Rotterdam Climate Proof

Author: Dipesh Dey

Rotterdam Climate Proof (RCP) program paints an outline of how Rotterdam intends to adapt to climate change, not just as a matter of survival, but also to take a huge leap forward to the market of the future. In short, RCP is helping the Netherland government build a city and port that is protected, attractive and economically competitive.

The initiative includes Rotterdam City Council, the Port of Rotterdam (the largest in the European continent) and Deltalinqs. The member of RCP have a common target of a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2025 compared with 1990 levels. This is the percentage needed if the Netherlands as a country is to be able to comply with the European proposal for a 30% cut in emissions by 2025.

The consequences of climate change for the city

The city of Rotterdam is faced by a unique threat of being at the junction point, where from all 4 directions flood water come pouring in as the temperature of the planet increases – rain from top, groundwater surge from bottom, sea water from left and river water from the right.

According to Kwadijk et al. (2006)*, the following climate change effects will take place:
1. larger number of heatwaves (very probable).
2. decrease in air quality during heatwaves (very probable).
3. larger consumption of electricity in the summer (very probable).
4. increase in the frequency of cold-water restrictions (very probable).
5. higher levels of river discharge in winter and therefore greater likelihood of floods (very probable).
6. more frequent occurrence of flooding in urban areas (probable)
7. increase in wind speed during gales (fifty-fifty).

Climate scenarios show an increase in wind speeds, but the increase will be small and fall easily within the current variation of wind speeds from year to year. Kwadijk et al. (2006)*, conclude that the climate in the Netherlands in 2050 will resemble the current climate in Bordeaux of France (in spring, summer and autumn) and that of the Po Valley of Italy (in winter).

Outline of RCP: The three mainstays

1. Knowledge
Knowledge development and sharing; adaptation strategy for areas outside protection by dunes and dikes; cooperation between knowledge institutions; international knowledge exchange on delta management; laboratory-based innovations about climate and water and heat stress research.
2. Action
implementation of Rotterdam Waterplan 2; accelerated implementation of green roofs, reduction in tax for having with a green roof and subsidies; bulding water plazas; adaptive constructions – water safety and water storage; reducing heat stress and air pollution measures.
3. Marketing
Communication and marketing; knowledge-based marketing network; water and climate events; World Water Forum 2009 entry; entry in World Water Expo Shanghai for Best Urban Practices 2010; climate and water campus.

* J. Kwadijk, F. Klijn and M. van Drunen (2006). Climate proofing the Netherlands: baseline, WL, Delft Hydraulics, www.programmaark.nl, 94 pp.

Battle Of pH

Author: Hong Ting (Sam) Chiu

The plan of the day was to start the batch experiment. However, it didn't happen as we anticipated. It was because we are in the "Battle of pH." Our experiment requires 24 bottles to be run at pH 6, 7, and 8. However, based on the trials ran yesterday, we are having difficulty to maintain the pH at the intended value (within ±0.1) over time. Therefore, we decided not to start the batch experiment; instead, we look further into ways to fix the pH and keep trying.

The 24 bottles are ready to go; but pH isn't.

The two trials from yesterday :(

Chemicals and equipments are also ready.

Due to the large variation, we discarded the trials from yesterday and started another two with a more systematic plan of attack. The first one, we decided to take a baby step: mix the calcium chloride, the sodium bicarbonate, the arsenite, and the granular ferric hydroxide (GFH); let it mix for one and a half hour at 100 rpm without any disturbance; record and observe how to pH varies with time. It seems that the pH converges in about 15 minutes and has minimize changes after on. We then decided to make the second one (with the same content), but adjust the pH with sodium hydroxide. The pH doesn't stay stable over time. We have to intervene: spike the pH up with sodium hydroxide from time to time so that it maintains the pH within ±0.1 of the intended value.

The bottles on a shaker with a pH probe for monitoring.

pH at 7.54 - because we just spiked it up.

The result of the first bottle.

The result of the second bottle.

Now, we are off at the dorm. However, the shaker and the pH meter are still running at UNESCO-IHE (Do we still count as "working," since the shaker, the pH meter, and our brains are still working?? Haha); we will see what the overnight results will look like tomorrow. If the pH doesn't drop too much and we can start the actual batch experiment really soon.

pH practice

Author: Duncan Peabody

So as I predicted our carefully planned schedule for week 1 of research is already off course. We had planned on running the experiment Wednesday. And then it changed to Thursday. But we found that we needed a little more practice. The main problem we were having was stabilizing the pH. So Sam and I have spent the past two days practicing pH adjustment and I think that we've got it down to where we can control the pH at +/- 0.1. We also decided to divide our experiment up into 4 days with 6 batch experiments each day rather than an unwieldy 24 batch experiments in 1 mess of a day. This way we can control each batch with more precision.

