jafrul.hasssan@gmail.com's blog

Back in the bus after our tour was over, there was one thing we could all agree on: the image of  our guide snatching a blanched, unbelievably soggy Maggi noodle cake from the conveyor belt,  and letting us touch it before immediately ripping it into pieces will forever become a core  memory in our lives. “Cows eat instant noodles” was probably not the takeaway we anticipated  from the tour, but this kind of unexpected revelation is what makes an industrial tour all the more  intimate. Our tour started with introductions and small-talk from Nestle representatives. There was a  retired military personnel, food safety officer, business major, and engineers both veteran and  newbie. My family has no STEM majors besides doctors, so being an aspiring environmental  engineer, this was the exposure I craved for long. We went through a half-hour long  presentation about Nestle and a briefing on our actual tour. Finally, we got to don our PPEs and  ill-fitting safety shoes and marched ahead behind our guides! At first, we got into the biochemical lab. Although each Nestle product has its own specialized  testing lab in specific countries, initial screening is first done locally to maintain food safety. We  were then taken into the sensory board. Here food products are blindly tasted by a selected  committee to maintain a standard taste. Product shelf-lives are also determined here. Then came the long awaited visit to the production room. Our guide showed us its  manufacturing from mixing the dough to packaging. The dough, after being thinly flattened and  sliced, is instantly shaped into its recognisable coiled form. It is then boiled, cooled, fried and  dried before being wrapped in a clear plastic packet. A high-end metal detector checks for metal  contamination. Spice packets are automatically added to each cake, and any packet without the  spice is automatically rejected. All noodle wastes are used as cattle fodder (as our guide  demonstrated overzealously). Afterwards 4, 6, 8, 16 packets are encapsulated accordingly, and  a program makes sure each pack meets the weight measurements. The noodle packs were  then assembled in cartons for shipping. Thereafter, we were taken to Nestle’s water treatment facility. As SJWP finalists, water  management is our forte. We asked our guides a fusillade of questions, and every question we  asked was met with descriptive answers. We discussed how Nestle’s water management could  be made even more efficient, better technology, and their financial implications. Nestle has two water treatment systems. One for blackwater, which is treated and expelled, and  the other for greywater from industrial and human use, which is recycled. Over the years, Nestle has gone from disposing of all their waste water, to slowly recycling more and more of the  waste. Both the waters are stored in vats with circulating fans and mixed with active sludge  (bacteria) to break down biological contaminants. After a few days the water is left to settle  down for the sludge to separate from the cleaner water. Treated black water is let out into a sand-gravel pit for it to filter out further and mix with water  bodies. On the other hand, the greywater is taken into a silo where it is aerated and further  circulated to separate leftover wastes and bacteria. Then it is cleaned through reverse osmosis  and used for cooling machinery, steaming products and as flush-water. Reject water from the  osmosis is used for gardening. An industrial tour is not so much about the factory itself as much it is about the unification of the  starry-eyed learners and seasoned specialists. No matter how much we laughed about it, in the  end our tour had us talking about issues most people will not discuss casually: marketing,  pollution, worker rights and democracy. I felt privileged to have that conversation at all, as most  people are still not aware of the drastic implications of our actions on our environment and the  near future.  For me, the biggest impact of this trip was how it shifted my perception of environmental  engineering. Up until that point, I only knew about their general duties, not what it could look like  in an actual worksite with a specific set of duties. The fact that I felt competent enough to  engage with the industry experts of a multinational company really boosted my enthusiasm for  the field. Thus our “tour” came to an end. We were given lunch (sadly no Nestle products). And then we  had to take pictures in the July sun where we almost got baked alive. We took some time to  unwind, and got into the bus again for Dhaka. Writer: Arisha Faiyas  

