The water in the small cores of population

“[…] The water needs in every aspect of the life. The general aim is to look after that it keep a sufficient supply of water of good quality for all the population of the planet and preserve at the same time the hydrological functions, biological and chemical of the ecosystems, adapting the human activities to the limits of the capacity of the nature and combating the vectors of the illnesses related with the water. It is precise to have innovative technologies, between them the local technologies improved to take advantage of fully the resources hídricos limited and protect them against the pollution […].

The shortage generalised of freshwater resources, his gradual destruction and his increasing pollution, as well as the progressive implantation of incompatible activities in a lot of regions of the world, demand a planning and an ordenación integrated cheese cheese of the resources hídricos. This integration has to cover all the types of freshwater interrelated masses, so much the superficial waters like the subterranean, and has to have properly in account the appearances of the quantity and quality of the water […].”

This statement, elaborated during the Summit of the Earth in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, does already 20 years, posed problems with which still today follow us confronting.

The water is a right and a responsibility. It has economic value, social and environingingmental and is not a very boundless, neither his availability in cuantía and quality is free. By what has to appeal to the citizen responsibility to effect an efficient use of the water and to a social and political will to manage said resource of wise form, mature and equitativa by means of the use of the suitable technologies.

Spain is not an exception. In our country find us in front of a complex panorama, in which the shortage, added to the bad quality, forces us to look for suitable solutions to the pollution of our waters, as well as sustainable with our surroundings.

At present, the big populations have resolved, in general lines, the questions of treatment and distribution of water. They have of processes of Potabilización for waters that go to be consumed and of processes of Depuración, for the waters poured. Like this, whereas in a lot of places a clean and cool water takes for granted, in others is a scarce resource because of the fault of water or to the pollution of the sources.

This problem find it in small cores of population and isolated municipalities of the big cities. Here they do not arrive the networks of supply or of saneamiento by what can not connect to the big stations of treatment.

The solution that poses is the one to realise treatments in situ in the place where goes to consume the drinkable water or in the place where goes to generate the residual water. It is a solution to measure that allows the sustainable development of cores of population isolated or of new residential or industrial areas, that employs the local resources with treatments adapted and resolves the problem of the supply or of the saneamiento with a fast implantation and reduced costs of execution.

Another alternative would involve the connection of these cores by means of networks of supply with the big near populations. But this supposes the execution of complex works, high costs of pumping, constant maintenances of the networks of distribution and desaprovechamiento of water by escapes and evaporations; besides, it comports problems like pollutions in the drinkable waters or smells in the residual because of the prolonged times of stagnation of the waters in the pipes, apart from another type of problems related directly with the stations of treatment.

When it speaks of drinkable water, the pollution of the natural sources can be caused by the action of the man or be due to natural causes. In any case is indispensable to know the type of contaminante to apply the correct solution.

In general lines, can divide the contaminantes in two groups: those that are dissolved and those that are not dissolved in water. These last says that they are suspended.

Exist diverse technologies for potabilizar waters that contain solids suspended. At present the most advanced technology to filter waters with high load of solids in suspension is the Ultrafiltración. This is a technology of membranes that work to low pressesure and that retain the particles contained in the water by means of a system of exclusion by size: they retain in his surface any greater molecule of 0,01µ (solids in suspension, bacteria, the greater part of the viruses, matter coloidal and soluble species of high molecular mass).

One of the big advantages that presents this technology is that it produces a constant quality of water ultrafiltrada independently of the fluctuations in the quality of the feeding. This results very interesting for the treatment of superficial waters whose composition varies with the temperature, the pluviosidad, the poured, etc.

If the contaminante is dissolved in the water, as in the case of the mineral salts, the heavy metals or, even, the radioactivity, the technology to employ is the one of membranes of Ósmosis Reverse. It is the system of potabilización more demanding of the market. It deletes substances dissolved by effect of sifted and diffusion by means of the employment of pressesure. Like this it achieves to produce a current of free water of pollution and a current concentrated known like rejection.

The systems of Ósmosis Reverse present conversions of the 75 – 85% when they treat salty waters, that is to say, of each 100 litres of water treated, obtain between 75 and 85 litres of water of quality. When they work with water of sea, this conversion is lower and situates surroundings to the 50 – 60%, because of the high concentration of salts of this type of water.

The technological innovation of the last years, has contributed to improve the efficiency of the desalación and to the descent of the prices, opening new doors to a technology that does no a lot of years was considered like a luxury.

These technologies of potabilización accompany of other systems of filtered previous that protect them and of systems of disinfection of the waters product with the end to ensure a safe supply for the population.

On the other hand, is vital to adapt the quality of the waste water before pouring them to rivers or ramblas with the end that they continue his cycle causing the lower possible impact in the nature and giving them like this a sustainable use.

The ideal systems to treat urban waste water are systems of depuración biological of high performance. These systems offer high capacity of depuración in the minimum space and big flexibility, are simple but robust processes and accept variations in the load contaminante. This last quality is especially notable in cores whose population density suffers variations very accused in punctual moments.

These treatments can accompany of systems of reuse of water. Simple equipment of leak and disinfection that produce a water regenerated apt for his use in irrigation of parks and gardens, baldeo of streets and sewerage, agriculture or industrial processes, achieving like this give an use the most efficient possible to the water.

Azud Watertech Is one of the main lines of work of AZUD, a business group Spanish founded 35 years ago and formed by more than 20 sensitive companies to the problems of shortage of water.

The main aim of AZUD has been always the development of technologies and products that allow the efficient use and the maximum profitability of a so scarce resource like the water. The strategy of AZUD Watertech concentrates in The Culture of the Water, axis of his activity and that pursues to promote a rational use of the same.

All this philosophy materialises thanks to the distinct areas of work that compose AZUD:

- Engineering. The technical department composes of a multidisciplinary team that selects the best available technologies for the configuration of the system, adjusting it to the needs of each customer.

- Production. The Department of Production is in continuous communication with the technical department and has resources and own productive means to give form to the solution of engineering, with hydraulics plants and electrically intelligent.

- Installation. The installation and set up of the plants of treatment realises with a team of qualified professionals, supervised and supported at all times by the technical department.

- Service post-sale. The plants include an exclusive system of remote management to ensure at all times the correct operation and suitable maintenance of the systems of treatment of water.

Like this, AZUD Watertech offers plants of compact and modular treatment, robust, simple to operate and easy to keep. A product that adapts to the needs of the small cores of population with plants of dimensions limited, of costs reduced and whose maintenance does not require a skilled technical learning.