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Joint Research Programme - Thematic research - Distribution

Projects

Enabling technologies
Hydroinformatics
Improving the reliability and practicality of an AI-based tool for data validation and correction

Water companies are increasingly using sensor data for advanced process monitoring and control for key variables. They are therefore increasingly reliant on high-quality data. In this project, the…

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Enabling technologies
Innovative water treatment technologies
Effects of interventions in the distribution network on the existing microorganisms: DNA techniques offer clarity

Earlier research by Evides Waterbedrijf revealed that the number and composition of microbial populations can change during the distribution process of drinking water. This 2018 research was undertaken…

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Enabling technologies
Future-proof networks
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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Enabling technologies
New materials and technologies
The effect of water quality on leaching in pipes containing cement

In order to limit the leaching of asbestos cement and the cement contained in pipes, the Dutch Drinking Water Act includes the Saturation Index (SI), a measure of…

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Enabling technologies
Future-proof networks
CT scans as a reference for determining the condition of AC and PVC

Drinking water companies plan to replace AC pipes in the coming decades. In order to determine which pipes need replacing first, it is important to have information about…

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Enabling technologies
Hydroinformatics
Condition forecast for individual mains

The risk of pipe failure is one of the factors taken into account by drinking water utilities when they decide whether or not to replace water mains. They assess this risk on…

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Looking ahead
Futures studies and response strategies
DMA Fingerprinting – Fase II

The objective of this project is to investigate how the use of transients measurement (pressure waves) with spectral analysis in an exploratory study of closed-valve detection can be scaled up to detect…

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Enabling technologies
Hydroinformatics
Making Aquarellus applicable

Brown water accounts for a significant proportion of reports about water quality that Dutch drinking water companies receive from customers. To tackle the phenomenon, it is important to have an understanding of the movement and accumulation of…

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Enabling technologies
Hydroinformatics
DMA fingerprint

Dutch water companies are increasingly setting up District Metered Areas (DMAs) that can be used to locate leaks in the mains and to learn more about what is happening in the mains. In this project, we will…

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Sustainability
Climate change and resilience
Agent-based models for water demand – an exploration

The design of a future-proof drinking water distribution network requires a vision of the evolution of the demand for drinking water. There is a need for a method…

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Enabling technologies
Future-proof networks
Networks Roadmap drinking water distribution 2050

In 2050, the Netherlands will have to be ‘climate adaptive’, ‘energy neutral’ and ‘off the gas’. This also applies to the drinking water sector. How can we ensure that the distribution system…

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Enabling technologies
Hydroinformatics
Smart Water Networks – 2

This project within the Joint Research Programme of KWR and the water utilities concerns the question of how a smart network – a combination of a variety of sensors with the right algorithms – can in practice…

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Enabling technologies
Innovative water treatment technologies
Strengthening research into activated carbon filtration for micropollutant removal

Organic micropollutants (OMPs), including persistent compounds, are being increasingly detected in groundwater and surface water. Understanding the action of (surface water) treatment in the removal of OMPs is…

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Enabling technologies
Innovative water treatment technologies
The physico-chemical behaviour of purified water turbidity in distribution networks

The groundwater treatment processes at Brabant Water are designed for the removal of iron, ammonium and manganese. These processes work perfectly. The water quality generally fluctuates around the…

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Enabling technologies
Hydroinformatics
Optimal transition to network blueprints phase II

Within this project KWR is developing a method to automatically determine the transition from current structures to network blueprints, based on the Gondwana numerical optimisation, which takes into account the hydraulic and…

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Sustainability
Climate change and resilience
Measures to combat the unwanted heating of water in the pipe network

Legally the water temperature at the tap may not exceed 25°C. The temperature of the water network changes because of the weather and aboveground and underground heat sources. In…

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Enabling technologies
Future-proof networks
Climate-proof drinking water, now and in the future

Drinking water in the Netherlands is treated to high quality standards and then delivered to customers through the underground distribution system. The distribution system consists of trunk mains,…

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Health
Microbial safety
Quickly measuring after work on network

When water utilities carry out work on their distribution networks, there is a risk that dirt, which might contain pathogens, will get into the pipes. For this reason, the activities are conducted…

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Health
Biological activity
Microbiology during drinking water distribution

Drinking water in the Netherlands is distributed without any traces of disinfectants such as chlorine. The growth of microorganisms during the water’s distribution is contained by keeping the supply of nutrients in…

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Enabling technologies
Future-proof networks
Application future failure frequency prediction method

The prediction of failure frequencies is important in determining pipe replacement volumes and replacement prioritisation. The predictions are used to prioritise pipe replacements, and are a factor in…

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Enabling technologies
Hydroinformatics
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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Sustainability
Climate change and resilience
Data from smart water meters used to predict hotspots in distribution network

To ensure fresh and healthy drinking water in a future of climate change and urbanisation, it’s important to know where drinking water ‘hotspots’ occur in the network, and…

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Enabling technologies
Future-proof networks
PVC degradation model in Comsima

In the Netherlands PVC is the pipe material that is most used: more than half of the drinking water distribution network is made of PVC pipes. Being able to assess and predict the condition of the pipes…

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Enabling technologies
Hydroinformatics
Real-time sensor measurements for a better water-quality policy

The current, hydraulic models are infrequently applied to water-quality issues in the distribution network; moreover, they are poorly, or only to a limited degree, equipped for this task.…

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Enabling technologies
Hydroinformatics
Optimal design of robust and future-proof target structures

The design of target structures is a topical subject in the water sector. Drinking water companies are busy with the (proactive) replacement of their mains networks. At the…

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Enabling technologies
Future-proof networks
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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Enabling technologies
Future-proof networks
Wat-Qual

