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Groundwater

Projects

Sustainability
Sustainable use of freshwater resources
Monitoring nutrient measures

In many areas of the Netherlands the surface-water quality still does not meet the WFD targets. In the present project two catchment areas in the provinces of North Brabant and Flevoland are being intensively monitored for nutrients,…

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Sustainability
Sustainable use of freshwater resources
Can’t escape the WaterScape: transforming water and governance systems for dealing with climate impacts in the Dutch Delta

With projected increase in floods and drought it is apparent that the Dutch water system needs to change. In WaterScape we explore large-scale spatial transitions in the physical…

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Health
Emerging contaminants
Water Quality Knowledge Impulse

Over the past four years, work in the Water Quality Knowledge Impulse has focused on learning more about the quality of groundwater and surface water, and the factors that affect that quality. The aim of the Water…

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Health
Emerging contaminants
Exploration of sources, behaviour and risk of new substances

At present, the count for substances with a CAS number stands at over 194 million. New substances are being registered, produced and applied at a rapid pace. The…

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Sustainability
Sustainable use of freshwater resources
Connecting the water cycle and the water system for a better balance of water demand and supply

Sufficient freshwater, for all users and functions. This is also a growing challenge in the Netherlands and Flanders. A solution is being sought in self-provision at the regional…

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Health
Microbial safety
AMVD measurements

This project investigates the difficulties and solutions involved in the quantitative measurement of microbiological risks. In practice, the analyses required for pathogens in drinking water sources involve large sample volumes (max. 1,000 litres) that are concentrated to…

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Sustainability
Sustainable use of freshwater resources
Smarter sprinkling using subsurface water storage, combined with iron removal

In the Netherlands groundwater is extracted for applications in the agricultural, industrial and drinking water sectors. At the same time there is an urgent need to render water…

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Sustainability
Sustainable energy
Subsurface iron removal with ATES geothermal energy systems

Aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) is being increasingly employed in the Netherlands and elsewhere as a means of saving energy. The groundwater used in these systems often contains…

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Biological activity
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 since the 1940s. Due to their persistency, bioaccumulation and toxicity, PFAS are a threat…

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Sustainability
Sustainable use of freshwater resources
Healthy soil, healthy water system

The properties of the soil have a major influence on drought sensitivity and leaching into groundwater, for instance, of fertilisers. Both agriculture and the drinking water utilities that abstract groundwater have an…

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Sustainability
Sustainable use of freshwater resources
Leaching of the geochemical buffer capacity in the subsurface

The geochemical buffer capacity of the subsurface assists in breaking down pollutants before they reach drinking water abstraction zones. But this involves the generation of reaction products that…

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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
New materials and technologies
Unknown anthropogenic substances in ground- and drinking water

The Drinking Water Regulations require a water company to follow the statutory monitoring programme or otherwise have a monitoring programme that has been set up on the basis…

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Sustainability
Sustainable use of freshwater resources
Chalk Aquifer Management (CHARM)

De Watergroep, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and KWR join forces to study the Krijt chalk aquifer. This groundwater aquifer is important for the water utility De Watergroep, since it accounts for 22% of the utility’s drinking water…

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Sustainability
Sustainable use of freshwater resources
Central web platform for groundwater abstraction data

With the objective of a having a more efficient and better structured stream of groundwater abstraction data, a new web platform is being developed based on actual measured…

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Sustainability
Sustainable use of freshwater resources
Menyanthes in Oezbekistan

Uzbekistan is confronted with problems caused by high groundwater levels. The groundwater in the country has always been close to the surface, but over the last few years it has risen by about 1.5 meters. Finding a…

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Sustainability
Sustainable resources
Remineralisation of RO permeate

Oasen is working on the full-stream treatment of, among others, river-bank filtrate using RO, which entails the complete removal of practically all substances, including minerals, from the water. A crucial aspect of this development is the conditioning…

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Health
Safe innovation and the water sector
Shale Gas and Water

Before the Netherlands can initiate shale gas extraction, answers must be given to the question of the possible environmental risks involved for the water system. The Shale Gas and Water programme is focused on issues in the…

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Sustainability
Sustainable use of freshwater resources
New applications of subsurface water storage in practice

Subsurface water storage and supply-building offer multiple opportunities for the development of robust water systems and their responsible exploitation. Pilots can contribute to demonstrating the application range and…

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Sustainability
Sustainable use of freshwater resources
PROBE 3: an innovative model for vegetation development, groundwater recharge and nitrate leaching in a changing climate

Climate change can be expected to have big consequences for groundwater-independent vegetations, precisely because they rely entirely on the atmosphere for their water. Over the past few years,…

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Experts

Inge van Driezum
Scientific researcher
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Inge van Driezum

Scientific researcher

Inge van Driezum works as a researcher in groundwater quality and protection in the Ecohydrology team. She studied pharmaceutical sciences and hydrology at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, enabling her…

030-6069735

inge.van.driezum@kwrwater.nl

06-46929860

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Lennart Brokx MSc
Scientific researcher
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Lennart Brokx MSc

