{"id":84956,"date":"2026-06-19T10:10:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T08:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kwrwater.nl\/actueel\/hoe-maken-we-ons-water-in-de-stad-klaar-voor-de-toekomst\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T13:57:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T11:57:04","slug":"hoe-maken-we-ons-water-in-de-stad-klaar-voor-de-toekomst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kwrwater.nl\/en\/actueel\/hoe-maken-we-ons-water-in-de-stad-klaar-voor-de-toekomst\/","title":{"rendered":"How can we prepare our urban water for the future?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

In the area of water, our towns and cities are facing a tidal wave of challenges and transitions. That requires action, and KWR actually believes this challenge opens up opportunities to work towards a more robust and resilient urban environment. We spoke to four researchers, each of whom have a different perspective. Because it is only by adopting a multidisciplinary approach to this issue that we can come up with smart decisions that enjoy widespread support.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Towns and cities are facing major challenges. Cloudbursts, or extreme heat and drought. Increasing pressure on space \u2013 both above and below the surface. Sewage systems and drinking water mains that are due for replacement. The implementation of the energy transition. Reducing water consumption. And that\u2019s not even the full list.<\/p>\n

Circular living labs<\/h2>\n

Closing the water cycle locally in urban areas is one of the possible solutions. For example, KWR is involved in \u2018circular living labs<\/a>\u2019: pilot projects that explore, in practice, how water can be used in a circular way in urban environments. This research is part of the Water in the Circular Economy (WiCE)<\/a> programme. It looks at, for example, the question of matching water supply and demand while maintaining fit-for-purpose water quality<\/a>. This is a societal challenge that Roberta Hofman \u2013 an expert in water treatment and reuse \u2013 works on every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the Construction Platform discussions, I meet contractors, project developers and suppliers of all kinds of water-recycling systems,\u201d she says. \u201cAt KWR, we believe that, with innovations of this kind, you need to give top priority to conducting pilot projects. Not because we want to slow things down but because debate is necessary. What should we look out for? What do we need to agree on beforehand? And which risks do we consider acceptable?\u201d<\/p>\n

Rainwater for the lavatory<\/h2>\n

When you talk about recycling water in urban environments, the first thing that springs to mind is flushing the lavatory with rainwater rather than clean drinking water. Hofman knows that administrators and politicians are very keen on this idea. Because the approach looks as though it is cheap and environmentally friendly. But she draws our attention to the other side of the coin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you start fitting out homes with systems of this kind, using the toilet becomes ten times as expensive and the environmental impact increases fourfold. That\u2019s because you need a lot more materials. A five-cubic-metre concrete rainwater storage tank, pipework and pumps. And it takes more energy. Do you pass on those costs to the home-owners? But that\u2019s not the only reason I\u2019m not enthusiastic. The houses are connected to two separate mains networks; inevitably, mistakes will occasionally be made during the connection process. When contaminated water is pumped into the clean mains, it can make people ill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Domestic water<\/h2>\n

And so Hofman believes that risks need to be discussed properly. \u201cUnder the law in the Netherlands, we accept that no more than 1 in 10,000 people a year can fall ill as a result of drinking tap water. The concentration of pathogenic micro-organisms is so low that, so to speak, only two of them are allowed in an entire swimming pool filled with tap water. The question is whether we want to apply this same low-risk approach to rainwater used to flush a lavatory.\u201d<\/p>\n

So the issue is: when can we speak of safe water from alternative sources<\/a>? The key points to bear in mind when using water of a lower quality than drinking water were set out recently by KWR, working in collaboration with RIVM, in an H2O paper<\/a>. \u201cDetermining what constitutes an acceptable level of risk is a matter for public debate,\u201d says Hofman. \u201cAs researchers, that\u2019s not our decision to make but we do draw attention to those risks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Impact on drinking water utilities<\/h2>\n

