Starts: Annually in October
Duration: 18 Months
Location: UNESCO-IHE, Delft, the Netherlands

Prospective Students

This specialization is designed for engineers working in water supply companies, municipal assemblies, government ministries and consulting companies dealing with water supply. It is particularly geared to the needs of mid-career engineers who are dealing with:

• Assessment of groundwater, surface water and drinking water quality;
• Surface water collection and storage;
• Conventional water treatment plants for groundwater and surface water;
• Design and operation of advanced drinking water treatment, including membrane filtration systems for desalination and water re-use applications;
• Sludge treatment and disposal;
• Water transport and distribution;
• Master planning of water supply projects;
• Urban and municipal engineering.

Learning Objectives

After successfully completing the Water Supply Engineering specialization, graduates will be well equipped to understand:

• The structure of drinking water supply systems, including water transport, treatment and distribution;
• Water quality criteria and standards, and their relation to public health, environment and urban water cycle;
• Physical, chemical and biological phenomena, and their mutual relationships, occurring within water supply systems;
• Water quality concepts and their effect on treatment process selection;
• The interaction of water quality and the materials being used;
• Hydraulic concepts and their relationship to water transport in treatment plants, pipelines and distribution networks;
• The importance and methods of operation and maintenance of water supply systems;
• Options for centralised and urban systems versus decentralised and rural systems;
• Be able to define and evaluate project alternatives on basis of chosen selection criteria;
• Water supply engineering within a watershed context.

In addition, graduates will be able to:

• Design and rehabilitate raw water abstraction, transport, treatment and distribution processes and systems;
• Use statistical and modelling tools for simulation, prediction of performance and operation of water supply system components;
• Communicate effectively in oral and written presentations to technical and non-technical audiences.

Application procedure

Please click here for the application procedure for the UNESCO-IHE MSc programmes.

Programme Structure & Contents

This specialization consists of 14 modules covering a total of 12 months, this is followed by a 6-month research and thesis phase. Graduates of the programme will be awarded 106 ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) credits.

A detailed table of all specialization modules that comprise the Delft-based Master's Programme in Municipal Water and Infrastructure is available here. The specializations are found in the top row and their relevant modules are found directly below.