Mirjam Blokker associate professor of water management at Delft University of Technology

To celebrate her appointment, the Water Management department put Blokker in the spotlight during the first colloquium of the academic year. In addition to colleagues from Delft University of Technology, a large number of students were present, as were several KWR colleagues.

During her introduction, Blokker set out her main research questions once again: water quality in the distribution mains and in the drinking water plant, and the importance in hydraulic models and water quality models of properly including stochastic drinking water demand. Doctorate student Konstantinos Glynis then presented his research into biofilms in the water mains. The ultimate goal is to develop a validated model, which means that measuring biofilms in the mains pipelines is a very important part of his research. The initial results are promising. Ljiljana Zlatanovic explained how knowledge about drinking water demand and wastewater supplies – using the SIMDEUM software model – has advanced her research and why it is also important for drinking water utilities. An example here is the effect of domestic sprinklers (and the extensive drinking water systems required) on drinking water quality, the effect on the capacity of drinking water mains and sewers when kitchen waste grinders are used on a large scale, and wastewater quality (including viruses) as drinking water consumption is reduced. Zlatanovic worked for the Delft University of Technology as a master’s student, doctorate student and postdoc researcher. She has worked at Vitens, Waternet and PWN, and she is currently with Oasen.

Congratulations for Mirjam Blokker from the Professor of Environmental Technology at Delft University of Technology, Merle de Kreuk, and from the manager of the Water Knowledge Group at KWR, Idsart Dijkstra.

After the colloquium, there was plenty of time for discussions over drinks and snacks. Of course, that was after Merle de Kreuk had congratulated Mirjam on behalf of Delft University of Technology and Idsart Dijkstra had done the same on behalf of KWR.