Another important point raised by Hofman is how the switch from drinking water to rainwater for flushing lavatories could affect drinking water utilities. \u201cRain doesn\u2019t fall on command and so people top up their tanks with tap water during dry periods. We are hearing reports about the consequences from Flanders, where rainwater systems are already used widely in homes. Huge increases in peak demand, meaning that it is impossible to scale back the installations. At the same time, revenue is lost because total water demand is lower. And so people will have to pay more for their drinking water. In addition, water quality may deteriorate because the self-cleaning capacity of pipes is adversely affected when \u2013 in a context of enough rainfall and therefore lower demand \u2013 less water flows through them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our Belgian neighbours are now hearing that they may have been better off if they had opted to work at the area level rather than with individual households. Hofman: \u201cExperiences like these show that we shouldn\u2019t rush into making things compulsory that we may come to regret later. At the Construction Platform, I can see just how effective the Water Alliance is, guiding its member companies in the water and environmental technology sectors through a range of certification schemes. But we\u2019re not there yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Falling groundwater levels<\/h2>\n

Our colleague Gijsbert Cirkel turns the spotlight on other ideas for using rainwater in urban environments. This researcher is focusing on areas such as the challenge of using nature-inclusive water management<\/a> to establish a climate-robust urban environment. \u201cI\u2019m very much in favour of channelling rainwater into the soil,\u201d he says. \u201cIn that way, you maintain the groundwater level. The point is that urban areas are susceptible to drying out. There are a lot of hard surfaces, meaning that very little rainwater infiltrates into the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result, groundwater levels fall and the ground consolidates, explains Cirkel. \u201cThis results in damage, not only to buildings and infrastructure but also to urban greenery. Take the Vondel Park in Amsterdam. The historic trees are not allowed to get waterlogged and so the park is drained and it continues to subside relative to the surrounding area. That draws in groundwater from the surrounding area, and so the groundwater level falls too far, with the associated risk of damage to foundations. And so the city authority is asking: can we raise the groundwater level using infiltration?\u201d<\/p>\n

Applying drinking water knowledge to towns and cities<\/h2>\n

One of the potential solutions to problems such as this is active groundwater level management<\/a>. \u201cIn Amsterdam and Dordrecht, for example, we\u2019re looking at how existing infiltration systems work,\u201d says Cirkel. \u201cOver the past twenty or thirty years, local authorities have installed many infiltration systems but we don\u2019t know, in a significant proportion of those cases, whether they are still working. KWR contributes expertise about infiltration and groundwater recharge<\/a>. Because developing our knowledge about freshwater availability<\/a> is one of our social responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

This development of knowledge started at the drinking water utilities, where KWR has built up expertise over decades with the operation and management of infiltration wells, for example in the area of how to prevent blockages. \u201cWe then took that knowledge to rural areas, where there is a need to tackle water shortages,\u201d explains Cirkel. \u201cWe worked there on matters such as the recycling of industrial wastewater<\/a>. For example, KWR conducted award-winning research<\/a> into reverse drainage at a farm using process water from the Bavaria brewery<\/a>. We are now moving on to towns and cities. Because although the objectives are always different, the systems are actually quite similar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Street water<\/h2>\n

The fact that Cirkel is involved in a lot of TKI projects demonstrates just how necessary it is to establish links between research, technology suppliers and end-users when addressing issues of this kind. A good example of a crossover between delta technology and water technology is the Street Water Filtration for Infiltration<\/a> project. It looks at what is needed to make rainwater run-off suitable for infiltration so that it can be used for urban greenery and to replenish groundwater. Urban greenery is key to tackling heat stress. Evaporation<\/a> and shade stop the stony surroundings heating up as quickly.<\/p>\n

Cirkel: \u201cWe know now that rainwater is not clean at all. Certainly not when it comes from a street, for example. Did you know that the automotive industry alone uses some 6,000 substances that can end up in the environment? In the Street Water project, we are trying to establish a clearer picture of what rainwater run-off contains. For example, which organic micropollutants, such as PFAS, are present? To date, local authorities have not monitored these substances, or only done so to a very limited extent. So what relatively simple treatment measures can you use? \u00a0Can you can also control them well? And do they make a positive contribution to water quality before the rainwater is used to replenish the groundwater or before it flows into surface waters?\u201d<\/p>\n

Cirkel believes that the Street Water project has delivered a major achievement by making policymakers aware of the presence of micropollutants in rainwater run-off. \u201cNew European regulations are also bringing them to the realisation that they need to do something about this. The movement has begun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Energy transition<\/h2>\n

