Drinking water

Stand-alone local treatment for remote areas

It is difficult to supply drinking water from the central system in some parts of the Netherlands. Available...

Softening 2.0 at Waternet; Leiduin production location

To identify the best option for a new water softening system in Leiduin, five different scenarios were compared...

Environmental impact of NaOH and lime milk in drinking water treatment

All kinds of chemicals are used to treat drinking water. Caustic soda and lime milk are used on...

Margo van der Kooi wins 2019 Willem Koerselman Award

20 May 2020 — KWR analyst Margo van der Kooi has won the 2019 Willem Koerselman Award. She received the award as...

Nanostructures on pipe walls to control regrowth

Nano- and microtechnology makes it possible to manipulate material structures at the molecular or atomic level. The macroscopic...

How can water reuse contribute to a more robust freshwater system?

02 April 2020 — Researchers at KWR have quantified and clarified the potential contribution of water reuse to the freshwater system by...

PFAS: A Threat for the Dutch Drinking Water Cycle?

Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a broad group of anthropogenic organic substances which have been extensively used...

Water-quality crisis

Communication during an acute water-quality crisis requires an approach that differs from regular risk communication. The goal of...

Professional training for South African drinking water treatment operators

03 March 2020 — Water specialists provide substantive training for workers and operators of South African drinking water treatments. KWR drinking water...

Jan Vreeburg PhD MSc

Jan Vreeburg is Principal Scientist in the Water Infrastructure team. Jan has a long history of research and...

Knowledge exchange and stimulation of integrated asset management research

In this project within the Joint Research Programme of KWR and the water utilities, knowledge-exchange meetings were organised...

360-degree stakeholder management

There is no doubt that it is becoming increasingly important for drinking water utilities, during their asset management...

Healthy soil, healthy water system

The properties of the soil have a major influence on drought sensitivity and leaching into groundwater, for instance,...

Stand-alone decentralised drinking water provision in outlying areas

In remote areas it is sometimes too costly or technically too complicated to connect homes to the central...

Customer wishes and expectations in the management of assets

ISO 55000 defines asset management as the coordinated activities of an organization to realise value from assets. Drinking...

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...

Conference on emerging contaminants and micropollutants

11 November 2019 — From 20 to 23 October the 11th Micropol & Ecohazard conference was held in Seoul, South-Korea. The Micropol...

Healthy drinking water and wastewater treatment for all

07 November 2019 — If you don’t measure what you want to know, you can’t manage the progress. That also applies to...

Innovate building installations, but also assess the impact on the whole system

31 October 2019 — Building installations – drinking water installations and building sewer systems – need to be innovated, because water, energy...

Determining buffer capacities of surface water utilities

17 October 2019 — The surface water utilities in the Netherlands dispose of buffer capacities for their drinking water provision, which guarantee...

EDWARD

EDWARD (simulating Extremes in Drinking WAteR Demand) is a data-driven algorithm which, on the basis of population statistics...

Online monitoring of Aeromonas in a drinking water distribution system without chlorine

Current microbiological analyses to monitor drinking water quality take a relatively long time and continuous monitoring is not...

Microplastics in water

To acquire more understanding of microplastics and even smaller particles, KWR is currently conducting research involving the measurement...

The Challenges of Water Management and Governance in Cities

29 August 2019 — Global population growth is urban growth and, therefore, most of the water-related challenges and solutions reside in cities.

WHO approves 23 household water treatment systems

08 August 2019 — Household water treatment systems are important for public health in a number of countries, where the quality of...

Is it good to further purify your drinking water at home?

18 July 2019 — Reports appear fairly regularly in the media suggesting that drinking water is not clean and that it’s better...

Need for membranes with a better selectivity, better module design and higher log removal credits

04 July 2019 — In the last ten years, the membrane community experienced a tremendous surge in research of synthesizing novel membranes.

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...

Sensors & big data in hydrology

12 June 2019 — During this years’ Spring Symposium in Amersfoort, the Dutch Hydrological Society (NHV) gathered around the question ‘sensors and...

