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In collaboration with the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) and the Baix Llobregat County Council, they are launching a pilot project based on nature-based solutions to improve water quality in the Rubí stream
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The initiative foresees the installation of artificial wetlands at the outlet of the Rubí Wastewater Treatment Plant to reduce chemical and biological pollutants resistant to conventional processes and promote the recovery of river ecosystems
Signatories of the agreement, from left to right: Lluís Calvo: CSIC delegate in Catalonia; Alba Ancochea: Sustainability and SHE Lead at AstraZeneca; Sílvia Paneque: Minister of Territory, Habitatge and Ecological Transition of the Generalitat of Catalonia; Josep Lluís Armenter: director of the Catalan Water Agency, and Gemma Rodríguez: Vice President of the Baix Llobregat Regional Council.
The Catalan Water Agency (ACA), the Baix Llobregat County Council, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca have today signed a collaboration agreement to create an artificial wetland area at the outlet of the Rubí Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) to improve the quality of the water returning to the stream.
The agreement was signed by Carlos Closa, Vice-President for Organisation and Institutional Relations at the CSIC; Marta Moreno, Director of Corporate Affairs and Market Access at AstraZeneca; Eva Martínez, President of the Baix Llobregat County Council; and Josep Lluís Armenter, Director of the Catalan Water Agency.
The current context of climate change and the increasing pressure on water resources make it necessary to explore innovative and environmentally integrated methods to improve water quality and enhance its availability. In recent years, the Rubí treatment plant has undergone upgrades to meet these needs, significantly improving the quality of treated water. However, some emerging pollutants, such as perfluorinated compounds, microplastics, detergents, antioxidants, flame retardants, and pharmaceuticals, remain in the effluent returning to the river, potentially causing adverse effects on the ecosystem.
Researchers from the IDAEA and CEAB of the CSIC, responsible for the scientific project, together with the Naturalea company and the Minister of Territory, Habitatge and Ecological Transition of the Generalitat of Catalonia. | Alicia Arroyo
Over the past 20 years, nature-based solutions, such as full-scale artificial wetlands, have proven capable of removing these chemical compounds and contributing to the renaturalisation of ecosystems. Nevertheless, constructed wetlands still face the major limitation of requiring large surface areas, which restricts their use in urban settings.
For this reason, complementary purification solutions inspired by nature are being proposed. These have already been tested at the Urban River Lab and other CSIC pilot plants and harness the capacity of plants and microorganisms, together with new materials, to retain and degrade pollutants.
According to Eugènia Martí, researcher at the CSIC’s Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC):
“This project is very relevant because it will allow us to apply at full scale several nature-based purification systems that we have been studying in experimental settings. In addition to improving water quality, we trust that the artificial wetlands will help restore the biodiversity of the Rubí stream, creating new habitats that support local flora and fauna.”
“The results from laboratory and pilot-scale experiments show that using new materials in artificial wetlands, such as biochar, increases the efficiency of removing emerging contaminants and reduces the required surface area by a factor of five to ten,” explains Víctor Matamoros, scientist at the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research of the CSIC (IDAEA-CSIC). “We can now test these wetlands at full scale, a key step towards their sustainable implementation in wastewater treatment.”
Participating institutions and public–private collaboration
The agreement foresees joint actions to improve the quality and availability of effluent water from the Rubí WWTP, while also promoting the restoration of aquatic habitats and the enhancement of the surrounding landscape. The impact and feasibility of the measures applied will be assessed, and environmental awareness will be promoted.
In this project, the CSIC participates through two of its research centres: the Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), specialised in the ecology of aquatic ecosystems, and the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), a leading centre in environmental chemistry and water pollution.
Nature-based solutions: artificial wetlands at the treatment plant
The core of the intervention consists of constructing a natural quaternary treatment system at the outlet of the Rubí WWTP. Specifically, artificial wetland areas will be created using new materials and aquatic plant communities that, together with microbial communities, will act as biological filters to purify the water.
The effluent already treated by the plant will flow through these aquatic ecosystems, where biotic activity will help retain and degrade pollutants that escape conventional treatments. This method will reduce the concentration of emerging contaminants before the water returns to the river environment. Moreover, the wetlands will provide additional benefits, such as the creation of new aquatic habitats that will enhance local biodiversity and serve as recreational and social spaces.
