​

​​​

​​​​​​​

This project has been funded with €115,735 by the competitive grant program of the Agència Valenciana de la Innovació (AVI) with community financing through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Program, Valencian Community 2021-2027.

The main objective of the project is the launch of the first Sandbox in the Integrated Water Cycle, focusing on how to apply digitalization to improve the integrated water cycle in the six cities served by Aguas Municipalizadas de Alicante: Alicante, Sant Joan d’Alacant, San Vicente del Raspeig, Campello, Monforte del Cid, and Petrer. The project duration covers the period 2023-2025. 

Specific objectives:

• Promote new solutions aimed at achieving the objectives proposed by AMAEM regarding the management and efficiency of water resources.

• Provide AMAEM with a new cutting-edge innovation tool and its management, development, and application methodology.

• Offer the ecosystem a low-risk testing space to foster new investments.

• Strengthen Alicante’s position as an innovative city.

Additionally, it should be noted that there are no precedents for a Sandbox in the integrated water cycle. There are, however, precedents—two in the Valencian Community, Valencia and Alcoi—of sandboxes applied to Local Administration. There are also other experiences such as the Mobility Laboratory in Madrid or the financial sandbox. The proposed sandbox would be the first in the field of integrated water cycle management.

Expected results

• Drafting of the first Sandbox Guide in the integrated water cycle in Europe

• Design of the strategy, management model, and action plan of the AMAEM sandbox

• Training in enabling technologies for AMAEM staff and companies, collaborators, and staff from SVI centers

• Funding Guide for the first sandbox call in the integrated water cycle

• Launch and implementation of the first AMAEM sandbox in the integrated water cycle

Below are the two main documents for participation in the AMAEM Sandbox:

• Selection and participation guidelines in the AMAEM Sandbox
• Description of the challenges of the 1st call

Sustainable solution for water sampling in quality control laboratories based on biopolymer bottles

Do you know how many plastic containers we generate and discard in our laboratories? Would it be possible to replace these plastic containers used up until now with biodegradable or biocompostable bottles, thereby avoiding the generation of microplastics, which are potentially harmful emerging contaminants for the environment?

As part of its commitment to innovation and the environment, Aguas de Alicante, together with AIMPLAS, the University of Alicante, Labaqua, and Assur Medical, has launched a research project entitled: “Development of a sustainable solution based on biopolymer bottles for water sampling in quality control laboratories (B3CLab).”

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

With a global budget of €612,139.89, the project has received a grant from the Valencian Innovation Agency (AVI) of €455,940.89 under the 2023 Strategic Collaborative Projects call, financed through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 2021-2027. The proposal focuses on replacing the polymers commonly used in containers by quality control laboratories, which are derived from non-biodegradable petrochemicals, with polymers of biobased and biodegradable origin. A biobased polymer (bio-origin) is one that originates, fully or partially, from biological material; it can come from trees, crops, grasses, algae, or other plant-based waste.

The importance of this initiative becomes evident considering that in Alicante alone, the number of bottles consumed annually by the laboratories participating in the project exceeds 82,000 units. The elimination of these plastics would greatly contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of quality control laboratories, in line with the principles of Green Chemistry, or environmentally friendly Chemistry. This principle establishes that quality control laboratories cannot introduce new contamination that would jeopardize the quality of the product being analyzed; ultimately, we cannot be part of the same problem we are working to prevent.

To this end, the main technological objective of B3CLab is the manufacture of biobased bottles that meet the requirements for sampling drinking water and its subsequent analysis in quality control laboratories. For this purpose, the characteristics of different plastic polymers commonly used in analysis laboratories for sampling will be studied and compared under the same working conditions with the selected biopolymers. Additionally, their suitability will be assessed by studying their analytical quality, conducting migration studies, and verifying the results obtained in real samples, to ensure that no adsorption or desorption issues occur in these containers.

The data will be collected in a computer system that will allow statistical analysis, graphing, and detailed tracking of the data in the manufacturing process, as well as the analysis of organic and inorganic compounds, both for bottles manufactured with currently used polymers and those made with the selected biopolymer. Once the suitability study is completed, the sustainability, safety, and functionality of the chosen containers will be assessed, as well as carrying out a life cycle study of these containers.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

One of the key strategies to ensure the sustainable supply of water in a context of increasing pressure on resources is to promote water reuse, which is essential in our region. To guarantee the safe use of water, a key requirement is that the treatments it undergoes are able to certify the elimination of potentially dangerous contaminants (biotic and abiotic) for humans, animals, and the environment. Therefore, it is important to provide access to technologies that can monitor the quality parameters of reclaimed water in a simple and effective way.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The MICROMANAGE project, partially funded by the Valencian Innovation Agency and the European Union through the FEDER program, and involving LABAQUA, the University of Alicante, and the company iGLS S.L., leverages new technologies to improve water safety control plans that will help comply with the new European regulations on reuse. The implementation of innovative tools for the rapid microbiological assessment of reclaimed water brings together two cutting-edge technologies:

1. Massive sequencing of nucleic acids (metagenomics) to reveal the microbial composition and       genetic content of environmental samples.

