At the HortiContact event on Thursday, The Transparent Gardeners were awarded the prestigious Water Quality Innovation Award. The award also recognized Delphy’s QMS Water for its contribution.
Frustrated by the ongoing negative attention surrounding water quality, a group of entrepreneurs and organizations, including Plant-E, WUR, and Division Q, decided to take matters into their own hands. Their project was awarded the honor by Greenports Netherlands.
The initiative focuses on creating a method and set of sensors that allow participating growers to independently measure and monitor their water quality. The system also enables farms to detect leaks and share their water quality results openly with the public—provided that at least 10 growers are involved. While the first few growers have already signed up, the team is urgently seeking more participants. After receiving the award, Bart van Meurs encouraged more growers to join the project, offering a 10,000-euro prize to be split among the first 10 participants as a discount on their participation fees.
The award ceremony took place at the KasLokaal during HortiContact, where key figures like Justin Vievermanns from Plant-E, Tim Koning of Division Q, and Jos Balendonck from Wageningen University & Research gathered to celebrate the achievement.
In addition to The Transparent Gardeners, Delphy’s QMS Water won the social innovation category. The QMS Water platform helps horticulturists share crucial data on water and fertilizer needs. By using precise watering techniques, this platform promotes better water quality and reduces fertilizer runoff. This collaborative approach encourages growers to learn from one another while working with reliable data.
