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Cataluña triplicará el número de depuradoras en seis añosAustria, in collaboration with the Catalan Agència of l'Aigua, organized a workshop on water treatment in Barcelona
Catalonia will triple the number of treatment plants in six years
July 10, 2008
The application of advanced sensors to detect leaks kilometer distance, the manufacture of filters and membranes, the disinfection of the water of the swimming pools with ultraviolet light instead of chlorine or repair of pipes without open ditches are some of the proposals that were presented on June 5 in the Conference on water treatment that was carried out in the Hotel Condes de Barcelona, in Barcelona.
The aim of the meeting was to show the technology of various Austrian companies to improve the management and quality of the Spanish water. In the event they wanted to give to know more about this Austrian economic sector which focuses on technology applied to water resources. Thus materialise this seminar, aimed at companies and Catalan institutions who would like to know directly what the new technologies developed for the efficient use of water. In that regard, Wolfgang Köstinger, commercial Deputy delegate of the
Commercial Office of Austria in Barcelona, opened the floor for floor explaining that "16 per cent of the Austrian companies dedicated to the environment do so in the technology of the water sector." Water is one of the main natural resources of Austria. "These are kept in an optimal point of quality due to an industrial sector that develops and exports technical leading edge regarding his treatment".
Change in the management of the water
For its part, Lawrence Correa, head of unit for institutional relations and information of
Agency Catalana de l'Aigua (Aca), stressed in his speech "impressive reserves of water the Alpine country 's". "We do not have this type of water with a high-quality reserves." "Our management of the water is certainly complicated", he said. Also, Correa stated repeatedly that one of the main missions of the Aca is to achieve a conceptual shift in the Catalan Administration as far as management is concerned. "What we manage is a heritage, where everything is connected, and not a resource," added.
To achieve this permutation, the Agency works in three most active fronts: the inadequacy of resources to meet all the demands, the demand for more and better features in services and the increasing environmental requirements. To achieve milestones are maximum guarantees of quality and service and heritage preservation.
CORREA said during the Parliament, as a 'leitmotiv', "it must combine the uses of the water with the conservation of the environment, combining quantity with quality and resources with ecosystem through dialogue and participation". Not in vain, the strategic objectives of the Aca are, inter alia, to develop a sustainable management of water system ensuring a rational and efficient use of resources to ensure the preservation and availability, future, and to ensure access for all citizens to the water in adequate quantity and quality.
Wolfgang Köstinger (above) and Lawrence Correa, respectively, during their interventions in the day.
Increase in the sewage treatment plantsIn less than six years, Catalonia expected to triple its number of stations (WWTP) wastewater treatment plants, happening of the 337 which are in operation today to 998 facilities by 2014. This is a measure promoted by the Agència Catalana de l'Aigua covering within the Group of actions promoted by this autonomous body to achieve a sustainable environmental, economic, social and guarantee of water resources in the coming years.
This figure, which Lorenzo Correa submitted on the day, will be that such facilities will cease to be only in municipalities with more than 2,000 inhabitants and in particularly sensitive areas, to cover the entire Catalan territory.
The increase in the sewage treatment plants is intended to achieve a sustainable environmental, economic, social and security of water resources in the coming years.
Proposals from the rapporteurs
The day was attended by six Austrian companies in areas as diverse as the computer applications which reported leaks through SMS, the manufacture of filters and membrane for desalination plants and landfills; the disinfection of water of swimming pools by ultraviolet light instead of chlorine, the development of sensors to capture leaks or civil engineering applications in the form of repair of pipes without open ditches.
The ETM firm develops the system of software visualization of processes and control for applications in industry water down. The Crystal Clear Membran Service GMBH company designs and sells membranes for water treatment systems of reverse osmosis (UO), nanofiltration (NF), ultrafiltration (UF) and microfiltration (MF). Wapotec Group has opened new lines of business in the disinfection of drinking water, the management of water on surfaces such as zoos or the treatment of industrial waters. For its part, MWM Martinek contributes to an active management of the network of water supply through sensors WLM-System developed and patented worldwide. Finally, the Rabmer group allows the replacement, repair or unstucking of pipes without open ditches. To do this, use the latest technologies in robotics or the introduction of television in the ducts to solve the problem causing the least possible impact.
Participants of the wastewater treatment seminar organized by the commercial Office of Austria and the Aca.
Conclusions
The set of papers that formed the workshop on water treatment produced technical solutions not only to improve the quality of the water we eat but also to improve the management of scarce water resources. In that connection, the Austrian technology can serve to solve possible leakage of the network of water pipes in Catalonia as those which occurred recently in Badalona (Barcelona) that are lost every day an amount equal to the consumption of 2,000 people and that they were already settled.
The event ended with a series of bilateral interviews between the speakers and participants that were used to give to know the companies of the Alpine country and encourage cooperation and technological exchange between the Spanish and Austrian companies attending the Conference.
The promoter of the meetingThe commercial Office of Austria in Barcelona was established in 1968 and has as its main activity promoting trade between Austria and Catalonia, Valencian Community, Balearic Islands and Andorra. Its main functions are: establish contacts between Spanish and Austrian detecting potential business opportunities in products and services of all of them in both countries; assist in the development of trade relations and resolution of problems related to foreign trade; and exercise in public relations for firms organizing events (trade shows, technical conferences, seminars, etc.).
