The Catalan Government and the President of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès i Garcia, announced the promotion of the works of the Besòs Drinking Water Treatment Plant, with the aim of increasing the water self-sufficiency of the Barcelona region.
Currently, the station produces 200 liters per second of reclaimed water.
But with an investment of 25 million euros, capacity is expected to double to 400 liters per second by the end of June and quadruple to 860 liters per second by the end of the year.
The Besòs Drinking Water Treatment Plant is a strategic station that allows the recovery of irrigation in joint action with Aigües de Barcelona and the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona.
This infrastructure is crucial to combat the drought that is affecting Catalonia and which requires urgent measures, according to the president.
Besòs Drinking Water Treatment
Pere Aragonès indicated that the objective is to invest around 700 million euros in different infrastructures. By doing so, they hope to improve the water supply network, both in the short and long term.
These investments include the works being carried out at the Llobregat drinking water treatment plant.
The expansion of the Tordera desalination plant is also contemplated, as well as the construction of a new desalination plant in the Foix river basin.
Climate change is creating a new structural situation in which the lack of water will be a reality that we will have to face in the coming decades, the president insisted.
Investment in infrastructure and improved water management are therefore essential to guarantee the supply of drinking water in the Barcelona region.
In addition, the Catalan Government is recovering the old Rec Comtal to capture more water resources.
Now, water from this canal will be used to make it drinkable and distribute it. Until now, the water resource was discharged into the river.
It is estimated that the drinking water treatment plant will be able to produce about 27 cubic hectometers of water per year.
The reality of the Besòs
At present, the Besòs water treatment plant draws water from the aquifer which is subjected to reverse osmosis treatment. With this, it is possible to eliminate pollutants and generate 200 liters of drinking water per second.
The worrying thing is that this aquifer is drying up, so it has less and less water available.
For this reason, it has been decided to recover an old hydraulic infrastructure, the Rec Comtal, which will be used to make water drinkable and distribute it.
This initiative will increase the available water flow and contribute to guaranteeing the supply of drinking water in the Barcelona region.
However, the invitation is for all citizens to optimize the use of the resource.
