castell platja d'aro a reference case for water reclamation and reuse rtwqm

EIP Water ConferenceLeeuwarden (NL) – 10 February 2016

Water reuse – status and contribution to EU initiative

9 February 2016 – Side meeting

Castell –Platja d’Aro, a reference case for water reclamation and reuse

Water reuse – status and contribution to the EU

initiative

Presentation outline

• RTWQM Action Group Objectives

• Consorci Costa Brava (CCB) and water reuse in CCB

• R3water project and water reuse in R3water

• Castell – Platja d’Aro Case Study

• R3water innovative technologies in Castell – Platja d’Aro

• Regulatory aspects on Monitoring strategies

• Environmental, planning and socio-economic aspects

from the experience

• Urban Water Cycle in the context of the Circular Economy


initiative

RTWQM Action Group Objectives

http://www.eip-water.eu/RTWQM

Objective: to foster solutions to water challenges based on online water

quality monitoring technologies and affordable monitoring strategies

• Water sectors: water bodies, drinking water and waste water, including

water reclamation and reuse

• Applications:

• Resource efficiency, in terms of chemical dosing and energy, in water

treatment processes for both water supply and waste water;

• Early warning systems to detect pollution of surface water, ground water

catchments and drinking water resources;

• Control networks to monitor industrial and urban waste water discharges

and water reuse schemes.




initiative

Consorci Costa Brava• Water utility (1971) providing water

services to 27 municipalities in the

coastal strip of Girona’s province

• Resident population: 250,000 inhabitants;

estimated peak population in summer > 1

million inhabitants

• Wholesale drinking water supply to 23

municipalities (17.7 million m3/y in 2015)

• Biological wastewater treatment in 18

WWTP serving 31 municipalities (28.2

million m3/y in 2015)


initiative

Water Reuse in CCB

• Reclaimed water production and supply for non-potable uses (3.3

million m3/y in 2015; max 6.4 million m3/y in 2010)


initiative

R3water Project

http://www.r3water.eu/

Demonstration of innovative solutions for Reuse of water, Recovery of

valuables and Resource efficiency in urban wastewater treatment:

• To support the transition from an urban wastewater treatment plant to a

production unit of different valuables by demonstrating new solutions to

address main challenges;

• To facilitate the market uptake of

these innovative solutions

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement No 619093.





initiative

Water Reuse in R3waterInnovative technologies:• DOSCONTROL (TEQMA): Advanced control for combined (UV+Cl) water disinfection

• AQUABIO (ADASA): Online monitoring of E.coli and total coliforms in water

• AQUATRACK (AQUA-Q): Early warning system for pathogens in water coupled with

sampler

Demonstration sites:• Hammarby Sjostadsverk: IVL’s pilot plant (Stockholm – Sweden)

• Castell – Platja d’Aro WWTP (Costa Brava – Spain)

R3Water workshop “From Innovation to Market: The Second Valley of

Death” (11th February 2016 in Leeuwarden, NL)http://r3water.eu/r3water-workshop-from-innovation-to-market-the-second-valley-of-death-11th-february-2016-in-leeuwarden-nl

/

http://r3water.eu/r3water-workshop-from-innovation-to-market-the-second-valley-of-death-11th-february-2016-in-leeuwarden-nl/




initiative

Castell – Platja d’Aro Case StudyWWTP

• Municipalities of Castell-Platja d’Aro, Platja d’Aro, Sant Feliu de Guixols and Santa

Cristina d’Aro

• Average capacity of 35.000 m3/day, and 175.000 p.e., high seasonality

• Primary treatment, secondary treatment with conventional activated sludge and a

tertiary treatment for golf course and agricultural irrigation

Water Reclamation

• Water Reclamation Plant (WRP) is

designed for a 15.000 m3/day flow

• Gravity sand filtration + combined

disinfection (UV + Sodium hypochlorite)


initiative

Castell – Platja d’Aro Case StudyMain reclaimed water users: 2 golf courses, one pitch & putt facility and two

agricultural irrigation communities (corn and orchard products, respectively)

On-demand production, with a buffer storage of 325 m3

• Maximum peak production:

400m3/h, during the summer

2015

• The increase in the number of

users has increased the

demand almost at the limit of

the current production capacity

at hourly peak demand period.


initiative

Technologies: Water reclamation

Benefits

• Efficient safe water production, providing the adjusted dose of each

disinfectant agent allowing fit-for-purpose production of reclaimed

water, according to the intended water quality for the reuse

(irrigation, environmental and industrial uses)

• Valuable real time information of the disinfection process

• Reduction in O&M associated costs

Continuous control of combined disinfection process in water reclamation.

• The appropriated combination of chemical + physical disinfection, generates positive

synergies delivering enhanced microbiology load reduction and substantial reduction of

operational costs and an increase in the safety of the reclaimed water produced

• The increased disinfection spectrum process ensures a residual concentration of biocide

through the distribution network, limiting possible regrowth


initiative

Technologies: Online monitoringContinuous measurement equipment for: Escherichia coli and total coliforms

simultaneously.

• Used technique: Defined Substrate Technology® (DST®) and detection system by measuring

fluorescence and absorbance. Applicability

• E. coli is a bacteria widely used as an indicator of faecal contamination, and also key

indicators for determining the potential uses of reclaimed water from a WWTP tertiary

treatment.

Benefits

• Early warning in case of the water reclamation plant

malfunctioning.

• Efficient production of reclaimed water, avoiding overdosing of

disinfection chemicals and excess of UV power consumption.

• Allows the production of fit-for-purpose reclaimed water.


initiative

Regulatory aspects: Monitoring strategiesDuring 2014, a market study was conducted in the scope of RTWQM,

based on the survey and the experience from more than 70 water

experts.

