Peter van Thienen PhD

Principal scientist

030-6069602
peter.van.thienen@kwrwater.nl
06-54293706

Deep Adaptation for the Water Sector, phase 2

This project is researching and developing an action perspective for the water sector in relation to possible rapid and long-term changes in the local context or in society that result in new…

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Methods for decision-making under deep uncertainty

Progressing climate change, technological developments and population growth put our society and also the water sector in a situation of deep uncertainty. Deep uncertainty is a technical term for the unpredictability of…

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Digital water – building a conceptual cost-benefit framework based on the experiences of frontrunners

Several water companies at home and abroad have taken far-reaching steps in digitising their operations. In this project, we deepen our understanding of the drivers of frontrunners for…

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AIR: autonomous inspection robots for drinking water pipes

Effective asset management results in the optimal performance of the drinking water network. Such management requires a good picture of the condition of the pipes. However, the inspection…

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Test network for research on inspection tools and drinking water distribution

The most valuable and at the same time least known part of our drinking water supply system is the buried transport and distribution infrastructure. Once the pipes are…

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Ariel

KWR and Wetsus have developed a prototype of an inspection robot for drinking water networks. Within the AIR project, this prototype will be further developed into an operational, fully autonomous robot system. Effective asset management through frequent…

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Resilience of distribution systems under crisis scenarios

This exploratory research project is producing an inventory of the possible physical and cyber threats (crisis scenarios) that present a potential danger to the proper functioning of drinking…

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Discolouration prediction tool for optimal cleaning policy

The quality of drinking water in the Netherlands is excellent. Nonetheless, this quality can deteriorate between the water production site and the client. One of the key water-quality…

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SmartWater4Europe

European water utilities face many problems related to their 3,5 million km’s of distribution networks. Large parts of water distribution networks have to be rehabilitated requiring investments of € 20 billion/year. Prioritization and optimization of investments is…

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Perspective and preconditions for the development and use of autonomous inspection robots in water mains

Asset management of distribution networks is currently based on generic knowledge and models of mains groups, supplemented by inspection data on a limited number of mains. Effective asset…

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Material properties required for shallowly buried pipes

Brabant Water has developed the concept the Tertiaire Net van de Toekomst (TNT) (Tertiary Network of the Future). According to this vision, the tertiary network will be installed…

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Strategies for the optimal placement of water quality sensors in the distribution network

Monitoring water quality with sensors placed at strategic points in the distribution network provides an online picture of water quality during its distribution and in the vicinity of…

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INTEREST – Investment in, and returns from, sensor networks

The current monitoring of our drinking water quality is done on the pure water as it leaves the production location and as it flows from the customer’s tap.…

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Path and prerequisites for implementation of backtracing and source identification in hydraulic packages

In the event of a drinking water contamination incident, the tracing of the contamination source is crucial in limiting the negative impact on customer satisfaction and health. Hydraulic…

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Our expertises

News

Blog

Contrary to expectations: trial and error

17 June 2025 — When things don’t go as you expect, there can still be important lessons. So the word ‘failure’ shouldn’t…

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Blog

Prediction of pipe failure with Artificial Intelligence

01 April 2025 — Pipe failure causes loss of drinking water and damage to third parties. Knowing when or where it occurs…

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Blog

Improved insight and control with Digital Twins at water utilities

28 June 2024 — Digital twins provide water utilities with a new tool to increase the understanding and control of systems and…

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Blog

Climate change risk management for the water sector

04 December 2023 — More than ever, it is important for the water sector to understand what is ahead of us, to…

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News

Water sector benefits from considering more extreme climate scenarios

27 November 2023 — Climate scenarios set out a clear direction but they do not describe all relevant and plausible possibilities. So…

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News

Cutting water consumption with the smart use of data

20 November 2023 — How can digitalisation help to reduce domestic water consumption? This question was centre-stage at a meeting of the…

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News

Is there more than just data?

07 June 2023 — The focus in Hydroinformatics (HI) soon tends to be exclusively on data. But do we think enough about…

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Blog

The big picture and the details – impressions from EGU’23

08 May 2023 — Decisions taken in one crisis's heat may have unforeseen long-term consequences. Science should evolve to help society prepare…

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Blog

Climate change, migration, and our water supply systems

12 April 2023 — "Mass migration, either uncoordinated or coordinated, is a relevant scenario for the water industry for the coming decades.…

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News

Working with sensor data: still a lot of decisions to make

06 March 2023 — Drinking water companies use sensors for automated and regular measurements. The sensors generate large amounts of data. Decisions…

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Blog

Pipe condition modelling – more data is better, but no panacea

24 February 2023 — It is essential to bring and keep our water distribution networks to a high level of performance (i.e.…

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Water Sector

Using data effectively for the sound management of concealed assets

26 January 2023 — As the mains get older, monitoring the condition of underground pipes is increasingly challenging for drinking water companies…

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News

Focusing on data-driven expertise

22 November 2022 — For staff at drinking water utilities the sharp increase in the volume of data means that a great…

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Blog

The future is brAIt – impressions from World Summit AI and opportunities for the water sector

18 October 2022 — It is in October that 2500 AI enthusiasts and specialists, academic but in particular also business-oriented, meet at…

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Blog

The upcoming KNMI’23 climate scenarios – what will they bring our drinking water companies?

13 October 2022 — The climate scenarios produced by the Dutch national meteorological institute KNMI’s are something of a gold standard in…

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News

Data quality is the motor of data-driven projects

06 October 2022 — Without the availability of high-quality data, data-driven projects cannot be successful. How this question plays out in water…

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News

Collapsology: what happens if we don’t achieve the climate objectives

12 September 2022 — A societal collapse resulting from climate change is (perhaps) a low probability scenario, but one with enormous consequences.…

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News

How are we going to prepare the water sector for data-driven decision-making?

02 June 2022 — Traditional decision making often relies on intuition, experience and theory. Data can play an important role in strategic…

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