The third Delft Water Week has begun. From March 22 to 29, we have water activities throughout Delft, including excursions and lectures, music and painting, water parties, and of course the Delft Water Market.
Water, water, water; drink water if you are thirsty from one of the 11 water taps in Delft. Here you can find there location. These are in the spotlight from this week till autumn.
Public water taps at the Camaretten, the Stationsplein and in front of IHE.
Sunday March 22: The Old Delft Water Walk
De 3de Delft Water Week began on World Water Day, March 22, with the Old Delft Water Walk with water guides from De Delftse Waterloop. Walking through the city with a large group of participants, the story of water management in Delft’s historic city center was told – how do you make a historic city climate-resilient?
Monday March 23: The New Delft Water Walk and the Delft Water Lecture
Our water guides once again led a large group of participants along the renovated railway zone in Delft. The New Delft Water Walk tells the story of water in the ground, the story of water storage.
Dr. Floris Boogaard (Hanze University of Applied Sciences and Deltares) spoke about the dozens of climate adaptation measures already taken in Delft, from wadis to green roofs, from removing paving stones to water reservoirs beneath the street, from water-retaining cycle paths to greening. He also discussed how this fits within the many developments in the Netherlands and elsewhere in the world.
Floris is the founder of ClimateScan.org, a kind of Wikipedia of climate-adaptive measures.
Tuesday March 24: Excursion Flood Proof Holland and Language Cafe
A small group of interested individuals visited the Flood Proof Holland field lab and were enthusiastically given a tour by Timo and Jean-Paul from Green Village. Here, flood barriers are tested in real-life conditions, which is truly spectacular. Next year, this will also include floating homes, floating on soft ground without foundation piles.
In the language café, new Dutch residents and others who want to learn our language practice by talking to each other and to a facilitator about a specific topic. Today, naturally, it was about water. Nicki supervised about 60 participants!
Also on the OPEN stage is the architecture café, featuring a lecture by Hitrud Pötz on green/blue building.
Wednesday Match 25: Water Party and Thematic movie
Big Water Party at DOK Voorhof and DOK Tanthof. Dozens of children were read to, including ‘Blub Has a Tummy Ache’, and played with water and other games.
In the evening, the film “Women and Water” was shown at Community Center De Wending, also as part of International Women’s Week, which had taken place two weeks earlier.
Thursday March 26: Excursion Green Village
Thijs de Bruin from the Green Village led a large group of interested visitors on a tour of Green Village. Explanations were also provided by companies testing their inventions at Green Village, such as FieldFactors and Medeina.
Friday March 27: Open Dooors Haskoning and Water Painting
Open Doors Haskoning
On the occasion of their new office in the Mijnbouwstraat and the third Delft Water Week, Haskoning opened its doors to more than 60 interested visitors. After a brief overview of their (international) activities by our host Léon Brouwer, two duo presentations followed.
Okke van der Linden (Municipality of Delft) and Anastasia Stikkers (Haskoning) spoke about the sewage system in Delft and the surrounding area. They explained how sewage is collected and ultimately pumped via pumping stations to the Harnaschpolder Water Treatment Plant. They also explained how the system needs to be adapted and expanded to cope with urban expansion and climate change. Subsequently, Maarten van der Meer (Delfland Water Board) and Emiel Verstegen (Haskoning) talked about the Delfland Water System in a changing climate. They discussed how water is collected and transported within the polders, how we are preparing for large variations in rainfall—both peak showers and prolonged droughts—and how surface water and groundwater can become saline due to climate change and reduced river discharge.
Afterwards, there was an opportunity to visit the fantastically renovated Haskoning office, the former home of the Faculty of Mining Engineering of Delft University of Technology. Two guides led us through the building and explained how the building became energy-neutral with an A++++ label, thereby becoming Paris Proof.
Water Painting
In OPEN/VAK, there was a “Water Painting” course by Casper Verborg. 13 participants learned the tricks of the trade for creating an illusion of water on paper.
Saturday March 28: Bird watch and Delft Water Market
Bird Watch
Early birds headed to the Delftse Hout to see and hear waterfowl waking up.
Third Delfts Water Market
We cannot but give an impression; there was so much to do, and there were so many visitors. The Water Week team was delighted with all the participation and all the interested parties.
Setting up the water Market on the Vesteplein
The Papaver with the Klimaatmaat en Wij Zijn Schoon (We Are Clean)
The choir of Delft Centre
The Water Week team
Our presenters Rob van der Most (Delfland Water Board) and Esther Gudde-Bliek (climate major)
An impression of the Water Market on the Vesteplein
And of course, kids played with water – our future hydraulic engineers?
Sunday, March 29: the Outer Delft Water Walk
Saturday, the Delfland Water Board launched the Outer Delft Water Walk, together with the foundation the Delft Water Walk. Then on Sunday some 14 enthusiastic participants joined our water guides for a 2 hours walk.
