Hidraqua, in collaboration with twenty town halls of the Valencian Community where they manage the complete water cycleobtained a total of 16,218,677.80 euros subsidized by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO). This organization supported 50% of the projects presented by Hidraqua and its beneficiary companies: Aguas de Alicante, Aigües de Cullera and Aigües de Paterna.
This aid, from the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Plans, is part of the second call for LOSS for the digitalization of the water cycle. Thus, Hidraqua has a total of 7,664,985.85 euros subsidized for the regions of Alto and Bajo Vinalopó, L’Alcoiá and L’Alacantí. For its part, Aguas de Alicante has funding of 5,238,128.60 euros; Aigües de Cullera with a total of 1,208,087.71 euros subsidized and Aigües de Paterna with 2,170,475.69 euros.
Among the actions of the four projects There is the development of strategic plans that help make future decisions in the face of scenarios associated with climate change; the digitalization of drinking water and sanitation infrastructures; improved governance; transparency and participation in the management of the water cycle and the application of innovative solutions in technologies and processes applied to water management.
The proposed actions cover the entire urban water cycle, from collection and distribution to reuse, sanitation and purification. In Valencia, the municipalities of Cullera participated with a project worth a total of 1,474,997.03 euros; and Paterna, with a total of 2,671,370.45 euros.
In turn, thirteen municipalities from the regions of Upper and Lower Vinalopó, L’Alcoiá and L’Alacantímanaged by Hidraqua in the province of Alicante, participates in this project with a total cost of 7,893,000.62 euros. Finally, Aguas de Alicante will carry out actions amounting to 6,207,363.78 euros in the municipalities of Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig; Sant Joan of Alacant; El Campello and Petrer.
Jordi Azorín, CEO of Hidraqua, emphasizes that “these four projects integrate digital solutions and advanced technologies to optimize water management in the twenty municipalities of Alicante and Valencia. Likewise, Azorín emphasizes that the PERTE presented “were born with the aim of proposing an action plan that responds to the interest of guaranteeing the sustainability of the water supply for the inhabitants of the Valencian Community. In addition, Hidraqua and the companies in which it invests have managed to capture more than 50% of the funds granted within the framework of this PERTE call for this region.
Extensive experience in obtaining and managing European funds
This grant is for now the latest chapter in a long history of obtaining and managing European projects by Hidraqua. Among them is the Guardian Project increasing fire resilience; the Horizon CircSyst project for the search for circular solutions in the field of reclaimed water; the H2020 B-Watersmart project in Alicante for circular economy solutions in the water cycle; or the recent LIFE MERLIN, for the advanced generation of biogas in wastewater treatment plants.
In this sense, Azorín emphasizes that “the Hidraqua staff currently continues, always in collaboration with the municipalities it manages, to prepare new projects to be able to benefit from different European funds.”
One objective per municipality
Under the name of ‘Aqua-Alliance“, in this project, the municipalities of Alicante managed by Hidraqua share the dependence on the abstractions of increasingly deteriorated aquifers; as well as the permanent threat of drought and the need to adapt to climate change and the extreme weather events it brings, for which its infrastructures are not prepared.
The actions included in the Global digitalization plan for Aguas de Alicante They focus on the drafting of the Baja supply master plan; the digital twin of the water transport and distribution network and the Alicante drainage network; the development of the mathematical model of the Urban Regenerated Water Network. In addition to the development of projects for the construction of critical infrastructures of the sanitation network for the protection of the receiving environment, the monitoring of groundwater catchments, digitalization for real-time water quality control and the installation of advanced pre-locators for leak detection, the development of a remote data analysis platform, implementation of sensors for the intelligent irrigation of green areas. Also included are the monitoring of discharge points to the receiving environment, sensorization for the advanced control of the Rincón de León wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and its control platform. And finally, the creation of the Water Intelligence Platform.
In CulleraThe “Tourist and Sustainable Cullera” project aims to promote the digitalization of the urban water cycle of the municipality, both in the drinking water supply service and in the sanitation service. The project has been designed taking into account the key and differential characteristic of the municipality: its tourist and seasonal character, as well as an environment of high environmental value such as the Albufera Natural Park, the mouth – seafront of the Júcar River and the Marjal-Estany of the South Bank of Júcar, which constitute a complex environment in which water resources must be managed according to a multi-objective approach that combines commitments to guarantee supply, efficiency, sustainability and environmental protection.
At the same time, the municipality of Paternal aims to respond to new regulatory requirements through innovative digitalization solutions, as well as to the challenges posed by climate change, to increase the resilience of the city of Paterna. The project focuses especially on the transformation of sanitation, as it is a stage with greater environmental aspects and with particular problems in the municipality of Paterna regarding the management of floods and discharges during rainy episodes. It also addresses actions aimed at improving the response to drought episodes, improving the efficiency of distribution networks, promoting responsible consumption by citizens through self-control of their consumption and the reuse of regenerated water.
Innovation and digitalization
Hidraqua has been at the forefront of innovation and digitalisation for more than half a century. In the last seven years, two innovation centres belonging to the Dinapsis network of the Agbar Group have been established in the Valencian Community, the hubs: Dinapsis Costa Blanca located in Benidorm and Dinapsis Valencia located in La Marina de Valencia, and a CETAQUA delegation was opened, the group’s water technology center and a reference in Europe, to respond to territorial challenges and those derived from the current context of climate and water emergency in the region, through the implementation of RDI projects and the development of digital solutions.
Digitalization at Hidraqua is a constant process that has allowed it to consolidate its leadership in the sector. At the same time, innovation is a lever in the commitment to work to preserve the environment and guarantee access to water and sanitation under equal conditions for all. A clear example of this is the CEX 2024 award given to the company for its value proposition aimed at optimizing the sewer network through the use of artificial intelligence.