I'm starting to remember how bipolar doing research can make you. When things are going well you feel great and as soon as something goes wrong the world is coming to an end. But right now things are going pretty well. The apocalypse will have to wait until our next blunder.

I'm hesistant to make a new schedule...but it goes something like this. We won't start our experiments until Monday, so tomorrow we will do a couple more practice batches just to make sure we're prepared. We're also going to meet with Valentine to talk about a big picture timeline for the rest of our time here. Then all of next week will be spent on batch experiments and analysis with the Atomic Absorption Spectrometer. Hopefully next Friday we will have our first set of results to share. That is if the world doesn't end first.

On a sad note, my soccer ball deflated so I can't go out and play right now.

1st Day of Actual Research

Author: Michael Gerdjikian


(From left to right: TOC Analyzer, UV Spectrophotometer, and Spectrofluorometer)

Today, I began testing some water samples from a desalination plant in California. It was a very interesting day because I had to simultaneously use three of the machines that I had just learned how to use, but never used, the previous day. I tested seven samples from different segments of the plant in order to see how the water quality changes down the line. For example, I tested the raw influent as well as water after microfiltration. I began by running the samples through the TOC analyzer. This was a fairly simple setup as it is all automated. It was a little time consuming as I had to clean out the vials, filter some MilliQ water through the 0.45 micron filter a few times to clean it each time I used a new filter, and then filter the water samples into the vials (while changing the filter several times). After that, running the software was rather straightforward thanks to Don’s handy manual. He watched over me since it was my first time running the machine and everything went smoothly. After I told the software what to do, I started the system and then moved on to the next two machines while it collected all the data for me. Next were the UV Spectrophotometer and the Spectrofluorometer. For these two systems, I prepared one sample at a time for each. This was the best way for me to do it without confusing myself. So if I was testing the raw water, I would prepare only the raw water for each machine at the same time. Again, the painstaking part of these procedures was properly filtering the samples. It took a few tries before I managed to prepare the cuvettes without any fine bubbles within it or marks on the sides of it. Other than that, I learned rather quickly how to use the software. Sergio was sure to help me set up the system before I started testing any samples. It wasn’t until after I had finished with everything in the lab that I started to really understand what it was that I was doing. I took the results straight to Sergio and he talked it over with me. For example, he took the results of the Fluorospectrometer and created EEMs (excitation-emission matrices) from them using MatLab. Using the EEMs, he uses the intensity of the readings to get an idea of how much protein and humic substance is within the water. He then showed me how to subtract intensities from one section of the plant to another to get a visual of what was removed during a certain process, such as a microfiltration membrane. I was excited when the results I gathered corresponded with what we expected to see in the EEMs. Overall, I was very pleased with my work in the lab today and it was a great learning experience for me. I’m actually looking forward to going back to IHE early in the morning to get started on another group of samples.

Thank you Dr. Yeh!

Author: Dipesh Dey



Thank you Dr. Yeh! It was a privilege to have you in company! We appreciate your help in the initial 8 days to get us all set and going!

The Beautiful Dutch People

Author: Dipesh Dey

Reception by NWP and UNESCO-IHE for the Visiting Florida and Louisiana Teams

Author: Dipesh Dey

Zeeland, Walcheren Island | Coastal Defence, Weak Links Project; Man-made Beach, Beach Expansion in front of Sea Resort Vlissingen

Author: Dipesh Dey

Zeeland Dunes & Dikes | Coastal Defence System, Weak Links Project

Author: Dipesh Dey

Deltapark Neeltje Jans | Zeeland Storm Surge Barrier Oosterschelde

Author: Dipesh Dey

Maeslantkering | Rotterdam Storm Surge Barrier, World's Largest Moving Structure

Author: Dipesh Dey

Claiming New Land on Sea | Port of Rotterdam and Maasvlakte 2

Author: Dipesh Dey

Photos: The ever-growing City of Rotterdam

Author: Dipesh Dey

Exposure Course on Water Management in the Netherlands for Water Managers from the U.S.

