The Councilor for Climate Action, David Mascort, inaugurated today in Mataró the waste water regeneration station (ERAR) of the Maresme sewage treatment plant. This is a pilot test to re-use the flow from the Maresme WWTP, which until now has been lost to the sewer system.
The new pilot plant, which is located in a large container next to the treatment plant, subjects the already purified water, which under normal conditions would be discharged into the sea, to three treatment phases to make it suitable for new uses. The first is a multi-layer filtration that already removes 90% of the solids and 50% of the turbidity from the water.
The pilot plant can generate up to 70 m3 of better quality osmosis water suitable for industrial uses. Another ultrafiltered water treatment, of lower quality, is useful for other uses, such as irrigation of municipal spaces. The new installation will be able to generate up to 120 m3 per day and can be supplied through a hydrant for transport in vats.
In the final phase, reverse osmosis is applied to the water to eliminate salts and organic contaminants. The plant technicians said during the presentation that it would be water that could be drunk, even though its consumption is not authorized. However, it is a resource with multiple applications, especially in the current context of drought.
The ERAR is one of the first initiatives of the Maresme Regional Council. According to the regional councilor of Climate Action, Lluís Farrerons "regenerated water, together with desalinated water, are the main alternative resources to guarantee the water resilience of our region".
In the immediate future, the regeneration of the flows of other treatment plants in the region will be promoted, which would achieve 10 hm3 of pre-drinkable water. The project contemplates that in 2027 all the wastewater in the region will be able to be reused. Only in the case of the Mataró WWTP will it mean reusing 5,000 m3 of the 25,000 m3 that now leave the treatment plant.
Another pilot test foresees the installation of microturbines to reuse the gases produced by sewage sludge, which will guarantee a saving of 50% of the energy that these facilities now consume.