Transparent communication to maintain and boost customer confidence

11 June 2019 — Drinking water customers have great confidence in the safety of Dutch drinking water and the drinking water companies...

Data-driven, sustainable drinking water provision in Mexico

28 May 2019 — On 20 May, the water utility SAPAZA, the municipality of Zapotlán El Grande and MGB Victoria from Mexico,...

Water reuse and the freshwater provision

We are confronted more and more with increasing drought damage in agriculture and nature. There is growing pressure...

Oasen forecasts peaks in water demand with data-driven algorithm from KWR

01 May 2019 — This spring the Oasen water utility began using a new, data-driven algorithm which, on the basis of population...

As Hong Kong grows, so does demand for better water infrastructure

23 April 2019 — From 8-10 April I visited Hong Kong together with Idsart Dijkstra, Water Systems and Technology manager, and Prof.

Radical new sources of drinking water

The drinking water provision in the Netherlands makes use of fresh groundwater and fresh surface water as its...

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,...

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...

COASTAR goes Chile

20 December 2018 — Certain regions in Chile are characterized as dry areas, partly because Chile currently takes too much groundwater in...

WHO Meeting underscores importance of achieving SDG 6

24 October 2018 — KWR was present at the WHO High Level Meeting and Technical Workshop on Water Safety and SDG 6...

Successful implementation takes a variety of forms

23 October 2018 — What does the successful implementation of research mean? Let me, after working 15 years at KWR, take stock...

AMVD research

The distribution of drinking water without chlorine is the calling card of the Dutch water utilities. What makes...

Chalk Aquifer Management (CHARM)

De Watergroep, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and KWR join forces to study the Krijt chalk aquifer. This groundwater...

Bernard Voortman earns doctorate on invisible water loss

21 September 2018 — Former KWR researcher Bernard Voortman has earned his doctorate from VU University Amsterdam for his thesis on ‘Evaporation...

Tessa Pronk

Tessa Pronk is a scientific researcher in the Chemical Water Quality and Health team. She has a broad...

Risk perception

On the basis of insights into customers’ perceptions, needs and experiences, communications guidelines are being developed with regard...

Water Company Standardisation Contact Group

In 2017, the drinking water sector set up the Standardisation Contact Group for Water Companies (CND, after its...

Peak consumption causes

Water companies need a water consumption model to help them size their production locations. In this project KWR...

Assets: looking ahead to 2030 and 2050

Assets have a long useful life, which is why we need to have an opinion on (long-term and...

The decision-making processes for Integrated Asset Management (IAM)

In this research project, we will be describing the most important decision-making processes for assets and research, based...

Prediction and validation in organic micropollutant removal

Organic micropollutants (OMPs) in sources of drinking water are regularly in the news. The quantities of OMPs are...

Biological conversion of micropollutants in drinking water treatment

Various scientific studies have shown that biological processes, such as rapid sand filtration (SF), river-bank filtration, biological granular...

7th International Congress on Arsenic in the Environment in Beijing

10 July 2018 — Over 250 participants from over 40 countries and more than10 scientific disciplines participated in As2018. This shows the...

Sharon Clevers MSc

Sharon Clevers works as a hydrologist on the Ecohydrology team. In 2016, she completed her Master’s in hydrology...

Research into metals in the watercycle

05 June 2018 — The focus of water treatment is increasingly shifting to the recovery of raw materials, partly stimulated by the...

‘Contaminants of Emerging Concern’ – a partnership in water technology

More and more chemical substances are being produced and used all over the world. At the same time,...

Synchrotron-light elucidating structure of iron & manganese oxides

24 May 2018 — After celebrating the news that our extensive research proposal was accepted, the rewarded 96 hours of sample analysis...

Study of the effect of underground heat sources on drinking water temperature

30 April 2018 — Research institutes KWR and Deltares are to investigate the effect of underground heat sources on the temperature of...

Buenos Aires water company AySA joins Watershare

26 April 2018 — AySA, the water company of Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires, became a Watershare member on Wednesday, 25 April. Now...

