Long-time Tempe resident, Herman Bouwer passed away on July 28, 2013. Bouwer was a part of the ASU community and a world-famous hydrologist. He was best known for his work on artificial recharge of groundwater, especially with sewage effluent to get the benefits of soil-aquifer treatment for water reuse, including potable use.
Bouwer was a native of the Netherlands, where he survived World War II and the Nazi occupation. In 1964, he received a fellowship from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to study recharge in the Netherlands and Germany. Bouwer later worked for the U.S. Water Conservation Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture in Phoenix, Ariz., for 42 years until his retirement, the last 18 years as director. He served on National Academy of Sciences–National Research Council committees, consulted on numerous recharge projects and gave seminars and short courses on artificial recharge in the U.S., India, Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco.
His son, Edward Bouwer, is a distinguished ASU civil engineering graduate and chair of the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University.
