KWR researcher Johan van Leeuwen appointed senior fellow at Utrecht University

Van Leeuwen earned his spurs at, for example, UU with years of research in the Griftpark in Utrecht, which is known because of the contamination of the soil by a former gas factory at this location. The researcher is also involved in the European MIBIREM project which was established to develop an innovative toolbox to use microorganisms for soil remediation at contaminated sites. Van Leeuwen’s appointment as senior fellow will strengthen the university’s leading position in education. The researcher is intrinsically motivated to work on soil contamination and soil remediation in the broadest sense. “In my new position, I am seeing people come to me instead of the other way around,” he says. “I enjoy that immensely.”

Underlying questions

Van Leeuwen is not the only KWR researcher with one foot in the university world. He explains how that works. “Until now, I was seconded to UU from KWR on a project basis. As a senior fellow, I now have one day a week for my academic work. And that will benefit water practice. KWR works with short-term projects that answer practical questions from the water sector. This work brings me close to the drinking water utilities so that I get to know the problems they struggle with very well. But I often find that there are fundamental questions underlying those challenges. People working in the field don’t see that immediately. When, as a result of working with universities, you have the opportunity to go into depth in these areas, you start to see the underlying questions and the bigger picture. That is why I have been working for some time to develop a line of research on soil and health. I do that on the basis of my position at KWR and UU. By solving practical sub-questions, and looking at what the underlying questions, you add value to the water sector. That’s worth its weight in gold.”

Strategic boost

Van Leeuwen also believes that his appointment as a senior fellow will bring benefits for KWR. “In recent years, I have been working a lot on how PFAS behave in our living environment, but also in other porous media, such as the sand and activated carbon used in water treatment plants. This issue is high on the agenda of drinking water utilities. In Waterwijs, the joint research programme of the drinking water utilities, we are in an excellent position to implement projects in this area. But you also have look at the longer term: what are the important questions, what do the answers contribute to the big picture, and what has to be done to achieve that? Longer processes of this kind are more suitable for a university.” What Van Leeuwen also sees is that his UU profile means that external stakeholders such as ProRail or industry organisations come to him with research questions. “They ask me to set up a project,” he says. “But often I have to tell them that I lack the manpower to do that at the university. In cases like this, we can turn to KWR, where we have teams for all kinds of disciplines ready to answer questions from the field. So it works both ways, providing us with a mutual strategic boost.”

Not a born academic

When he is asked to give examples of partnerships between KWR and UU, Van Leeuwen refers to the university’s PFAS living lab, of which he is the scientific coordinator. This living lab explores all sorts of questions relating to the removal of PFAS from soil. And an annex to the Wennink Report ‘The Route to Future Prosperity’ includes a project proposal by KWR, UU and the Amersfoort-based company High Voltage Engineering Europe for the development and testing of an innovative technology to remove PFAS from water. It is possible that Van Leeuwen is so comfortable with this balance between practical research at KWR and the academic world because of the pathway – which has not always been conventional – he has followed in his career. “I am not a born academic,” he himself says. “I actually stopped studying Civil Engineering twelve years ago. But when a professor at UU asked me to give guest lectures about the transport of pollution in the groundwater and groundwater remediation, that rekindled my passion. I returned to my study motivated by an inner drive. After completing my bachelor, I went on to a master’s, a PhD and a post-doctorate career. And now this position as senior fellow. So I didn’t discover the academic in myself until later in life.”

Making an impact

It is Van Leeuwen’s dream to contribute to cleaning up substances in the environment that don’t break down, or hardly at all. And for the chemical industry to produce less of these substances. “I always tell my students: I see myself as industry’s bin man. That’s quite a challenge but it is very satisfying to be in a position to make a difference and encourage others to help. Coming from a contractor’s family, I have a practical background. That’s why I think academics should not just talk to each other: that means you can often only solve only tiny issues. But if you look at the components of a social problem with different disciplines, and manage to combine it into a uniform question, you have much more impact.”