KWR and the Argentinean government sign cooperation agreement

24 April 2018 — The Argentinean Secretary of State for Infrastructure and Water Policy, Pablo Bereciartua, visited KWR on Monday 23 April.

Kees van Leeuwen appointed David Parkin Visiting Professor at Bath

23 April 2018 — Kees van Leeuwen, Principal Scientist at KWR and professor of Water Management and Urban Development at Utrecht...

Visit to Norvatten, Stockholm

23 April 2018 — Drinking water utility Norvatten wants to modernize its treatment process for the increasing population of Stockholm, and to...

Collaboration offers opportunities for clean water and sustainable agriculture

03 April 2018 — Agriculture and horticulture produce large-scale emissions of (artificial) fertilisers, plant protection products and veterinary pharmaceuticals, which hinder the...

Symposium ‘Natural Vinegar’

22 March 2018 — Tuesday May 20 the Symposium ‘Natural Vinegar: (im)possibilities for weed control’ took place. Four speakers highlighted the following...

Diederik van Duuren wins Maastricht thesis award

21 February 2018 — Diederik van Duuren has won a thesis award from Maastricht University for his Master’s thesis, ‘Potential transformative changes...

EU Drinking Water Directive based on advice from KWR

13 February 2018 — KWR has produced an extensive advisory study on the revision of the EU Drinking Water Directive. KWR acted...

Diam (Oman) joins Watershare

06 February 2018 — On 29 January Diam, the Public Authority for Electricity & Water of Oman (PAEW), became a member of...

Good start programme water in the circular economy

31 January 2018 — Drinking water companies in the Netherlands and Belgium have taken the initiative in establishing the multi-annual ‘Water in...

Which drinking water is the safest?

30 January 2018 — In recent times the safety of drinking water has regularly been in the news. Some believe that tap...

Drinking water companies improve USTORE through uniform quality code failure registration

19 December 2017 — Last week the joint USTORE operational code was incorporated into the Platform Bedrijfsvoering (Management Platform). This is a...

Code of Practice helps businesses monitor their own carbon neutrality

19 December 2017 — Calculating carbon neutrality or the CO₂ footprint is an excellent tool for industry when formulating CO₂ reduction targets.

Emile Cornelissen: visiting professor at the University of Ghent

04 December 2017 — KWR researcher Emile Cornelissen has been appointed as visiting professor at the University of Ghent (Belgium) in order...

Water and sanitation, the Dutch Way

27 November 2017 — In the coming years, Bosnia Herzegovina will make important steps towards EU candidacy. With the help of funds...

KWR again WHO Collaborating Center Water Quality & Health

15 November 2017 — WHO has again designated KWR as a Collaborating Centre on Water Quality and Health. Over the next four...

Circular Water 2050

The project ‘Circular Water 2050 – impact and opportunities of the “fully circular in 2050” target for an...

Internship at KWR, study to water balance of the Veluwe

26 October 2017 — Four months ago I started my internship at KWR, team Ecohydrology. Now I am (almost) finished with my...

SIMDEUM

Our water consumption is predictable. After getting up in the morning most people use the toilet. They take...

Efficient (re)use of water for a robust freshwater supply

In order to safeguard the freshwater supply over the long term, what is needed among other things is...

HerCauWer

In the Netherlands drinking water treatment practically always generates aquafer as a residual. By treating this material with...

Brabant Water customers measure tap water hardness themselves

05 October 2017 — At the beginning of this week almost 100 ‘temporary water researchers’ gathered together in Oss to launch the...

Langenau drinking water production more sustainable thanks to pellet softening

03 October 2017 — Langenau has switched from a precipitation process (cold lime softening) to a crystallisation process (pellet softening) at its...

Luuk de Waal MSc

Luuk de Waal is a practice-oriented researcher in the Drinking Water Treatment team. He uses various pilot installations...