2. Microfluidic qPCR, which enables the simultaneous screening of up to 192 marker genes in several      water samples.

In summary, these two combined technologies allow the identification of a much wider range of viruses and bacteria than traditional solutions, with greater sensitivity and speed. These genetic analysis techniques will provide valuable information about water quality and advanced identification of potential biocontaminants, with a pioneering preventive approach.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

DAIAD (http://daiad.eu/) it is an initiative supported by the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union, carried out together with research centers, NGOs, and Greek, Swiss, German, and British companies. As a result of the project, the Amphiro b1 device was developed, which was awarded the Innovation Radar Prize by the European Commission in the "Tech for Society" category. The Amphiro shower monitor, together with the remote reading meter, helps citizens become aware of their water consumption. The devices connect to smartphones and keep a record of the user's consumption, allowing for the identification of trends and making comparisons. Along with the meter, an app and a web platform were created for monitoring water and energy (hot water) consumption in the home. Additionally, and importantly, a study was conducted on the effect of different information and awareness strategies on consumption through the app. This project had the voluntary participation of more than one hundred households in Alicante who tested the system for a year, along with the collaboration of several NGOs from Alicante.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Developing technologies and approaches for a circular economy in the water sector to reduce consumption, improve the recovery and reuse of water resources, and increase efficiency is the goal of the B-WaterSmart project, a consortium of 35 European entities from various fields that are implementing these solutions in six coastal cities and regions under the slogan “Building a water-smart society and economy.”

Its objective is the development of technical and digital solutions, as well as business models that enable the acceleration of the transformation toward a society and economy based on smart water management, through the reduction of freshwater use, the recovery and reuse of resources, and increased efficiency in water use.

B-Watersmart: promoting the transformation towards smart water management in the coastal regions of Europe

Six coastal regions of Europe serve as “laboratories” for the project. Among them are Bodø (Norway), Flanders (Belgium), Lisbon (Portugal), East Frisia (Germany), and Venice (Italy), along with Alicante. Cetaqua (Water Technology Center) is the coordinator of the Alicante Living Lab, the first innovation space in Spain for water reuse and the identification of circular economy opportunities in the region. Aguas de Alicante, in addition to testing a wide range of innovative technologies to improve the sustainability of its Rincón de León treatment plant through resource recovery and the circular economy, also acts as a link between stakeholders in the field of reclaimed water.

An example of these technological advances are the pilot plants for electricity generation: through codigestion, using an anaerobic digester installed at the Rincón de León WWTP, where mixtures of sludge produced at the WWTP are treated together with food waste with the aim of increasing biogas production and thus boosting electricity generation to supply the treatment plant itself. Or through a picoturbine; the installation of a turbine with an innovative design (vortex turbine) at the Monte Orgegia WWTP, which takes advantage of a small hydraulic drop present at the WWTP. The energy produced will be utilized thanks to the installation of batteries for its storage. On the other hand, there is the pilot plant for the valorization of the brine generated at the Rincón de León desalination plant by manufacturing sodium hypochlorite and increasing the volume of reclaimed water. Or the pilot plants for nutrient recovery (used in the manufacture of advanced fertilizers): CEVAP, a low-temperature evaporator for recovering nitrogen (in the form of ammonium salts) from the by-product stream of sludge dehydration at the WWTP. The aim is for the recovered products to be used by a local fertilizer company for agricultural use, helping to realize the concept of a circular economy.

The experiences of all these Living Labs are, in turn, supported by the parallel development of digital tools that serve as a foundation for identifying and implementing circular economy solutions and, ultimately, help diagnose the existing situation, make objective decisions, and make the most of available opportunities.

Alicante’s participation and involvement in the B-WaterSmart project, as well as the organization and hosting of its plenary meeting, which brought together a hundred project consortium representatives, help position the city at the forefront of innovation in the water cycle, once again demonstrating its commitment to resource sustainability.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 869171.