About SUGGEREIX project

Monitoring, risk quantification and evaluation of regenerated water treatment systems

The SUGGEREIX project carries out a series of actions aimed at facilitating access to information and resources for reclaimed water in Catalonia, in order to facilitate decision-making related to Trace Organic Compounds (TrOCs) and microbiological contaminants in water regeneration and reuse processes.

The research integrates information related to the management of TrOCs and microbiological contaminants into reclaim and reuse processes and to generate new knowledge to develop uniform criteria and facilitate decision-making in the ACA.

Project goals

Find out below the objectives of the project.
  • Gather up-to-date information on the state of the art of regulations and reuse guidelines.
  • Create a database of Catalan and international reuse cases.
  • Adapt the risk analysis methodologies of the presence of possible pollutants in reclaimed water.
  • Determine the performance, impact and costs of the main methodologies for water regeneration.
  • Refine, calibrate and validate the methodologies used in three full-scale case studies.
  • Incorporate the methodologies developed in a decision support system to ensure the optimal operation of reuse schemes.
  • Disseminate the results obtained through a reuse guide and an online platform.

Project results

The results of SUGGEREIX will establish the methodology to quantify the expected benefits of the existing and planned reuse actions in the second cycle of the Management Plan of the River Basin District of Catalonia. To consolidate the role of reclaimed water in the actions aimed at improving the availability of water in Catalonia in the third cycle of hydrological planning (2022-2027).

The SUGGEREIX project develops its activities to recommend treatment and monitoring strategies in the context of a decision support system for a variety of end uses for the use of treated wastewater, considering its environmental and economic impact, the necessary risk management strategy and the most appropriate monitoring tools for each case.

Project activities

Contaminants

Prioritization and monitoring of pollutants.

Risks

Quantification of risks and determination of protective values.

Treatment systems

Evaluation of treatment systems (efficiencies and impacts).

Pilot projects

Monitoring, risk quantification and evaluation of regenerated water treatment systems.

The scope of the project focuses on the regeneration and reuse of water, specifically, on three localities representative of Catalan casuistry such as Tossa de Mar, Lloret de Mar and the Barcelona metropolitan area.

The SUGGEST project will validate the viability of the technologies developed in different representative cases that cover different technologies of regeneration and end uses of water.

depuradora prat

Baix Llobregat water regeneration station

It is one of the largest water regeneration facilities in Europe and produces two qualities of water, for agricultural use and recharging of aquifers. Ensuring the quality of this water is a key factor in satisfying the water demand of the metropolitan area and preventing salt intrusion into the aquifers.
hotel samba

Samba Hotel in Lloret de Mar

It is a large hotel complex with 441 rooms, green areas and an outdoor swimming pool. He has previously participated in projects to implement innovative reuse technologies. It is therefore an excellent case study on how to encourage reuse to cope with the increasing demand for tourist facilities.
riera de tossa

Tossa de Mar purification and reuse system

In a population that more than 10 times its number of inhabitants during the summer, this system works intermittently from the treatment plant itself, in order to provide water for irrigation uses of public green areas, cleaning of streets and maintenance of the ecological flow in the Tossa stream.

Project publications

  • Project leaflet
  • Project panel

Project partners

SUGGEREIX puts the knowledge and experience of five entities with a recognized track record in water reuse at the disposal of the ACA with the aim of generating the knowledge and tools necessary to improve the availability of water in Catalonia in through regeneration and reuse.

Eurecat

Eurecat is the leading technology centre in Catalonia and the second largest private research organization in southern Europe. Eurecat brings together more than 650 professionals, and serves more than 1,700 companies, participates in more than 160 national and international R & D projects of high strategic value and has 88 patents and 7 spin-offs.

It has a Sustainability unit that specializes in technologies for the treatment of industrial and urban wastewater, drinking water, groundwater, contaminated soils and waste. It has analytical instrumentation, laboratory-scale test bench systems and Specialized pilot tests for the evaluation of a large number of technologies related to water regeneration and reuse, including membrane separation systems, disinfection, biological treatments, etc.

www.eurecat.org

Institut Català de Recerca de l’Aigua (ICRA)

ICRA is an international benchmark that is committed to researching the integral water cycle, in terms of water resources, water quality, in the broadest sense of the word (chemistry, microbiological, ecological, etc.…) and technologies in treatment and evaluation for the transfer of this knowledge to society, to the business and to the industry.

Research at ICRA is related to those aspects related to water, especially those related to its rational use and the effects of human activity on water resources. ICRA is particularly interested in researching and resolving the impacts of drought, as well as quality aspects in water treatment and reuse, with a focus on the Mediterranean.

www.icra.cat

Cetaqua

It is a model of public-private partnership created to ensure the sustainability and efficiency of the water cycle considering territorial needs. This model has established itself as an international benchmark in the application of academic knowledge to the water and environment sector with the development of products and services for the benefit of society.

The activity of the centre is divided into five areas (Water Resources, Production and Regeneration, Sanitation, Infrastructure, Environment, Sustainability and Socioeconomics, Quality and Water4.0.) and revolves around 21 established lines of research as priorities, including (1) Regeneration and Reuse, (2) Advanced Control of Microorganisms and (3) Advanced Control of Chemical Compounds.

www.cetaqua.com

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - Grup R2EM

UPC is a public university for research and higher education in the fields of engineering architecture, science and technology. Participates in the project through the Resource Recovery and Environmental Management (R2EM25) research group.

This group, made up of researchers from the Chemical Engineering Department of the Diagonal-Besós Campus, is a consolidated research group recognized by the Generalitat de Catalunya since 1995. It is made up of research staff from the areas of chemical engineering, environmental engineering and applied chemistry. The group is divided into 4 areas: separation technologies and processes, characterization and disposal of nuclear and industrial waste, integration of energy recovery technologies and waste material, and water treatment, monitoring of pollutants and evaluation of environmental impacts.

https://eq.upc.edu/ca/recerca/recerca-apartat-anterior/r2em

Catalan Water Partnership (CWP)

The Catalan Water Partnership (CWP) is the water cluster in Catalonia recognized by the Catalonia Clusters programme. It is a non-profit association, made up of 82 entities (large companies, SMEs and knowledge centres) that operate in the sector of sustainable water use and whose main objective is to promote projects and multilevel collaborations, aimed at obtaining solutions innovative for global needs for quality water and applicable to multiple sectors.

The CWP has experience in the coordination and management of R+D, innovation and internationalization projects at the national and state levels, as well as, in the participation of international projects. It is also recognized as an innovative business group (AEI) by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, participates in the European Water Partnership and has the bronze label of the European Cluster Management Excellence.

www.cwp.cat