Article on membrane technology for reusing water most cited article in 2021

Emile was presented with the award, which consists of a challenge trophy and a cash prize, by the man after whom the award is named, Willem Koerselman, during a hybrid meeting at KWR. Before the award ceremony, Chief Science Officer Milou Dingemans gave a short speech in which she emphasised that the number of citations of an article can be seen as an indication of how much impact a study has. “It also demonstrates the importance of knowledge about water reuse and the extent to which researchers worldwide are looking for solutions to drinking water shortages based on reusing wastewater. Because this is an open-access article, many people can use it,” she explained.

Willem Koerselman, Dragan Savic, Milou Dingemans and Emile Cornelissen

Membrane technology with reverse osmosis

In the article, which was published in ‘Environmental Science and Technology’, the authors discussed recycling water from municipal wastewater. Places like California and Singapore have developed advanced water reuse programmes as an integral part of their water management strategies. Membrane technology with reverse osmosis plays a key role here in the production of recycled water. This technology provides a reliable and sustainable solution for cities and areas facing water shortages.

Knowledge about reusing water

During the award ceremony, Emile Cornelissen gave a presentation about the background to the article, including his visit to the 2017 IWA Conference on Membrane Technology and Wastewater Treatment and his role as a visiting scientist at the Singapore Membrane Technology Centre of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Emile: “I am very proud that this excellent international collaboration on a vital topic such as water reuse has resulted in successful and well-cited output. Knowledge about water reuse is also becoming increasingly important for the Netherlands. That is knowledge to which we, as KWR, will make a significant contribution.” This is the third time that Emile Cornelissen has won the award. He was also the most cited author in 2012 and 2015.

About the Willem Koerselman Prize

KWR has presented the award annually since 2009 to the author of the most cited peer-reviewed article of that year. In doing so, it emphasises the impact of research for the water sector. KWR researcher Willem Koerselman published the article ‘The vegetation N:P ratio: A new tool to detect the nature of nutrient limitation’, in 1996 in the Journal of Applied Ecology with co-author Arthur Meuleman. With more than 1,500 citations to date, this publication is at the top of the KWR ranking. At the time, that was the reason for the prize.

Willem Koerselman during his speech on Tuesday, 5 April 2022.