Scientific researcher

Lennart Brokx is a researcher in the Geohydrology team. In 2020 he graduated as a hydrologist/geohydrologist from Utrecht University. In the last phase of his MSc, he wrote his thesis…

030-6069644

lennart.brokx@kwrwater.nl

06-54294203

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Henk Krajenbrink PhD MSc
Scientific researcher
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Henk Krajenbrink PhD MSc

Scientific researcher

Henk Krajenbrink is a researcher in the Ecohydrology team. After graduating from Wageningen University with an MSc in Hydrology and Water Quality, Henk worked for various Dutch consultancies in the…

030-6069647

henk.krajenbrink@kwrwater.nl

06-15239215

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Alex Hockin MSc
Scientific researcher
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Alex Hockin MSc

Scientific researcher

Alex Hockin is a researcher in the Geohydrology team. In 2018, she completed her Master's in environmental hydrogeology at Utrecht University, graduating cum laude. For her Master's she studied the…

030-6069620

alex.hockin@kwrwater.nl

06-15608101

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Sharon Clevers MSc
Scientific researcher
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Sharon Clevers MSc

Scientific researcher

Sharon Clevers works as a hydrologist on the Ecohydrology team. In 2016, she completed her Master's in hydrology and integrated water management at Wageningen University. She graduated following geohydrological research…

030-6069645

sharon.clevers@kwrwater.nl

06-54294346

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Sija Stofberg PhD
Scientific researcher
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Sija Stofberg PhD

Scientific researcher

Sija Stofberg is a researcher in the Geohydrology team. She works on projects in the field of groundwater, ecohydrology and water system analysis. Examples include research on sustainable freshwater supply…

030-6069569

sija.stofberg@kwrwater.nl

06-52826056

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Niels Hartog PhD
Principal scientist
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Niels Hartog PhD

Principal scientist

Dr. Niels Hartog's research focuses on the sustainable use and improvement of the quality of groundwater and the use of the subsurface as a sustainable source and storage of water…

030-6069652

niels.hartog@kwrwater.nl

06-53436286

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Arnaut van Loon PhD MSc
Scientific researcher Project manager/Portfolio manager
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Arnaut van Loon PhD MSc

Scientific researcher Project manager/Portfolio manager

Arnaut van Loon is a wide-ranging hydrogeologist, who is active as a researcher and project manager in the field of rewetting, freshwater management and groundwater protection. As an applied researcher,…

030-6069550

arnaut.van.loon@kwrwater.nl

06-52826050

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Klaasjan Raat PhD
Senior scientific researcher Project manager/Portfolio manager
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Klaasjan Raat PhD

Senior scientific researcher Project manager/Portfolio manager

Klaasjan J. Raat is a Senior scientific researcher and Project manager in the Geohydrology team. He is an expert in water resources management, water reuse, and freshwater supply in coastal…

030-6069555

Klaasjan.Raat@kwrwater.nl

06-53190810

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All experts ()

News

News

BTO 2018 – 2023 What have we learned?

29 February 2024 — The latest six-year BTO research programme came to a close in 2023. KWR researchers look back in the…

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News

Eight key actions in EU Soil Monitoring Act require inclusion of groundwater protection

02 August 2023 — KWR identified eight key actions in the European Soil Strategy that urge the inclusion of groundwater protection. This…

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News

Time is running out – WFD fact sheets for four important substance groups

21 July 2023 — KWR and Vewin are collaborating on fact sheets about urgent substance groups for drinking water sources. The deadline…

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News

Looking ahead for groundwater research

10 November 2022 — Groundwater extraction for drinking water production will probably be affected by changes in the chemical quality of groundwater…

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News

The new HydroMonitor: even better view of groundwater dynamics

13 May 2022 — KWR’s HydroMonitor helps hydrologists in a user-friendly manner to clarify the groundwater level situation.

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News

FRESHMAN researches use of brackish groundwater as new drinking water source

01 February 2022 — After two years of preparatory and construction work, on 31 January 2022 the pumps at the Dunea pilot…

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News

Managing drought calls for structural measures

16 December 2021 — The Water Authorities and the provinces commissioned knowledge institutions, including KWR, to research drought in the high sandy…

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News

Insight into the current drought situation

04 June 2021 — Since May, a Drought Portal has been available that provides an overview of the current drought situation in…

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News

NWO funding for research on water in the circular economy: AquaConnect and ReCoVR

23 March 2021 — KWR will participate in two basic research programmes in the field of water and resource reuse. The two…

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News

Making raised sandy soil areas climate-robust: the work goes on

05 March 2021 — Over the last four years the Lumbricus programme has involved the conduct of practice-oriented research, but also the…

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News

Lumbricus Closing Symposium: How can we make raised sandy soils climate-robust?