Author: Dipesh Dey

Duration: May 25-May 29
Organized by: Florida Earth Foundation, Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management; and UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education.

Activities in which USF IRES Team took part:

May 25 Monday

9:00 Welcome and introduction by Dr. Jan Luijendijk.
9:30 Introduction to Water Management in the Netherlands by Prof. Bart Schultz.

May 26 Tuesday

Visits to Rotterdam Municipality and Harbour

7:45 Departure from IHE by bus.
9:00 Arrival at FutureLand for a visit to the Maasvlakte 2 project hosted by the Port of Rotterdam, Project organization Maasvlakte 2.
9:30 Presentation on "Maasvlakte 2: from vision to reality, hydraulic aspects" by Mr. Jan Konter
10:00 Tour to the construction site of the Maasvlakte 2 guided by Mr. Konter and Mrs. A. van Ham
11:00 Departure for visit at the municipality of Rotterdam
11:30 Arrival at the Rotterdam Information Center; Presentation on Rotterdam Climate Proof (RCP) Programme and Water Safety by Mr. Nick van Barneveld; Presentation about green roofs by Mr. Jos Streng.
13:00 Lunch offered by municipality of Rotterdam.
14:00 - 15:00 Rotterdam Public Library.
15:00 - 16:00 Bus tour to Maestlantkering at Hoek van Holland.
16:00 Visit the Storm Surge Barrier the Maestlantkering" at the information center of Keringhuis; Movie on the construction, presentation and a guided tour.
17:30 - 18:30 Return to Delft through the Westland region.

May 27 Wednesday

Zeeland Province

8:00 Departure from UNESCO-IHE by bus.
10:00 Arrival at the Neeltje Jans, the Information Center at the Storm Surge Barrier Oosterschelde.
10:00 - 10:30 Coffee break and welcome by Dr. Tjeerd Blauw.
10:30 - 11:30 Introduction on Delta Works and movie on the construction of the barrier.
11:30 - 12:30 Guided tour to the inside of the barrier.
12:30 - 13:30 Lunch and presentations by Dr. Tjeerd de Blauw and Durk Jan Lagendijk.
13:30 Departure for Wlacheren Island
14:15 - 15:00 Movie on the Ducth Coastal Defence System and introduction by Mr. Bert Kortsmit, Project Manager.
15:00 - 17:00 Visit to the costal defence system activities at Zoutelande and Nolle-Westduin (Weak Links Project).
17:30 Dinner at the Gevangetoren at the boulevard in Vlissingen; Presentation by Mrs. Wilma Brouwer, member of the Water Board Zeewse Eilanden and responsible for International Affairs.
20:00 Departure for Delft by bus.

May 28 Thrusday

USF IRES Student delegation meeting at the Internation Water House, The Hague; Presentation b Mrs. Floor Boerwinki about the Netherland Water Partnership (NWP); Presentations on NGOs IRC and AKVO.

Famous Delftware Pottery Factories (Deflt Blue)

Author: Dipesh Dey

Directions
Royal Delft
Delft Station Centrum -> Bus 121 or 129 -> 3rd Stop: Jaffalaan/TU Aula (TU Delft campus); 5 min. walk; Rotterdamseweg 196; Tel: 015-251-2030.

Delft Pottery De Delftse Pauw (Pauw means Peacock in the Dutch)
Delft Station Centrum / UNESCO-IHE -> Tram 1 (Delft-Scveningen) -> 3rd Stop: Vrijenbanselaan/Brasserskade -> 5 min. walk through good township with a canal running in the middle, road signs of De Pauw can be seen all the way through from stop to factory; Delftweg 133.

Delft blue pottery or more commonly known as Delftware, are always painted by hand. The designs are created by hired painters. The product that is painted on is called “bisque”. The painters use black paint always. This paint contains cobalt oxide and copper oxide. The cobalt oxide is the main ingredient to change the black color into Delft Blue. After the product is painted it is glazed. Then it goes to the kiln for a second firing process, where at temperature around 12000C for 24 hours a chemical reaction changes the black color to Delft Blue. The gray shades in the black paint are a mixture of water and paint. The more water is added, the lighter the shade becomes. Painting is a very precise and delicate job, because the bisque is porous and readily adsorbs paint. The mistakes cannot be erased.