KWR partner in Consortium on Climate Change and Adaptation

31 August 2017 — On 31 August in Utrecht, seven knowledge organisations – besides KWR, they are Utrecht University, University of Twente,...

Water supply and drainiage for buildings, in Haarlem

29 August 2017 — During the second day of the symposium, it was presented how the new knowledge and tools are being...

International symposium of CIB W062

24 August 2017 — The annual international symposium for water supply and drainage for buildings was held in Haarlem. Jacqueline Cramer opened...

Area planning process systems

Space is scarce in the Netherlands and the responsibilities for the management of public space are often decentralised.

Legionella control in the tropics

Legionella pneumophila, the main cause of legionnaires’ disease, multiply primarily in aqueous environments at temperatures between 30 and...

WHO expert meeting: the role of water in spreading antimicrobial resistance

05 July 2017 — On 5 and 6 July, 30 experts from all over the world met at KWR to assist the...

LESAM 2017 – Trondheim

26 June 2017 — LESAM 2017 – Trondheim – day 1 Today is the first day of LESAM, the Leading Edge Sustainable...

Arsenic removal to <1 µg/L with advanced oxidation-coagulation-filtration (AOCF)

Arsenic is one of the most poisonous substances on earth. Nevertheless, millions of people worldwide are exposed to...

Water companies, Vewin and KWR build upon structural research collaboration

09 June 2017 — As of 1 January 2018, a new period of collaboration in the joint water research of the water...

New citizen science research launched

24 May 2017 — On Monday, during a festive launch and information evening at the Limburg Maasbracht, a new citizen science research...

The Blue Route: water as a pathway to innovation and sustainable growth

17 May 2017 — ‘The Blue Route’ was launched today during a special event on board the SS Rotterdam. Based on water-related...

Detection, removal and recovery potential of metals from the watercycle

08 May 2017 — The focus of water treatment is increasingly shifting to the recovery of raw materials. Drinking water companies, waterboards...

Sija Stofberg PhD

Sija Stofberg is a researcher in the Geohydrology team. She works on projects in the field of groundwater,...

Remineralisation of RO permeate

Oasen is working on the full-stream treatment of, among others, river-bank filtrate using RO, which entails the complete...

Year Review 2016: ‘Not without reason.’

14 April 2017 — You will find our Year Review 2016 on our website. It includes facts and figures, an overview...

1st International Water and Sanitation Safety Planning and Extreme Weather Events Conference

13 April 2017 — Last Friday, I attended the first Pan-European Water and Sanitation Safety Planning and Extreme Weather Events (WSSP) conference,...

Transition to a hydrogen economy opens opportunities for water companies

03 April 2017 — The use of pure water for the production of hydrogen to serve as an energy carrier in a...

Rossella Messina finalist in Dopper Changemaker Challenge

16 March 2017 — Rossella Messina, master thesis intern at KWR, has reached the final round of the Dopper Changemaker Challenge. With...

Nanotechnology in water applications

NanoNextNL is a consortium directed at research in the field of micro- and nanotechnology. More than one hundred...

The connecting role of water in the circular economy

24 February 2017 — As of 21 March 2017, the TKI Water Technology partners will be present at the ...

Workshop on pharmaceuticals

21 February 2017 — Load and concentrations of pharmaceuticals in water are increasing. Therefore, it will become more and more important to...

Big Data Epidemiology

The scientific literature reports on – sometimes contradictory – research results on the relationship between the quality of...

Heat and Cold from drinking water (HCD)

‘Heat and Cold from Drinking water’, ‘HCD ’ for short, constitutes a unique combination of water and energy:...

Next step in research on L. pneumophila growth conditions

19 January 2017 — KWR has taken an extra step in our understanding of the conditions that favour the growth of L.

Belgian De Watergroep shareholder in KWH

28 November 2016 — This afternoon representatives of De Watergroep and KWH Water B.V., in the presence of the Flemish Prime Minister Geert...

Unique citizen science project concludes: Amsterdam’s tap water is fresh

28 October 2016 — On Tuesday evening, 26 October, Amsterdam citizen scientists, KWR professional researchers and numerous other interested people gathered in...

