JOB DESCRIPTION

Interested in ensuring sufficient high-quality water to meet the current and future urban water demand, using a combination of nature-based solutions and advanced, state-of-the-art treatment and aquifer storage techniques? Would you like to deepen your technical expertise, gain practical experience with the design and evaluation of innovative urban rainwater management solutions, and earn a Doctor of Engineering (EngD) accreditation? The Civil Engineering and Geosciences Faculty of Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) offers a degree program where you will solve a practical, integrative, and complex problem in cooperation with Delft water-tech startup: FieldFactors. As an EngD candidate, you study, on average, two days per week at the TU Delft, following dedicated courses, and apply your learning three days per week on your individual design project.
We offer a 2-year EngD, embedded within the research project GreenLED: Nature and LED based rain water treatment for reuse in green cities, funded by EU LIFE. The goal of the project is a robust technology that meets quality standards for large volume, close-contact non-potable applications in the urban context. Water recovered through city-block-scale rainwater harvesting and storage schemes will be treated to remove pathogens using the treatment train of biofiltration, followed by aquifer storage and recovery, and finally UV-LED disinfection technology, before water re-use takes place. High quality water will then be made available in the city centres of two European cities to enhance water availability. In this project, you will develop monitoring strategies to assess if the water quality from the system is sufficient, and make with models optimal designs of this nature-based solution.
Activities in this position include 1) commissioning of two new circular water systems; 2) establishment and execution of technical monitoring protocols which utilise online and continous water quality and hydraulic sensors to evaluate performance over 18 months; 3) conducting operational tests and gathering water quality data to assess treatment performance of biofiltration, aquifer recharge/recovery, and final disinfection steps at both installations; 4) applying models to improve the design and operation. Laboratory analyses will be carried out on samples collected in the field to determine the occurence and removal of common stormwater pollutants, contaminants of emerging concern, and pathogens which are relevant to applying recovered rainwater in non-potable, close-contact applications. Groundwater flow models (MODFLOW; PHREEQC) will be employed to evaluate and simulate pollutant and pathogen removal during the subsurface water storage. All of the above activites serve as a basis for developing an optimized design of this technology under site-specific conditions.
Your work will be carried out under the guidance of Dr. Anna Störiko, Dr. Job van der Werf, and Dr. Boris van Breukelen (Department of Water Management, TU Delft), and Joshua Gallegos (FieldFactors). The project also involves frequent collaboration with researchers at the Polytechnical University of Madrid.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

Required skills:

• Relevant Master degree in Environmental Sciences/Engineering/Microbiology, Hydrogeology/Hydrology, Earth Sciences, Chemical Engineering, or a related field
• Fluency and effective communication in English, both written and oral
• Microbiology lab skills

The following skills are preferred:

• Experience with field collection and water quality measurements techniques
• Experience in modelling of groundwater flow and solute transport, and scientific programming
• Knowledge of Spanish is a plus
• Pro-active communication skills and a desire and ability to work well in a team

Please refer the Job description for details