Newsletter intro Luuk Rietveld
From a mountain 50 kilometres outside San José, the capital of Costa Rica, enjoying my sabbatical leave, it is good to reflect on the first three months of 2020. Who would have thought during the “vakantiecursus” on the 10th of January that the world could develop as it has been? We can say many things about the virus (and this is done sufficiently in the media and “on the street”), but for the moment we should live with it. At TU Delft life is now mostly virtual, with virtual PhD defences, virtual MSc thesis parties, and its practical problems: how to hand over the diplomas and how to examen large groups of students at a distance. Luckily, our department has extensive experience with digitalising education and with distant learning, which helps. Almost all education has thus continued, avoiding study delays for the student population. For some students, doing their thesis abroad, it has been a challenge to come back to the Netherlands, but, as far as I know, all of them have arrived safely with financial support of TU Delft. Further good to see that the Dutch water sector has been active with innovative research in these difficult times, as illustrated by the publication in Nature, with an important contribution of prof Gertjan Medema. And what about the “12 facts about COVID-19 virus in water”? Much of it you can find in this newsletter. We also introduce new staff members, like Riccardo Taormina, who immediately explains you about innovative research linked to Artificial Intelligence in Urban Water Infrastructures.
Here in Costa Rica the situation is still relatively calm. About 660 cases in one month time. Nevertheless there are travel restrictions, and universities, beaches and parks are closed. During the famous “Semana Santa” everyone was obliged to stay home… Luckily, we live in the country side, outside Cartago. We can hike through the mountains with tropical rain forests and sometimes have lunch in one of the small restaurants that are in operation at 50% of the capacity during the week. For the rest we can work virtually, although the GBs of my personal hotspot are becoming a bottleneck. The idea was to give some guest lectures and work on some practical (research) projects. However, the students are now at home and on-line education is not yet arranged, although it is planned to start-up virtual education in the last week of April. Luckily, during the first months of my stay, we developed already enough activities. A nice success was that research on aluminum removal, performed by both Dutch and Costa Rican students, was put in practice in San Marcos, a town in the coffee area. In addition, we were asked to advice on the drinking water problems in San Salvador (El Salvador). Although, also there, COVID-19 is now highest on the agenda, we still work on a collaboration (together with IHE) with the local water company, ANDA. For the rest, hopefully, in the coming months I can still work with the university (TEC) and the water company AyA on some practical problems in Costa Rica. One of the ideas is to transform a groundwater treatment plant in Limon, at the Caribbean coast, based on chemical iron and manganese removal with chlorine, into a bio-physico-chemical plant. If you are interested, you can find some pictures and more text on my weblog (click here). More to come… and stay healthy!
Luuk Rietveld