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Future water demand: can efficiency save us?

10/21/2015

Blog entry by David Bijl - PhD student

Water scarcity has been on the international agenda for a few years now (OECD, 2012; UNEP, 2012). Overuse of freshwater resources has already caused environmental degradation in many locations, and causes significant economic and health risks as well. However, the problem can get much worse in the future, with continued population growth and economic development. That’s why researchers like me build computer models: to get a better idea of how water demand and availability may change in the future.

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The Sand Motor... say what?

10/4/2015

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In 2013 I started my PhD on the hydrogeochemistry of the Sand Motor. While talking to my friends about this, it wasn’t until 2014 they figured out what the Sand Motor actually was supposed to be. This was probably because of the ‘science communication’ you get into when you spend too much time at university. My friends imagined the Sand Motor being what the name describes: a HUGE electric motor in the sea that replenishes the beaches and dunes with sand. Unclear was the practical part, for example, the kind of volumes or where the sand came from, but they were right about the Sand Motor being a kind of motor, but without all the electric stuff..

A bit of a disappointment for my friends, but the Sand motor is nothing more than a massive pile of sand located at Kijkduin, south of Scheveningen. It was put there by the dredging companies Boskales and Van Oord in 2011 and initially looked like an island shaped as a hook. Because of its precise shape it started off being a huge art piece and with its 2 km stretch and 1 km width the Sand Motor was as big as 256 soccer fields. During its first year, the shape of the Sand Motor changed rapidly. Wind, waves and currents started to transport the sand to the north and south of the Sand Motor, but also towards the dunes and even back into the sea. Because of the rapid changes we all thought the model predictions were wrong and the Sand Motor would soon disappear. However, the Sand Motor just needed to change from an art structure into a natural formed peninsula and soon after the Sand Motor started to change as planned.

The location of the Sand Motor and its shape in september 2011

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Future water demand: can efficiency save us?

The Sand Motor... say what?

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Environmental Sciences Blog

Future water demand: can efficiency save us?

The Sand Motor... say w﻿hat?

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Categories

Environmental Sciences Blog

The Sand Motor... say what?