Safe drinking water is paramount for the health and wellbeing of all populations. Unsafe drinking water can contain pathogenic microorganisms and/or chemicals that can make people immediately unwell or can potentially cause serious illness over prolonged exposures.…

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Health
Biological activity
Oportunistic pathogenic microorganisms in drinking water

Because of the expected climate change, it is probable that in the future the earth’s warming will lead to a rise in the temperature of surface water, water…

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Health
Microbial safety
QMRA of the distribution network

Drinking water companies use quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) to demonstrate that the drinking water they produce is safe. A desire also exists to apply the same method to demonstrate the safety of water in the distribution…

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Health
Biological activity
Modelling regrowth in the distribution network

Regrowth in the distribution network is a complex phenomenon. Measures to manage regrowth in the distribution network have hitherto been based on a trial-and-error approach. We need a model-based description of the…

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Enabling technologies
Future-proof networks
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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Experts

Jan Vreeburg PhD MSc
Scientific researcher Scientific researcher / International business development
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Jan Vreeburg PhD MSc

Scientific researcher Scientific researcher / International business development

Jan Vreeburg is Principal Scientist in the Water Infrastructure team. Jan has a long history of research and development in the field of drinking water distribution infrastructure, and in implementing…

030-6069684

jan.vreeburg@kwrwater.nl

06-53388354

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Peter van Thienen PhD
Principal scientist
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Peter van Thienen PhD

Principal scientist

Peter van Thienen is principal scientist in the Hydroinformatics team. From his background as a quantitative scientist, Peter, together with a number of colleagues, deals with drinking water systems from…

030-6069602

peter.van.thienen@kwrwater.nl

06-54293706

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Ina Vertommen MSc
Manager Scientific researcher
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Ina Vertommen MSc

Manager Scientific researcher

Ina Vertommen is the team leader of Hydroinformatics at KWR. In this role, she is responsible for the content and profile of the team. The team's goal is to strengthen…

030-6069739

ina.vertommen@kwrwater.nl

06-11599514

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Mirjam Blokker PhD
Principal scientist Manager
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Mirjam Blokker PhD

Principal scientist Manager

Mirjam Blokker is a Principal Scientist on the Drinking Water Infrastructure team. She is an expert in drinking water demand and developed the SIMDEUM model, which can be used to…

030-6069533

Mirjam.Blokker@kwrwater.nl

06-15861099

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Ralph Beuken MSc
Scientific researcher
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Ralph Beuken MSc

Scientific researcher

Ralph Beuken works as a researcher on the Water Infrastructure team. His expertise is in asset management of underground infrastructure, with a focus on knowledge building of pipe conditions, setting…

030-6069758

Ralph.Beuken@kwrwater.nl

06-25032599

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News

News

New BTO Water Matters Podcast

21 June 2021 — The Dutch water utilities, the Flemish De Watergroep and the branch association Vewin, together with KWR, carry out…

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News

Distribution experts from Europe and the US look behind each other’s scenes

09 December 2019 — Over the last two years, experts and researchers from Europe and the US have had the opportunity to…

Read more about Distribution experts from Europe and the US look behind each other’s scenes
News

KWR demonstrates value added of water knowledge for practice at trade fair

04 April 2019 — KWR presented the value added of water knowledge in water practice at Aqua Nederland Vakbeurs 2019. The event,…

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Blog

Modelling how to repair distribution networks after an earthquake

23 August 2018 — Part of the WDSA / CCWI 2018 Joint International Conference in Ontario was the Battle of Post-Disaster Response…

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Blog

2018 WDSA / CCWI Joint Conference in Kingston (Ontario, Canada)

23 August 2018 — Two series of conferences (Water Distribution Systems Analysis WSDA) and Computing and Control in the Water Industry CCWI)…

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News

Data from smart water meters used to predict hotspots in distribution network

02 July 2018 — To ensure fresh and healthy drinking water in a future of climate change and urbanisation, it’s important to…

Read more about Data from smart water meters used to predict hotspots in distribution network
Blog

Self-Cleaning networks concept presented at annual meeting of American PVC pipe association

21 March 2018 — The PVC pipe association held its annual meeting at Key West, Florida. Mirjam Blokker presented the concept of…

Read more about Self-Cleaning networks concept presented at annual meeting of American PVC pipe association
Column

Heated activity in the subsurface

31 October 2017 — Over the last few years we have carried out many projects under the climate change, water quality and…

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News

New fit-for-purpose decision support tool for pipeline inspection technologies

27 February 2017 — Watershare is proud to announce the launch of a knowledge-based and decision-support toolbox for water and wastewater network…

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News

Collaboration between water companies and universities important at international CCWI conference

09 November 2016 — The Computing and Control for the Water Industry (CCWI) conference attracted 180 representatives from numerous countries to share…

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News

Join us at ‘Computing and Control for the Water Industry’, from 7 through 9 November in Amsterdam

18 October 2016 — ICT, computer modelling and automation are increasingly important tools in the water sector and water research. The purpose…

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News

New IWA/KWR book describes stress-test for future-robustness of distribution networks

13 October 2016 — KWR collaborates with IWA Publishing to make relevant knowledge about drinking water available worldwide. Claudia Agudelo-Vera and Mirjam…

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News

INTEREST: rules of thumb for costs and returns of sensor networks in drinking water distribution

10 October 2016 — Sensor networks allow us to monitor drinking water more comprehensively and detect contaminants more effectively. However, we need…

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News

Japanese delegation visits KWR for workshop on smart water networks

06 October 2016 — On Wednesday, 5 October, a delegation from Japan visited KWR to attend the workshop on “Smart Metering and…

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