Aigües de Barcelona manages a total of 7 wastewater treatment plants in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, which treat an overall flow of about 8 m³/s. The current management of the wastewater treatment plants of Besòs, Baix Llobregat, Montcada i Reixac, Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Gavà-Viladecans, Begues and Vallvidrera already generates a large number of resources, such as reclaimed water, green energy, agricultural management of the sludge generated, etc.
In the current context of resource scarcity and climate change, the need arises to make an even bigger leap, promoting a new model for the current facilities to transform them into ecofactories, plants that are self-sufficient and generate all the energy needed to operate.
In addition to being energy self-sufficient, ecofactories aim to generate surplus energy for industrial uses, mobility, etc. and to be integrated into the surroundings, generating positive impacts for the environment and society. These plants are committed to the reuse of 100% of treated water, energy self-sufficiency and waste recovery, such as sludge.
There is growing evidence that environmental crises are part of the road ahead. Wildfires, hurricanes, record high temperatures, unprecedented winter colds, pests, floods and droughts have become so commonplace that they don’t always make headlines. Climate change is a reality, and the world is already suffering the effects. Negative factors such as human-produced pollutants, the increase and concentration of the human population in urban areas and the increase in emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere generate major imbalances and alter water quality.
Aigües de Barcelona promotes, from its Agenda 2030, the identification of actions that can help us mitigate climate change, protect biodiversity and reduce pollution. It is a roadmap for sustainable development, based on people, the city and the environment. Social involvement, sustainability and climate neutrality, governance, transparency and active listening, innovation and empowerment, always seeking to contribute directly or complementarily to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.
The commitment to the environment, the fight against climate change and efficient resource management makes it essential to opt for a circular economy model of the water cycle. For this reason, Aigües de Barcelona’s strategy is to turn sanitation into the keystone of the whole process so that it is not the end of the cycle, but the origin of water reuse. This will make it possible to face the limited availability of resources in our water basin and the growth of the population.
So what is an ecofactory? And how do we define it at Aigües de Barcelona?
Aigües de Barcelona is carrying out the project to convert wastewater treatment plants into ecofactories or, in other words, self-sufficient plants that generate all the energy necessary to operate, and that are governed, at all times, by the principles of sustainability and circularity, covering their own needs and creating a positive environmental impact that adds value to the surrounding society.