Gaining industrial water audit experience and knowledge in Italy
Thanks to the Lovinklaan Foundation’s excellent and fast decision on my participation in industrial audit, I hurried to Rome on May 20th.
The 1st (of 2) day of the on-site audit started the next morning in Cisterna di Latina with the introductory meeting with the site managers and technicians. We were warmly welcomed, instructed on the safety rules on the site and expectations of the audit. This friendly atmosphere accompanied us during the whole visit. We were a international group of Laura Simone working for ADE, Geert Notenboom – ANL and me from APL. It was an invaluable experience for me, as in the next week I was supposed to start the industrial audit on 2 Polish sites – starting of the Water for Industry (WFI) business in Poland. Laura helped with understanding the situation of the Client and exchanged information in Italian.
My participation in industrial water audit was possible thanks to fast action by René Hoeijmakers ANL, Anna Rusek APL, Rafał Matak APL and Federico Nava AIT. Due to the limited time because of the decision on my Quest and the starting date, I had to quickly read through the documents about the site, which Laura kindly sent to me. She also informed me on the dress-code during the water audit, so I’ve packed my PPE, because the site is 60 km away from Rome.
I’ve been looking for a Quest opportunity for several months, since I was chosen to be the person responsible for Water for Industry in Poland. I didn’t have the experience in water audits, so my goal was to learn as much as possible about preparing the offer, knowing about the client needs and problems, processes on the site and finally, how to do the audit. Thanks to Laura and Geert, I had an excellent opportunity to achieve my goals. I could ask them anything and they were eager to explain all my questions.
The most valuable experience, just ready to incorporate into practice, was 2 hours after the start of the visit, when I had a phone call from the Polish site manager with a question on how the audit in Poland will look like? I have already participated in the kick-off meeting, during which Laura explained the whole stages of our work. Hence, I could easily describe our work to be done in Polish sites. Thank you Laura!
I could also admire a whole range of professional questions asked by Laura and Geert and discussing the possible solutions. Wearing our PPEs, in order to be well-recognized, we followed the pipes and installations, we have taken pictures (after having the probate from the site manager) and we have chosen the measure points, to be analysed the next day. I’ve learnt the methodology of water audit and how to realise it on site. Of course, I will adapt this knowledge to the specific conditions of the Polish sites and industrial profile. These 2 days were fully packed with information.
I was very lucky to participate in the Quest just before my practical work in Poland started and to work with people willing to share their knowledge and experience. It does not only concern my Arcadis colleagues, but also the employees of the factory, who were aware of the audit goals and wanted to cooperate with us.
I want to once again thank for this experience, which was exactly relevant to my challenges in Arcadis Poland.
Dr inż. Monika Kotynia, Arcadis Polska