Ms. Pilar Zapata Aranda and Mr. José Luis Bribián Fisac attended the Mid-term Meeting of NaWaTech project (“natural water systems and treatment technologies to cope with water shortages in urbanised areas in India”) that was held last November 26th – 28th, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain. It was hosted by the project partner UPC (Polytechnic University of Catalonia, BarcelonaTech – GEMMA Group). All European partners attended, as well as some of the Indian ones in representation of the rest of the Indian consortium.
NaWaTech is an Indian-European collaborative project that aims to explore, assess and enhance the potential of natural and technical water treatment systems in order to improve their performance and reliability to cope with water shortages in India.
The NaWaTech concept is based on the optimised use of urban water flows by a multi-barrier approach. Considering the different nature and degree of pollution, each water flow is managed, treated and reused individually, supplementing traditional water sources to cope with shortages in Indian urban settlements. The systems will be integrated into the urban scene providing additional socio-economic functions. This holistic approach will minimise the urban water footprint and enhance the water security of the area, as the water cycle is closed at a local level. It also minimises the pollution of water sources for downstream users.
During the meeting, the partners discussed on the different proposed solutions for the chosen test sites, analysing the proposed designs and revising the schedules for implementation. There are two Indian cities in which the case studies are concentrated: Pune and Nagpur. One of the test sites of Pune, Amanora Park Town, will be the first one in having installed a NaWaTech system, concretely the MBR and SBR designed by Bioazul. The implementation stage is foreseen to have place in the spring of 2014.
There were also some site visits, concretely to the pilot plants installed at the UPC, the GEMMA Group labs and the Llobregat delta area, where constructed wetlands are installed and treating the water.