Another KWR discipline involving the examination of issues relating to water in urban areas is linked to the energy transition<\/a>. \u201cThe infrastructure for district heating and electricity is being upgraded,\u201d says Karel van Laarhoven. He is, among other things, the coordinator of the Distribution theme group in Waterwijs<\/a>, the collective research programme run by the drinking water utilities. \u201cThat infrastructure radiates heat and therefore raises the temperature in the subsurface. The drinking water in the mains can therefore get warmer. In addition, climate change plays a role in this potential warming. The question is: what distance do we need to maintain between those heating networks and power cables on the one hand, and drinking water mains on the other, in order to keep below the statutory limit of 25 degrees Celsius?\u201d<\/p>\n

The TKI ENGINE<\/a> project looked at this question. It developed models to make calculations for all sorts of scenarios, and for entire towns and cities. Van Laarhoven: \u201cWe set out to determine the distance at which the temperature rise remains limited. On the basis of our findings, sector-wide agreements were drawn up between Vewin and Energie Nederland about the spacing of their infrastructure. Drinking water utilities are now also incorporating the models into their own digital twins \u2013 the models of their mains systems. They use them to analyse, for example, how water temperatures change as urbanisation increases or, conversely, as the world gets greener. Digital technology<\/a> helps water companies to get to grips with this. In the next step, we will also be addressing the same research questions for power cables<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Target structures<\/h2>\n

Van Laarhoven also talks about the challenge of subsurface spatial planning. \u201cWaterwijs has a strong focus on looking beyond one\u2019s own boundaries<\/a> in distribution research. There are all sorts of interactions between all the infrastructure that is just one metre below the surface beneath our feet. Generally speaking, we know how to maintain the condition of drinking water mains.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another issue related to the congested subsurface is how to coordinate our own maintenance work with digging work for other infrastructure. \u201cThat is complex enough as it is,\u201d says Van Laarhoven. \u201cIt is also important to schedule maintenance operations so that the mains network grows in line with urban development. Whenever water utilities want to make changes, they do that on the basis of the long-term design of the target structure: the final picture they have in mind. To establish that final picture, it is vital to think carefully about how water will be used in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van Laarhoven has an apt comparison. \u201cUltimately, the mains network is an artificial river. As humans, we live on the banks of that river and take water from it for all sorts of reasons. If you intend to take a radically different approach to managing that water, the target structure has to be adapted accordingly. During that process, you have to take water conservation and water-efficient construction into account just as much as greening and infiltration in order to cool the urban environment. That\u2019s quite a puzzle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing in line with urban planning<\/h2>\n

It can take decades before a structural change is incorporated in the mains network, warns Van Laarhoven. And you can\u2019t keep changing your mind either. That is why we need to find solutions that can grow more easily in line with changes in urban planning.<\/p>\n

Van Laarhoven gives a number of examples. \u201cAt KWR, for instance, we\u2019re investigating flexible pipeline network structures, where minor adjustments still allow for a wide range of options. We\u2019re also looking into how to develop adaptive development pathways \u2013 maintenance strategies that involve thinking in advance about how the target structure can be adjusted in good time based on new information. You might also be able to achieve a great deal by installing stronger pipes, so that you can pump more water through them when the situation demands it. This would temporarily increase the drinking water companies\u2019 energy bills. But in the meantime, you would have the time to expand the pipeline network, after which you could reduce the pressure again. It is very rewarding to help the drinking water sector clarify where we all need to be working towards. What we need to do and when. And which options we need to keep open.”<\/p>\n

Learning in action<\/h2>\n

The puzzle referred to by Van Laarhoven has a lot in common with the stories told by his colleagues Hofman and Cirkel. The challenges facing urban water management are so complex and multifaceted that we need to address them together. But how do you provide, all at the same time, healthy and cooling green spaces, groundwater that isn\u2019t contaminated, cool drinking water mains and much more? How do you package that process?<\/p>\n

Research by design of the kind conducted in Public design for water<\/a> provides tools for the co-creative and transdisciplinary development of knowledge that is needed in urban settings. \u201cIt is important to widen the scope of possible solutions by adopting a broad perspective,\u201d says researcher Fabi van Berkel. \u201cWhen you sit down with the parties involved in an urban water challenge, engage in the right discussions, and therefore explore the issues together, new perspectives emerge. By learning in action and through concerted thinking about what does and doesn\u2019t work, I help, for example, local authorities and utilities with specific issues: how do you design shared target structures? And how do you go about arriving at well-considered decisions, step by step, about infrastructure and critical systems such as drinking water mains? This integrated planning approach is different from the traditional way of doing things. You create a new space where the rules haven\u2019t always been established yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Integrated area plan<\/h2>\n

