Since the drought worsened, the commitment to water regenerated It has become a mantra that they have been repeating expertsresponsible for the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) and also members of the Government such as the ‘councillor’ of Acció Climàtica, Teresa Jorda. Moreover, the Generalitat has drawn up a reclaimed water master plan which will be approved in the coming weeks and which marks the way forward in the coming years.
In Besòs, despite the demand for experts, Agbar and PSC, the priority is the water treatment plants
And this itinerary, according to this ACA document that EL PERIÓDICO has accessed, goes through fold The number of water regeneration stations (ERA), in addition to expand existing ones. The objective is to produce more of this water and, in some cases, that it can be consumed (after making it drinkable) at home. Specifically, they will build 27 new plants of this type (in Granollers, La Garriga, Reus, Caldes de Montbui, Valls or Santa Maria de Palautordera, among other places). In total, from now until 2027, it is expected to invest some 120 million of euros just to promote the regeneration of water.
But what is the difference between a treatment plant and a reclaimed water station? To the treatment plant wastewater arrives and undergoes a treatment which removes part of the pollution. The water obtained is not pure enough to be able to to drink. but yes it can return to the rivers (or the sea) without causing serious damage to the environment. Sometimes this water is used directly to, for example, clean streets, so it is reused (without being regenerated).
On the other hand, regeneration goes one step further: when the water leaves the treatment plant, a extra disinfection process to give it a specific use, which can be agricultural, industrial, municipal either environmental (to maintain the course of the rivers).
“This water is safe and there is no need to be afraid of it,” says Irene Jubany
In Catalonia, until now, they used 70 cubic hectometers of reclaimed water for these uses, mainly for the environment. However, in some cases, the reclaimed water also ends up and will end up (indirectly) coming out of the tapespecially in the metropolitan cities.
aquifer recharge
This is what has been happening for a few months in He Prat de Llobregatwhere the regeneration station pumps the water upstream to be mix with flow. A few kilometers further down, a water treatment plant captures the water to sanitize it and for it to reach the houses. Something similar to this, according to the ACA investment plan, may be applied to new regenerating stations that will serve to recharge aquifers (for example those that will be built in Llançà, Montroig del Camp, palamos, Cambrils, Montcada i Reixac ol’Ametlla de Mar).
In the event that mixed water is withdrawn from the aquifer for purify and distribute itreclaimed water will be used indirectly for human consumption.
Depending on the intended use, the treatment applied in the ERA varies. For example, when it is needed for irrigation, it is required to disinfect the water with chlorine. If the water is going to be mixed with the flow of the river or with the reserves of the aquifer, the process is more complex: you have to apply ultraviolet light and remove micropollutants or bacteria like nematodes (some invertebrates that have health risks). In the reclaimed water from the Llobregatof 300 components that could be harmful, only one was found that exceeded the allowed limit.
“this water it is safe And do not be afraid. we have to trust“, assures Irene JubanyPhD in Environmental Technology who was part of the committee of experts that advised the Government on water regeneration.
He details that it is important to be prepared to be able to give this extra use to reclaimed water: “It is useful to give it agricultural, industrial or urban use because it avoids using drinking water for these things. But if the drought is extreme, you have to be prepared to mix it with the river, make it drinkable and make it reach the houses”.
Not in the Besòs
The investment plan includes allocating 19 million to expand the regenerative station of The Prat of Llobregatalmost Seven million for the one that already exists in Sant Feliu de Llobregat and five million to improve the ERAs of the Costa Brava.
However, it is not expected that the water from the Kisses regenerates so that it ends up in the houses. This is what several experts had requested, the company Agbar or also the PSC. In this metropolitan river, according to ACA sources, the priority is the water treatment plants like the one being built.
“In the end, there will be no choice but to modify what was planned and apply this in the Besòs if the droughts increase,” warns Narcis PratProfessor of Ecology at the University of Barcelona (UB) who was also part of the panel of specialists in reclaimed water from the ACA. Jubany also considers that there is a commitment to this formula: “It is important to have the tests done and be prepared to reuse this reclaimed water when it is drought is severe“.
“The great concern of the Government”
The president’ Pere Aragones made clear yesterday the importance of these investments to regenerate, desalinize and make more drinkable: “They are very important works that will change the situation. We prioritize them because the drought is the Government’s great concern right now.”
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Aragonès admits that some of the announced infrastructures come with delaybut claims the fact that its Government is speeding up some of the works. The ‘president’ has also highlighted the 25% increase in the amount of reclaimed water used in El Prat de Llobregat, as well as the start-up of the contribution of reclaimed water in the Tordera river.
This same 2023, the watermaker del Besòs and a new desalination plant on the river fox (in Cubelles), apart from the expansion of the Tordera desalination plant. “We have to buy time anyway, before these new infrastructures are not put into operation”, stressed Aragonès, who qualified the drought of the “most serious problem” that Catalonia currently has.