Carlos Manuel López Vázquez graduated in 1999 at the Faculty of Engineering, Autonomous University of the State of México (UAEMéx), in Toluca, México. He received the Masters degree on Water Sciences (cum laude), in 2002 at the Interamerican Center for Water Resources, Faculty of Engineering, at the same university. For outstanding academic achievement, he was awarded different prizes, grants and scholarships including the 'Ingenieros Civiles Asociados (ICA) Scholarship' in 1998 to the best students of Civil Engineering and the 'Ignacio Manuel Altamirano Basilio Prize' in 2001 given to the best MSc. student of the Faculty of Engineering.

In 2003, he was awarded a grant by the National Council for Sciences and Technology (CONACYT) from Mexico to carry out his doctoral studies, which started in 2004 in a joined project between UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education and the Environmental Biotechnology group of Delft University of Technology (TUDelft). The results of his PhD research are presented in this thesis.