Kaoline, feldspar, chalk and quartz are made into a slurry with water and poured into a plaster mould. One plaster mould can be used 50-80 times. The plaster mould absorbs the water from the clay slurry and a thick crust forms inside. When the thickness is enough, the mould is turned upside down, to pour out the remaining slurry. This is how the hollow form is obtained. For some more time, depending on the thickness and length of the crust, its left undisturbed. The clay crust inside shrink in the end and thus can be easily removed form the mould. The lines and irregularities are removed with knife and sponge. Then it can be painted.

The several styles of pottery are:

1. Delft Blue: Dutch interpretation of Chinese porcelain. Tulip Vase is most famous based on sales record. In the 17th century tulip was a very exclusive and expensive flower. A tulip vase is a status symbol and rich people could show their wealth by demonstrating it. Today, tulip is a cheap flower, but vases are expensive.
2. Polychrome: First produced in Delft in 17 the century and known as “Majolica”. It is a joyful style based on ceramics from Italy and Spain.
3. Pijnacker (Red, Blue and Gold): 17th century Dutch version of Japanese “Imari” earthenware. For gold, real gold is used, the most expensive style and still the status symbol for many rich Dutch people.
4. Delft Black: Originated in 17th century, known as “The Miraculous Delft Black” and reintroduced in 1978. This style is inspired by Chinese laquerware.
5. Tile picture: One complete picture consists of 3 parts (a total of 28 meters) and represents the people of Amsterdam celebrating the winery harvest. Today, a partial picture can be seen in the restaurant “Die Port van Cleve” in Amsterdam.

Kinderdijk, a folktale and the Hans Brinker story

Author: Dipesh Dey

Kinderdijk is a village situated 15 km east of Rotterdam. Its located in a polder at the confluence of the Lek and Noord rivers. To drain the polder a system of 19 windmills was built in 1740 and is the largest concentration of archaic windmills in Holland. It was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1997.

The name Kinderdijk is Dutch for "Child's Dike". In 1421 during the Saint Elizabeth flood of 1421, the Grote Hollandse Waard flooded, but the Alblasserwaard polder stayed unflooded. It is said that when the terrible storm had subsided, someone went on to the dike between these two areas, to see what could be saved. He saw in the distance a wooden cradle floating. There was no hope that anything would be living in it, but when it approached, movement was seen. When the cradle came nearer, someone saw that a cat was in the cradle trying to keep it in balance by jumping back and forth so that no water could come into it. When the cradle eventually came near the dike, someone fished the cradle out and saw that in it a baby slept quiet and dry. In some of the stories the cat kept it balanced and afloat. This folktale and legend has been published as "The Cat and the Cradle" in English.

In the Netherlands, the drainage system is an important matter. The Dutch need a well developed water control system in order to keep large areas from being flooded, because some parts of the Netherlands are below sea level. In Alblasserwaard, problems with water became more and more apparent in the 13th century. Large canals, called 'weteringen', were dug to get rid of the excess water in the polders. However, the drained soil started setting, while the level of the river rose due to the river's sand deposits. After a few centuries, an additional way to keep the polders dry was required. It was decided to build a series of windmills, with a limited capacity to bridge water level differences, but just able to pump water into a reservoir at an intermediate level between the soil in the polder and the river; the reservoir could be pumped out into the river by other windmills whenever the river level was low enough; the river level has both seasonal and tidal variations.

Full control over the water level was never achieved. Throughout the centuries, the residents of the western part of the Netherlands suffered inundations, especially because of dyke ruptures; this is reflected the legend of the floating cradle at Kinderdijk and the figure of an anonymous boy commonly mistaken for Hans Brinker with his finger in a ruptured dyke.

The Hans Brinker Story and Flood Prevention in Holland:

In Holland, poor but industrious and honorable 15 year old Hans Brinker and his younger sister Gretel, yearn to participate in December's great ice-skating race on the canal. They have little chance of doing well on their handmade wooden skates, but the prospect of the race and the prize of the Silver Skates excite them and fire their dreams.