Over the last few months, we had been theorising about all sorts of water-related topics for the SJWPBD competition. Truth be told: a water treatment project is relatively simpler to visualise if you just want to do it theoretically. However, it is difficult to account for real-world minute issues while theoretically proposing a methodology for water treatment, without having a proper practical visualisation of real world application of water management , as we had to do. On July 27th, it was finally the day - when we were supposed to visit the factory of one of the world's largest conglomerates, Nestlé, arranged by SJWPBD and House of Volunteers to gain a better understanding of how a real-world water management system works. It was probably 7:08 a.m. when I arrived at the University of Dhaka campus with my teammate Rikthi. As we walked up to the place, we noticed some of the volunteers were already there. Other participants, such as Arisha, Nafiz, Shegufta, Raisa, Sumya, and others, gradually joined in within a while. We took our seats and commenced our journey at around 8:10 a.m. What started as a sort of "industrial-tour-for-practical-experience" quickly turned into a more joyful trip, complete with that exquisite picnic vibe. We all sang, boomed "Yellow"on the bus, and had a good discussion about what we would be expecting in the plant. And after a 2 hours of bumpy ride, we finally entered Nestlé's gates. Following the initial introduction and refreshment, we were presented with a comprehensive introduction of the entire facility, its employees, the industrial processes it utilises, and the policies it has implemented that are in alignment with the ones Nestlé has decided touphold globally as a part of their climate consciousness. It was now our turn to go to the production lines. For obvious reasons, we were asked to put on PPE and other protective gears as specified by the company in order to ensure safety. We examined the entire supply chain of goods, beginning with how raw goods are collected, tested, transformed into consumer items, quality assurances, and finally packaging. After visiting the production line, it was time to see what we originally came here for: an actual water management system of an industry. We were amazed by the company's investment in its water management sector. Taking waste water, treating it on multiple levels, and reusing it in washrooms and other places impressed us. They even stated that they were very close to achieving their objectives regarding water usage within a few years. After visiting the facility, we had that visualisation of how a real water management system actually works, and how we need to take into account the simplest and minutest of the factors into consideration, thanks to the amazing coordination and explanations of the plant officials and in charges. It definitely changed our perspective on how big corporations nowadays are becoming more conscious of conserving natural resources, as well as the overall climatic balance and parameters of the area in which they operate. After having lunch with the entire team, it was time for us to return to the city. Honestly, it couldn't have been a better day out in the open with like-minded people. Thanks to Nestlé and all the people associated for arranging this for us. Instead of just an ordinary industrial trip; it turned into an amazing day out, and it would be unfair not to acknowledge all the bhaiyas and apus of HOV, who tirelessly supported and ensured that we had such an amazing day. For some of us, I believe this trip will serve as an exordium to something much bigger in the days to come!Writer: Aprotim Paul 

This trip generously arranged by the organizers of sjwpbd aided us in the process of acquiring an actual practical outlook on the reality of water treatment methodology. It's rather easy to visualize a water treatment project theoretically or imaginatively. It's quite difficult to account for real world minute issues while theoretically proposing a methodology for water treatment without the figurative visualization of already existing projects. I believe that was the primary purpose this project covered. Besides that of course it was exciting to say the least to experience the production lines of Nestle. It's even better with a bunch of enthusiastic and friendly people. The whole tour was not just a walkaround of the apparatus they used for all kinds of purposes; it was a full on comprehensive explanation for the entire experience. They prioritized specific scientific analogies in the process and invested quite a huge amount of valuable time on us which is very plausible. Even the head project managers invested their time in giving us an in depth overview of bacterial purification, ROM etc. One of the things that intrigued me the most was their prioritization of hygiene in the production lines. The amount of supervision to maintain a project of that extent was astounding. The hierarchy of official leadership we saw was one of the primary forces keeping this system functionable. All in all this trip enabled us to get acquainted with abilities which we will require to manifest our concern for water issues in the modern world. I would like to thank the organizers immensely for this opportunity. Writer: Rikthi Pranadhik (SJWPBD 2022) 

On July 27th of 2022, House of Volunteers had arranged an industrial trip along with the Stockholm Junior Water Prize Bangladesh finalists at Nestlé Bangladesh factory located at Sreepur, Gazipur. It was about a 55 km trip from Dhaka. We had reached the factory by noon and the area was calm & pleasant. We were warmly welcomed by the executives of Nestle. After that, we attended an informative presentation on Nestle and Nestle Bangladesh as well as the Sreepur Factory. Nestlé, the world's largest publiclyheld food company,was formed in 1866 by Henri Nestlé. In 1992, Nestlé Bangladesh started its commercial operations. In the meantime, they informed us of some safety guidelines together with safety equipment we had to maintain during the production line visit. After the presentation, we went on to visit the production facilities of the factory. We had to maintain their health safety measures which they strictly maintain. We went to the quality assurance labs they use to maintain the quality of their products and got to know their measures to assure the quality of their products. It was fun to get to know how the labs were used and every product was tested. We went to visit the production unit of the famous noodles brand Maggie after the lab visit. The entire production line of Maggie is fully automated with a long conveyor chain. An interesting fact is that the waste food part of maggie is used as cattle food. We got to see how the noodles were made from basic ingredients and packed to send them to different parts of the country. Our main goal of this visit was to understand how the water was used and treated at the factory.We got to know that they are working on making their factory as water efficient as possible by reducing water wastage, increasing the efficiency of their processes and taking various measures to reuse water wherever possible. We went to their water treatment plants and got to see how the used water was reused in appropriate cases.The engineering officer informed us thoroughly how they processed water and we followed him to see the journey of water inside the plant. The visit was overall a fun experience and we got to gather first hand experiences at the factory. We also enjoyed the ride which was fun.  Writers: Muhammad Abrar Zawad (SJWP 2021) & Tanjim Zaman Khan (SJWP 2021)