How does something like this work in practice? Van Berkel explains on the basis of an example from Amsterdam. A high-density urban area is currently being developed here: Port City. \u201cSome 70,000 people will live here. That raises questions like: where should those homes be built? And where is there space for different facilities in the public arena? Infrastructure, for example. Not only do you have to meet demand for drinking water, water storage and heating and energy networks, for example, also have to be accommodated on the surface and in the subsurface.\u201d<\/p>\n

The drafting of an integrated area plan<\/a> for projects of this kind allows strategic objectives to be formulated in tactical terms. As a result, a range of infrastructure projects can be accommodated in the space available. Van Berkel: \u201cDifferent utility companies are seeing an increase in demand for drinking water and heating. They are going to work in order to decide where new pipelines should be located. If everyone elaborates plans of their own at a desk, large amounts of money and brainpower may be wasted: the plans will prove unworkable when it turns out that everyone wants their infrastructure to be located in the same street. With an integrated area plan, we bring all the views together and create a single large drawing board.<\/p>\n

Multiple value creation and value cases<\/h2>\n

The concept of \u2018multiple value creation\u2019 is also a starting point that drinking water utilities are embracing with the aim of adopting a more integrated or broader perspective and of implementing management on the basis of multiple objectives and challenges, explains Van Berkel. \u201cWith multiple value creation<\/a>, you broaden your perspective from financial value to broader values. Inside drinking water utilities<\/a>, planning and decision-making processes also need to be organised on different lines in order to construct networks in towns and cities. In addition, drinking water utilities can create much more value by contributing to other urban agendas such as the energy transition, biodiversity or water storage. If drinking water utilities want to collaborate more closely with water authorities or local authorities on urban issues, they have to be organised in a way that allows them to keep up with developments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Developing value cases can help here, continues Van Berkel. \u201cBut this is not yet an accepted approach. Drinking water utilities are still focused on the technical aspects of their work, even though the construction and management of mains networks can also generate other benefits. We are currently looking into how processes can be reorganised at drinking water utilities. We are using an intervention during the development of a large production location to test how integral design can enrich the plans. Asset managers are used to working out their technical plans in full before getting others involved. As a result, they miss the opportunity to allow other values to make a contribution. By organising design sessions, I invite people to share their perspectives. So that they stop thinking from the perspective of a single person and open up this process. In that way, they can listen to one another, learn from one another and see where the opportunities lie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Research by design<\/h2>\n

Van Berkel explains that the quality of research by design at KWR<\/a> involves a number of factors. \u201cFirstly, the context<\/em> is always important. Things work differently in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, for example when you look at their histories and cultures. We also make the invisible tangible using the power of imagination<\/em>, such as underlying norms and values. Not only that, research by design always involves: exploration and co-creation-<\/em>plus. That means that we work with partners from the field. Other characteristics are iteration and reflexivity<\/em>: the step-by-step development of knowledge, visions and methods, while also allowing for a discussion about more underlying assumptions. With our partners, we draw up the broad outline of a plan, knowing full well that, after a while, we will be taking a different direction. That differs from research in which you follow a pre-determined path to arrive at new insights. Because there are many uncertainties in practice and you have to respond accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learning by doing<\/h2>\n

Van Berkel finds it fascinating to see how professionals learn by doing. \u201cDuring the discovery of new ways of working in practice, things are quite a struggle at first. People want to find out how things work, the direction things are taking, and the type of conversations they need to have. But things go a lot more smoothly by the second or third time. I have also seen how knowledge isn\u2019t just about knowledge, but also about skills. By helping professionals to think about their conduct and actions, I assist them as they navigate processes where they discover how they can approach things in a new way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richer result<\/h2>\n

Van Berkel emphasises that people need confidence and encouragement to enjoy learning and taking new steps. \u201cThe intentions are often already good. If you don\u2019t force things, enthusiasm is generated when people see for themselves that the result gets richer. And that, in this way, they can make a contribution to societal issues. In that way, we are achieving more and more successes on the road to helping the Netherlands to make faster progress on all urban water-related challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Water poses enormous challenges for cities but KWR also believes there are opportunities here to make the urban environment more robust and resilient. 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