Hans' father is sick and amnesiac because of a fall from dike and cannot work. Mrs. Brinker, Hans, and Gretel must work to support the family and are looked down upon in the community because of their low income and poor status. Hans and Gretel learn that a famous surgeon, Dr. Boekman, might be able to treat their father, but the doctor is expensive and gruff following the loss of his wife and son. Eventually, Dr. Boekman is persuaded to examine the Brinkers' father. He diagnoses pressure on the brain, which can be cured by a risky and expensive operation involving trephining. Hans offers his own money, saved in the hope of buying steel skates, to the doctor to pay for his father's operation. Touched by this gesture, Dr. Boekman provides the surgery for free. Hans is able to buy good skates and skate in the race, but Hans lets a friend — who needs it more — win the precious prize, the Silver Skates. Mr. Brinker's operation is successful, and he is restored to health and memory. Dr. Boekman is also changed, losing his gruff ways.

The Brinker parents live a long life. Dr. Boekman helps Hans go to medical school and Hans becomes a successful doctor.

Training

Author: Robert Bair

Finally I am ready… well, almost ready to start my experiments. Today everyone in the group that needed to receive training in the AAS or the TOC received training. I will be using the AAS to check the levels of Zn, Pb, and K that are absorbed by duckweed. I will be using the TOC to determine whether or not my desorbing solutions are destroying the plant cells. If the plants cells are destroyed there will be a spike in TOC.
It takes a full week for me to run all of the samples from an individual test, so I won’t start anything until Monday. For now I am enjoying the countless hours of staring at duckweed. That’s not true; I have plenty of research to do in the mean time. It’s in situations like these that I am happy the budget cuts haven’t affected our access to online databases.
Adapting to a new environment:
The bike I bought is already falling apart. No wonder it only cost me 45 euros. Luckily I have found plenty of spare parts throughout the city. Some person was throwing away a bike frame so I took it. I also found a luggage rack under a bridge, which I need to figure out how to attach to my bike. Most people would call this “being cheap and grungy.” I view it as being a creative recycler! I’ll take pictures of my “highly modified” bike when I am done.
I wish I had learned more languages when I was younger. Everyone I have met speaks around 4 or 5 different languages. I guess it is easier be isolated in the US. Here if you drive 2.5 hours to the south you end up in a completely different country.

Fun Day of Lab Training

Author: Michael Gerdjikian

So today began my training on the lab equipment at IHE. Thanks to Don, member of the lab staff, and Sergio, my mentor, I learned how to use five different machines. These include two types of Atomic Absorbance Spectrometers (graphite furnace and flame), the TOC analyzer, the Fluorospectrometer, and the UV Recording Spectrophotometer. It was hard to completely absorb everything that was going on but luckily Don and Sergio are happy to watch over me the first couple times I use the machines to make sure nothing goes wrong. I’ve been getting more acquainted with the various members of UNESCO-IHE and it’s been very comforting. Yesterday morning I met with Sergio and we discussed what it is that I’ll be doing during the next two months. I consider myself to be lucky because I will have the opportunity to visit the desalination plant in Zeeland with Sergio several times before I leave. I then met with Victor later that afternoon and he explained how to use the membrane filtration unit that they use there. It’s a bit more intricate than the one that I used at USF but the concept is the same. It didn’t take very long for me to get adapted to the system. It seems as though all of the loose ends have been tied up for the most part. I’m a lot more optimistic about this program now than when it first began.

Prepare For The Experiment

Author: Hong Ting (Sam) Chiu

The AAS training is schedule to be tomorrow, and we didn't have any training session today. Therefore, Duncan and I switched the "learning" gear to the "working" one. We started to prepare as many necessaries as possible for the batch experiment.

Adsorbent was definitely on the top of the list. We ground the granular ferric hydroxide (GFH) with the mortar and pestle and sieved it to make sure the product is less than 63 micron. It took us a long while to grind the GFH down to the required size. We repeated the grinding and sieving process for numerous times. But, at the end, we did get some good GFH at the end.

The coarse granular ferric hydroxide.

Gotta keep grinding.

A nice sieve shaker.

Ground product.

After that, we chose to prepare the bottles for the closed batch systems. We need to take samples from these bottles; it yet has to be closed system. Therefore, we needed to have a hole on top of the cover, which can put a tubed stopper thru. Some of them didn't have the holes, so we went and drilled some holes.

Drilled holes.

Lastly, we measured the solute for all 24 bottles and prepared the 0.1M hydrochloric acid and 0.1M sodium hydroxide for pH fixation.

All the chemical we prepared today.

All of these probably sound quite easy; however, it is not the case when we don't know where the equipment/chemical is around. We know the basic equipments storage; however, it often need something that is not on the self. We have to bother the lab staff and they kindly show us where to get the stuff. I hope we will learn our way around the lab soon and get things done.