up on the basis of our brand new installation instructions. We found out that many steps in the instruction are the same as 20 years ago. Why? These construction steps work, and there is no point in changing a winning team.

But why are we doing the things the way we do them? This question has at the same time trigged continuous product and installation improvement. We changed minor things in the order of installation and found more convenient installing materials.

Besides, this question also made us reflect and realize it is good to explain certain installation methods. Sometimes we are blinded by experience.

Soon we will be back with more installation tips and tricks.

Safe and fresh water is becoming more and more scarce these days and therefore it is important to use and re-use your water. Either it concerns irrigation, process water, cleaning water, fish farming or drinking water.

As such, it is no coincidence that our tanks have grown enormously in popularity in recent years. Our modular systems have several important benefits, allowing you to quickly install large water storage capacities wherever you need them.

Whether it is on a mountain top, in a forest or even in the desert; you can bring easily our compact modular system to any remote location. In this way NPI enables growers to cultivate crops everywhere, providing a safe way to store irrigation water. With our modular steel tanks we also make clean and safe drinking water available, even in the world’s most remote places.

Why?

Our metal tanks are modular which means they consist of prefabricated sections such as the metal panels, the tank liner, protection fleece, the cover, accessoiries etc. These prefabricated sections can be assembled on site, making water, and therefore prosperity, available at the hardest to reach places.

This prefabricated package comprises a complete construction kit including all installation materials (excluding tools). The water silos have been designed in such a way that they can be built with only manpower and a few simple tools. There is no need of electricity.

Our metal tanks are made specific to your needs. This way our water tanks can be prefabricated to meet any height or diameter and with different roof styles. Due to this flexibility we are able to bring water and to maximize volume at areas where it otherwise would be difficult to reach large water storage capacities.

The compact size of the packets of our tanks make them extremely suitable for exporting them across the globe. Besides, especially for overseas export purposes, we have designed a short panel tank. In contrast to the standard panels, “short panel” tanks fit sideways in trucks and containers. This makes this tank type particularly suitable for shipping by sea container and thus to reach even the other side of the world.

NPI supplies local markets across the globe via an extensive dealer network. Our dealers are based in more than 60 countries worldwide, which means we are never far away.

The summer is coming to an end and autumn is just around the corner. The seasonal change implies some recommendations for handling a tensioned anti-algae cover at your water tank.

Algae are known for clogging up filters and driplines, leading to plant failure and extra maintenance. Our standard tensioned anti-algae cover is designed to reduce sunlight in the water and hence the growth of algae. This ensures clean filters and driplines releasing the right amount of water to your plants.

In autumn and wintertime the sun is getting lower, so algae do grow less. For outside installations this is the time to carefully check your tank cover. Dirt, debris (falling leaves), snow and large amounts of rain water can cause the cover to become impermeable and heavy, adding unwanted inward forces on the supporting steel structure of your tank.

The best option is to remove your anti-algae cover, clean it and store it. Place it back again in springtime.

Our tensioned anti-algae covers are made from 210 gr. woven polypropylene with a reinforced edge and stainless steel eyelets. The cover can easily be supported with PVC tubes. This cover is subsequently attached to the outside of the tank with special hooks and nylon cord. The primary purpose of the anti-algae cover is, as the name suggests, to prevent algae growth. It also prevents contamination of the tank contents with small objects and protects against water evaporation. The woven cover is water permeable.

The tensioned anti-algae covers are most suitable for tanks with a diameter of up to approx. 9 metres. For larger diameters, we recommend installing a reinforcement ring in the upper ring, combined with a centre pole.