Presenting QMRA at Iranian Conference on Environmental Health and Sustainable Development

24 October 2016 — Iran is facing many challenges in the field of environmental health, including air pollution, water and food contamination...

Future of Cities Forum 2016, Tianjin, China

24 October 2016 — Organizers The World Future Council, UN Habitat and the China Urban Research Center of Beijing Jiaotong University organize...

City Blueprint at Habitat III conference: host city under the microscope

13 October 2016 — Habitat III, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, will take place from 17 to...

Recovering metals from water, sludge and fly ash

The focus of water treatment is increasingly shifting to the recovery of raw materials, partly stimulated by the...

MICRORISK: Microbiological risk assessment

The aim of MICRORISK was to develop a microbial risk assessment process which will contribute to the decision...

Arsenic Research and Global Sustainability

06 July 2016 — The 6th International Congress on Arsenic in the Environment (As2016) was held in Stockholm from 19 to 23...

Study into the consequences of fertiliser on drinking water extraction

27 June 2016 — The fertiliser problem for the drinking water companies in the south and east of the Netherlands is always...

Annual Report 2015: ‘The circular economy as social contract’

21 June 2016 — You’ll find our Annual Report 2015 on our website. With all the facts and figures, an overview...

Water field pilot: The Freshness of Water

In this citizen-science field pilot project, citizens participate for the first time as actual researchers in scientific research...

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...

Water4India

Freshwater of sufficient quality for human consumption is becoming scarce. In India the availability of such water is...

Validation and standardisation of the BPP test for drinking water

Since regrowth of microorganisms in the water distribution system is not desirable, the Dutch water companies strive to...

Elaboration of heat-cold recovery from drinking water

Water companies want to actively contribute to cutting back the societal costs associated with the consumption of fossil...

Prof. Kees van Leeuwen PhD

Cornelis Johannes (Kees) van Leeuwen, PhD, is Principal Scientist at KWR, and Professor in Water Management and Urban...

Peter van Thienen PhD

Peter van Thienen is a senior researcher and Chief Information Officer of KWR. In his CIO role, Peter...

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...

Mirjam Blokker PhD

Mirjam Blokker is a principal scientist on the drinking water infrastructure team. She is an expert in drinking...

Water company joint research

Through joint research for water companies KWR aims to provide a sustainable knowledge base efficiently. Thanks to this...

Dune water company joint research (DPWE)

The DPWE programme is the joint research programme of the four dune water companies: Dunea, PWN, Waternet and...

KWR is looking for Amsterdam residents for drinking water research

25 April 2016 — In the ‘Water Freshness’ field trial citizens will be participating for the first time as researchers in scientific...

Regional meetings on Asset Management Collaboration

11 March 2016 — Collaboration chiefly means sharing knowledge and trusting each other. Moreover, when it comes to asset management this is...

Research helps Vitens zoom in on customer desires more sharply

29 January 2016 — Vitens has for many years focused on giving its customers peace of mind by providing them with water...

Arcadis and KWR take first step towards Allied Waters

13 November 2015 — In November 2015, Arcadis and KWR signed a Memorandum of Understanding which launched their collaboration in the field...

New Watershare member City of Cape Town starts with CFPD

10 November 2015 — In November 2015, KWR welcomed the newest member of the Watershare family, the City of Cape Town (CCT),...

Safe drinking water toolbox developed

27 July 2015 — With the introduction of the new WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality and the Water Safety Plans, a need...

KWR participates in the review of the Drinking Water Directive

01 June 2015 — In collaboration with Ecorys and WUR/Alterra, KWR organised a stakeholder event in Brussels on Tuesday, 26 May 2015.

Subsurface water storage without health risks

04 May 2015 — On 29 April 2015, Andreas Antoniou was awarded his doctorate from VU University Amsterdam for his research into...

On the way to ‘biologically stable’ drinking water

01 January 2015 — In 2015, within the joint research programme for the water companies, KWR worked on the further development of...