AquaConnect, key technologies for safeguarding regional water provision in fresh water stressed deltas

AquaConnect works on solutions to enable the Netherlands and other delta regions to become self-sufficient in their freshwater provision. The goal is to demonstrate how self-sufficiency can be achieved in four specific areas: South Holland, greater Amsterdam region, Zeeland Flanders, and the high sandy ground regions.
The Dutch delta faces enormous challenges in fresh-water provision for industry, agriculture, and nature during increasingly frequent severe droughts due to climate change. This requires a major overhaul towards a water system that stores precipitation surplus instead of discharging it to the sea and uses alternative water sources. AquaConnect is instrumental in this transition by developing:

•chemical technologies enabling use of domestic/industrial effluents and brackish (ground)water
•digital technologies to design smart grid infrastructures to connect supply, demand, and nature-based storage
•tools to manage related societal changes
•demonstrations in four utilization cases and international twinning

AquaConnect:

- connecting waters by chemical and digital key technologies, models, and infrastructures
- connecting water quantity and quality
- connecting man-made and natural water systems
- connecting partners in various science disciplines and in institutions of practice
- connecting national programs and multiple pilots
- connecting national upscaling to international outreach

The role of TUE in this project is developing real-time embedded water distribution app using model predictive control and data-driven AI in close collaboration with ICT (ict.eu) and Deltares (deltares.nl).

A key technology project in the research field of water in the circular economy.