15 February 2021 — On 3 March the four-year (2016-2020) Lumbricus programme will hold its governance closing symposium. As one of the…

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News

Digital map provides interactive visualisation of groundwater quality

11 November 2020 — Commissioned by the Groundwater Quality Monitoring Network Managers’ Platform, KWR has developed a digital map that provides an…

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News

Clean groundwater becoming rare

12 October 2020 — An analysis of a dataset with nationwide information on multiple pollutants in groundwater indicates that clean groundwater is…

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News

COASTAR, one of the water-future visions at the Rotterdam biennale

18 September 2020 — On 19 September, the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) opened with the exhibition ‘Drought in the Delta’, for…

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News

Gilian Schout wins NHV Hydrology Award

18 September 2020 — On 15 September, KWR researcher Gilian Schout received the prestigious Hydrology Award for his research into the impact…

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News

New insights into gas migration from the deep subsurface

21 July 2020 — Leaking methane from the deep subsurface poses a potential threat to groundwater quality. In addition, when the gas…

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News

W orking visit to Zeeland by Minister Van Nieuwenhuizen

17 July 2020 — Last Tuesday, 14 July, Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, paid a working visit to…

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News

New thesis prize named after leading hydrogeology expert Stuyfzand

17 December 2019 — Over the course of forty years, hydrogeologist Pieter Stuyfzand has worked at Kiwa/KWR, Delft University of Technology and…

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News

Workshop on Sustainable Use of the Deep Subsurface

01 December 2019 — Despite the many decades of oil and gas activities in the Netherlands, relatively little social and scientific attention…

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Blog

International Groundwater Quality Conference (GQ19)

24 September 2019 — Last week, the news was all about the deterioration of Dutch groundwater quality and the resulting stress on…

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News

Four years’ research into smaller scale climate projections concluded

01 July 2019 — June of this year saw the conclusion of four years’ research under the Horizon 2020 BINGO project. More…

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Blog

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…

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News

SALutions and COASTAR presented at International Symposium on Managed Aquifer Recharge

22 May 2019 — During the triennial International Symposium on Managed Aquifer Recharge (ISMAR) held in Madrid, KWR and Arcadis presented results…

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Blog

How to deal with ammonium in surface water?

18 April 2019 — At the annual ‘Emissie Symposium’, which took place on April 11, I organised a workshop on ammonium in…

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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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News

Dutch drinking water sources vulnerable to plant protection products

01 April 2019 — Ground- and surface-water sources in the Netherlands are vulnerable to contamination by old and new plant protection products…

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News

Analysis of Uzbek groundwater monitoring data powered by Menyanthes

07 August 2018 — The Uzbek O’zgashkliti Institute wanted to apply monitoring of groundwater levels and hydrological analyses to better understand fluctuating…

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News

Growing interest in the business community in water quality

25 June 2018 — Water quality has been attracting lots of media attention lately. The business community is also expressing growing interest…

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News

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.…

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News

Natural gas still leaking into groundwater from 1965 blowout

11 January 2018 — In 1965 a catastrophic blowout occurred at a depth of two kilometres during the drilling of a gas…

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News

Groundwater Abstraction Database launched on NHI day

30 November 2017 — KWR and Deltares last week, during the annual meeting of the Netherlands Hydrological Instrument (NHI), launched the Groundwater…

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Column

Groundwater Atlas for pesticides launched

15 October 2017 — This week saw not only the signing of the long-awaited coalition agreement but – at least as important…

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News

Dutch groundwater reflects wide use of chemicals

30 May 2017 — A national inventory of deep and shallow groundwater, conducted by KWR on the basis of provincial measurement data,…

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News

Forensic hydrology: Detecting traces in groundwater

22 March 2017 — Water contains a large number of dissolved substances. These include all non-synthetic elements and many synthetic organic micropollutants,…

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Blog

Gaining control on data quality step-by-step

22 March 2017 — The European Water Framework Directive guidelines on monitoring state that the use of clear and standard methods and…

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Water Sector

Inventory of hazards of geothermics for groundwater

08 February 2017 — The generation of renewable energy by exploiting the earth’s heat using geothermal technology is developing rapidly in the…

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Water Sector

Collaboration in knowledge and research programme Lumbricus formalised

15 December 2016 — The collaboration between the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment and a consortium of water boards, knowledge institutions…

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Blog

Toward Sustainable Groundwater in Agriculture

04 July 2016 — The conference ‘Toward Sustainable Groundwater in Agriculture’ (www.ag-groundwater.org) was held in San Francisco from 28-30 June 2016. Due…

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Water Sector

Workshop on Groundwater Monitor in Flanders

30 May 2016 — Hosted by VITO in Antwerp, Jos von Asmuth (KWR) organised a second workshop on the Groundwater Monitor tool…

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Water Sector

Vietnamese government organisation for water management establishes ties with SUBSOL and KWR

24 February 2016 — KWR leads the European Horizon 2020 SUBSOL project, which focuses on the international (market) introduction of so-called Subsurface…

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News

KWR, Vitens and Haitjema develop new drilling technique

17 December 2015 — Soil drilling company Haitjema, water company Vitens and KWR have together, within TKI Water Technology, developed a drilling…

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News

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…

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