Regarding one question about the discrete

sampling, 70% of the answers point out that the

current water sampling strategies stipulated in the

water directives are not properly representing the

real status of the water bodies and treatment

processes

current monitoring regulations defined in the water directives as a

barrier for the adoption of innovative monitoring technologies ??


initiative

Regulatory aspects: Monitoring in EU water directives

The monitoring requirements defined in the water directives are following a set of common

steps:

• Specify the minimum sampling frequency

• Specify the water quality parameters to be monitored

• Specify the physical/chemical/biological analysis methodMonitoring requirement RTWQM

applicabilityComments

Minimum sampling frequency

RTWQM technologies can provide sampling frequencies from minutes to hours, in any case higher than discrete manual sampling.

Quality parameters Not all the required quality parameters can be monitored online.

Analysis method Definitely, the online monitoring methods will often be different from those specified for laboratory.

Thus, the major barriers to online monitoring are:

• The specification of compulsory laboratory analysis methods.

• Available online monitoring technologies are not taken in consideration when defining

the quality parameters.


initiative

Regulatory aspects: Spanish regulation on Water Reuse

National Water Reuse Directive ES: RD 1620/2007

• Establish different thresholds for the physicochemical and biological parameters,

according to the intended reuse, and even according to the different irrigated crop

types

But it presents some drawbacks that might act as barrier for the development of new

water reuse schemes

• First, the legal mechanism (Real Decreto) seems ‘written on stone’

• The nematode eggs parameter is not relevant for reclaimed water

• The nitrate threshold level for aquifer recharge is more stringent than for drinking

water supply itself

• High frequency of analysis (i.e., E. coli can be required up to 3 times/week)

required by the regulation causes an increase in the costs of lab analysis but does

not effectively protect the quality of reclaimed water


initiative

Regulatory aspects: The WSP approachThe early warning function will never be fulfilled by specifying discrete sampling

strategies and laboratory analysis methods, and, in the limit, increasing the sampling

frequency will not be sustainable in terms of efforts and costs.

The Water Safety Plan (WSP)* is a risk-based approach that identifies which

parameters are critical, and accordingly, set up the monitoring strategies to be

adopted, including online monitoring

A potential approach to be explored, providing an effective combination of:

• discrete sampling, required for regulatory compliance, and providing accurate

measures for more water quality parameters

• and online monitoring, suitable for process control and optimization, and

providing event detection and early warning functionality

(*) Water safety plan manual: step-by-step risk management for drinking-water suppliers. WHO. Geneva, 2009


initiative

Environmental, planning and socio-economic aspects from the experience

Key messages from the 27 years of experience in

water reclamation and reuse in

Castell Platja ‘dAro


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Environmental aspects• Decrease of the depletion of strategic groundwater resources

• Efficiency of fertigation, introducing nutrient recovery and reducing the

environmental impacts of diffuse agriculture pollution

• Allows changing dry crops to irrigated crops. In the case of maize,

doubles the atmospheric CO2 uptake

(*) J. Muñoz and L. Sala: Environmental criteria for alternative nutrient removal in treated wastewater. 6th Conference on Wastewater Reclamation and Reuse for Sustainability, October 9-12, 2007, Antwerp, Belgium http://ccbgi.org/docs/antwerp_2007/poster2007.pdf

http://ccbgi.org/docs/antwerp_2007/poster2007.pdf




initiative

Economic and planning aspects• The WWTP Ecosystem: The environmental and economic

sustainability of the water reuse scheme is limited by the presence

of potential users in the WWTP area

• The use of reclaimed water for irrigation has lower OPEX than

extracting groundwaters + purchasing fertilizers

• Better crop response and more valuable crops production, saving

fertilization costs

• Funding sources vs. whole urban water cycle approach: the

reclaimed water as an alternative local water source to be

managed by water supply utilities rather than an isolated

service provided by the wastewater facilities


initiative

Users and social acceptance aspects• Opportunity for the generation of new economical activities and job

creation in the WWTP Ecosystem

• Continuity of economical activities and municipal services (gardens

irrigation, cleaning of facilities) even during severe drought episodes (3

events between 1998 – 2008)

• End-users acceptance: the number of users has been increasing

during the years and even farmers located relatively far away are

interested in being connected to the water reuse network

• “Reuse of treated waste water”: please avoid to use ‘wastewater’

together with the term ‘reuse’, this will generate reluctance in the

users and public and it will hamper the wide adoption of water

reuse in EU REUSE OF RECLAIMED WATER


initiative

Urban Water Cycle in the context of the Circular Economy

Drinking Water Plant

City

Waste WaterTreatment Plant

Water ReclamationPlantDrinking

water

Wastewater

Treated water

Fertigation uses

Municipal uses

Aquifer recharge

Reclaimed water

Rawwater

Online Monitoring for efficency

Online Monitoring for early warning

Depletion of strategic water resources

Water body

Public acceptance

Reclaimed water demandfrom users

Overall operational costs

Protection of water bodies

Crop production

Fertilization

CO2 net emissions

Efficient nutrient recovery

Diffuse agriculture pollution

Economical activities and job creation


initiative

Acknowledments• Lluis Sala - http://www.ccbgi.org/

• Uwe Fortkamp - http://www.ivl.se/

• Ernest Mejias - http://www.teqma.com/

• Montserrat Batlle - http://adasaproducts.com/

• Corina Carpentier - http://benten-water.com/

• EIPwater Secretariat

THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION

Sergio de Campos

RTWQM Coordinator

[email protected]

http://www.ccbgi.org/

http://www.ccbgi.org/

http://www.ivl.se/

http://www.ivl.se/

http://www.teqma.com/

http://www.teqma.com/

http://adasaproducts.com/

http://adasaproducts.com/

http://benten-water.com/

http://benten-water.com/

mailto:[email protected]