Hidraqua promotes green infrastructure, reuse, and awareness against climate change

Hidraqua and its subsidiaries -Aigües de Cullera, Aigües de L'Horta, Aigües de Paterna, Aguas de Alicante, AGAMED, and Aigües d'Elx- work daily to mobilize and raise awareness in society about the effects of climate change. Today, especially. October 24 is celebrated as International Day Against Climate Change with the aim of raising awareness about the serious danger that global warming poses to the planet.

Water scarcity is a major challenge for much of the Valencian Community. This great challenge forces Hidraqua and its subsidiaries to rethink how water is used through a model change to redistribute and expand supply sources and ensure continuous supply in a sustainable and resilient manner for cities, industries, and agriculture.

Amelia Navarro, director of sustainability at Hidraqua and Aguas de Alicante, explained that "climate change is one of the greatest challenges of today's society and affects a resource as essential as water, particularly due to increasingly frequent and extreme weather events in the territory that come in the form of recurring droughts or torrential rains."

The circular economy is presented as a key solution to climate change, allowing water to be regenerated and reused for new uses. Hidraqua is committed to transforming traditional treatment plants into eco-factories through the B-WaterSmart and CircSyst projects. These initiatives, in addition to promoting water circularity, allow waste to be valorized into new resources.

Likewise, Aguas de Alicante is working on the 'Alicante Circular Water' project, which seeks to improve water management in the city, promoting its efficient and sustainable use through the reuse of 100% of the effluent from treatment plants. Additionally, it will provide 30 Hm3 for use in the Primary Sector and for urban uses, with multiple environmental benefits. Alicante began implementing water reuse for urban use in 2006. To this end, the city has been progressively equipped with a Double Urban Water Reuse Network (DRUR), a hydraulic infrastructure that already reaches more than 50 km and enables water reuse, always seeking its maximum utilization. Secondary uses to which water is destined in its successive lives include, for example, irrigation of parks and gardens; street cleaning; or agricultural irrigation, among others.

For its part, Aigües de Cullera launches the 'Smart Green' system, which estimates the specific water needs of vegetation according to the location, density, and climate of the area where it is planted.

Another key example of water reuse is the Guardian project, a hydraulic infrastructure in the Túria Natural Park (Valencia) that allows reused water to be used for irrigation and also as a protective barrier against forest fires. It is a unique project in Europe consisting of 40 water cannons, a network of sensors that monitor the forest in real-time, and a water regeneration station equipped with the most advanced technology to convert treated water into suitable water for use in this green lung.

Thanks to constant innovation, the use of cutting-edge technologies, and new digital tools, the company manages to carry out more efficient and sustainable management of natural resources. In this regard, the Dinapsis Costa Blanca and Dinapsis Valencia centers, part of the Agbar group's 'Dinapsis Hubgrade by Veolia' network, combine state-of-the-art technological solutions with the expert knowledge of their professionals to apply innovative solutions that adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change.

On the other hand, Hidraqua and its subsidiaries promote the development of climate and environmentally responsible models through the implementation of green infrastructure. Among them are the Recorral in Rojales; the La Marjal Park in Alicante or the Clot de Galvany natural area in Elche.

The Clot de Galvany is an example of how a natural space, which was threatened by human activity in the seventies and eighties, was restored to become an ecosystem of great environmental value, intended for the enjoyment of citizens. One of the main actions has been the use of regenerated water, from the Arenales del Sol treatment plant, managed by Aigües d'Elx, part of the group, for the maintenance of the wetland ponds. In addition, thanks to the environmental management program carried out by Aigües d'Elx in the Clot de Galvany area, it has become a benchmark for resilience in the face of climate emergency and an oasis of life for endangered species within a Natura 2000 Network area.

In the field of research, the 'Aguas de Alicante Climate Change Chair' at the University of Alicante is a joint initiative launched in early 2023 with the fundamental mission of collaboration between the business and educational world in the face of the global challenge of Climate Change. This chair is a center for reflection, debate, and research, working through the development of various training, research, and dissemination programs that contribute to expanding and disseminating knowledge on Climate Change. Only four months after its presentation, this working group has already launched the "First Report on climate change and water management in the city of Alicante," with interesting results on the current situation in the city and how its distribution, management, and planning systems for drinking water ensure adequate adaptation to the effects of climate warming.

Regarding adaptation measures, there is the newly opened climate refuge in the Pozos de Garrigós, inside the Aguas de Alicante Museum. Available to the public, it is an infrastructure against heat waves and other extreme phenomena, taking advantage of the special climatic characteristics generated inside these 19th-century cisterns, with a constant temperature throughout the year; a space where you can find "protection" for a few hours against adverse climatic circumstances, increasingly frequent in the Mediterranean area.

Hidraqua and its subsidiaries are also advancing with other actions that involve fighting the climate crisis from multiple angles, involving all the municipalities of the Valencian Community and its citizens. Among them are, for example, reforestations carried out in localities such as La Pobla de Vallbona. Also, through the calculation of the carbon footprint, which aims to transparently and detailedly show interest groups and the local community this impact and its reduction over the years. Aigües de L'Horta, Hidraqua, and Aguas de Alicante annually prepare a Carbon Footprint Calculation, verify it with an external verification entity, and register it in the Carbon Footprint Registry of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge.