Coordinating beneficiary:   Provincial Council of Granada.

The Provincial Council of Granada (Diputación Provincial de Granada) manages, with full autonomy within the constitutionally recognised rights, the specific interests of the province.

The Provincial Government provides technical and financial support to several municipalities, especially to those with fewer than 2.000 inhabitants and limited highly-qualified professional resources and funds.

Among the various responsibilities and departments held by the provincial government, the Environmental Department supports and advises municipalities on managing local integral water cycles (among others, maintenance and conservation of wastewater treatment stations), urban waste management, Local Agenda 21 and other related local environmental management competencies.

The Environmental Department has extensive experience in the development of projects related to water quality improvement and management of wastewater, dealing with a large number of wastewater treatment plants in the province.

Additionally, the provincial government has an analytical laboratory specialised in the control and monitoring of water pollution. The laboratory has recently been accredited by the National Accreditation Body (ENAC) in the UNE-EN ISO / IEC 17025.

Within the LIFE programme, the provincial government of Granada has coordinated the LIFE project 10 ENV/ES/511 EUTROMED (www.eutromed.org), which aims to test and develop an innovative technique to prevent eutrophication caused by agricultural nitrogen in surface water in the Mediterranean climate. The EUTROMED project ended on the 30th of April 2015.

 

Associated Beneficiaries: 

University of Granada (Spain).

UGR contributes with a multidisciplinary team:

1. 1. The Environmental Microbiology and Technological Research Group (RNM-270) contributes by way of a multidisciplinary team consisting of microbiologists, hydrogeologists and engineers (all members of the Water Research Institute at the University of Granada) with extensive experience in applied research in water technology and environmental research, with a particular emphasis on innovative wastewater and groundwater treatment systems. In this context, this research group has conducted different national and international projects on polluted groundwater, urban wastewater treatment and the application of technological procedures for organic and inorganic polluted removal. In particular, the research group has participated in various European Union projects uninterruptedly for over 20 years. The results obtained from these research projects have been published in 405 scientific reports, including Nature, Scientific Reports (Group Nature), Water Research and Chemical Engineering, which are included in JCR. Moreover, 12 patents and 95 contracts with European companies have been generated in the last ten years.
   2. The research group, SWEEP: Studies on Wellbeing, Environment and Economic Policy (SEJ-054) is made up of researchers in the field of applied economics and environmental economics. Its main activity is the analysis of water management in urban areas from political, economic and environmental perspectives. Its members have participated in various projects and contracts related to water management, publishing more than 50 articles in JCR journals. The researchers have experience in environmental assessment analysis and have participated in the project “Water rates for residential uses in Spain in the context of the WFD: economic, environmental and political analysis”.

Aalto University (Finland).

Aalto University is a higher education and research institution. Aalto is a new, foundation-based university which was created in 2010 by merging the Helsinki School of Economics, Helsinki University of Technology and the University of Art and Design Helsinki. It comprises of science, technology, business and the arts.

Aalto has participated in 163 EU FP7 research projects, of which 48 are coordinated and 63 are still active. Aalto also participates in 46 H2020 research projects, of which 15 are coordinated. Aalto has received EU funding for approximately 20 other research projects over the last 2 years, including ERA-NETs, Joint Undertakings and structural funds. Aalto participates in 3 EIT-KICs: EIT Digital, EIT Raw materials and Climate-KIC, and has hosted 24 ERC projects to date.

In this sense, the built environment department, which participates in this project, is devoted to studying the performance of drinking water and wastewater treatment processes in terms of resource recovery, automation and control, in addition to the removal efficiency of conventional and emerging pollutants of innovative biotechnological processes such as Aerobic Granules, Membrane bioreactors and conventional and active sludge

The research undertaken in recent years has focused on how to build and evaluate the optimal management of wastewater treatment plant and sewer collection systems using existing operational and geospatial information. All investigations are supported by the analytical water laboratory and a variety of on-site measurement and treatment devices.

The team participating in the project will be coordinated by Dr. A. Gonzalez-Martinez (Postdoctoral) and will be composed by Dr. Riku Vahala (Professor). The team members have participated in the EUFP7 projects and have published over 80 manuscripts on drinking water, groundwater and wastewater treatment technologies in international journals in the last 10 years.

Construcciones Otero Company (Spain).

Construcciones Otero S.L. was founded in 1956. Since its establishment it has been specialised in the execution of hydraulic works covering the Integral Water Cycle.

The participation of Construcciones Otero S.L. in the project is justified by its extensive experience in the construction of facilities related to the integral water cycle, in addition to the technical capabilities of their staff.

Among the works executed by Construcciones Otero SL in relation to water treatment, control systems in the integrated water cycle and photovoltaic installations, the following should be highlighted:

• Project to improve the neutralisation system to combat chlorine leakage in the Drinking Carambolo Water Treatment Plant (Camas-Sevilla), commissioned by EMASESA.
• Construction of reverse osmosis water treatment plant to supply drinking water to the population of Tocón, Íllora, (Granada).
• Maintenance of reverse osmosis water treatment plant for the Local Government of Íllora for a period of two years.
• Operational improvement of the Drinking Water treatment plant to supply areas surrounding Cacín’s River Basin (Granada), promoted by the Andalusian Water Agency’s Environmental Department.
• Photovoltaic Installation in the Padul Energy Cluster, promoted by the Provincial Council of Granada as a means by which to encourage sustainable construction in Andalusia. The installation of PV panels in the ESCO Headquarters and Training Centre with an Incubator enables the Centre to be self-sufficient in terms of energy production.
• Water Supply to Íllora (Granada) commissioned by the Environmental Management Company of the Regional Government of Andalucía./li>
• Another aspect to consider is the commitment of Construcciones Otero with Innovation and Sustainable Development. It is a member of the Innovative Business Association of Waste Water Technologies of Andalusia. In recent years, it has participated in several research projects, including the following:
  • Project R+D+i, Sustainable Urban Drainage System.
  • Energy optimisation in the design phases of urban planning.

Gedar S.L. Company (Spain).

Gedar S.L. was founded in 2001. It is specialized in the execution of hydraulic installations that cover the integral Water Cycle, from purifying plant to wastewater treatment plants. This company is an engineering that designs and manufactures equipment for drinking water, industrial process water and wastewater, both industrial and urban, turnkey.

The participation of Gedar S.L. in the project was motivated by the company’s interest in innovation and the implementation of new technologies. In addition, it is a company that has extensive experience in designing, manufacturing the necessary equipment, performing maintenance and operation of the facilities by managing them through advanced automation systems.

Gedar S.L. has its own laboratory for chemical, physical and biological analysis, where a chemist makes analysis and tests to optimise the implementation and maintenance of treatments. It also has an engineering and development department responsible for the design of water treatment equipment and a team of technicians for installation and maintenance.

Among the works executed by GEDAR S.L. related to water treatment include:

• Installation and design of a water purification system for the manufacturing process of creams from Amifar Laboratories.
• Manufacture and installation of lamellar decanter system to reduce the turbidity of drinking water in the town of Aldeire.
• Installation and maintenance of the WWTP of Tostaderos Sol de Agua including a Factory water recycling system for reuse in the production process.
• Installation, maintenance and manufacture of reverse osmosis plant to produce drinking water for Mc Donald’s in Melilla.
• Maintenance, manufacture and installation of the treatment plant of Industrias Espadafor to treat the water generated in its production process.
• Water recycling system generated in the car wash of a golf in Murcia.
• Project I+D for the retention of copper waste generated in pipes in the Tabernas solar platform.