Research projects

Getting to the bottom of sustainable storage

Balancing water, food and energy to drive sustainable development

Water, for drinking, sanitation, irrigation and clean energy, plays a crucial role in the transition to a more sustainable world. In the EPIC Africa project, assistant professor in Water & Control Edo Abraham explores how data collection, mathematical models and a closer cooperation between countries and sectors can improve water management and the planning of energy systems. The aim is to achieve an optimal and fairer utilisation of increasingly scarce water and land in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Meltwater from Austrian Alps

An imposing, compelling and urgent social problem, that is what Master student Sarah Hanus wanted for her final project. She found it high up in the Austrian Alps where climate change is altering river runoff patterns. Using a model she developed herself, Hanus is able to come up with long-term projections of what these patterns will look like in future. Her work earned her the title of Best Graduate of the Faculty of Civil Engineering & Sciences.

Water with a barcode

How, and at what speed, do bacteria or chemical substances travel through groundwater or surface water? The tracer hydrologist Thom Bogaard has developed using synthetic DNA is putting him hot on their trail. ‘It’s a lot safer than working with real pollutants.’

Taking a piss? Or turning it into energy

Pee not only generates uncontrollable laughter in five-year-olds but energy as well. Niels van Linden is currently working on a concept to produce electricity from urban and industrial residual waters, which in turn will power the energy-neutral water treatment system he is hoping to develop.

Measuring flood risks the smart way

Dar es Salaam, a fast growing city on the coast of Tanzania, is faced with floods on a regular basis. Hydrologist Hessel Winsemius is gauging flood risks with the help of smart sensors, local people and local means.

The creepy crawlies that can save lives

Doris van Halem’s aim is to make drinking water safe and accessible to all. Not by adding expensive chemicals but by putting to work the tiny creatures already present in it. She is tackling the two health risks associated with contaminated drinking water which have been hardest to eradicate: arsenic poisoning and infectious diseases caused by viruses.

20,000 weather stations in Africa

In the next few decades, the worldwide demand for food is set to double. Africa and South-America look to be the main producers. But how can large-scale agriculture be achieved if there are no reliable data on the availability of water, when the rain is going to fall, and where?

Making dikes safer with acoustic fiber optic sensors

Playing a bass guitar on top of a dike. It’s not something you see a TU Delft scientist do every day. Yet this is exactly how post-doc Juan Aguilar-López tested his experiment on dike monitoring with the use of fiber optic cables. A technology which could greatly improve dike safety in the future.

Sensible sewer maintenance

A world without a sewer system is not really something anyone would wish to contemplate. Flooding, smelly streets, not to mention the absence of toilet facilities, would make life intolerable. With approximately 150,000 kilometres of waste pipes the Dutch sewage system is one of the country’s most important pieces of infrastructure. While maintenance is crucial it is also expensive.