Naturally, it is the areas where water scarcity is part of the landscape, those that constantly suffer from what technicians call “water stress”, those that have been most concerned and invested the most resources in reusing water. Specifically, according to data from the Spanish Association of Desalination and Water Reuse (AEDyR), 90% of the total water reused in Spain is concentrated in the Valencian Community, Murcia, Andalusia, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands and large cities such as Madrid or Barcelona.
But within this set of deficit areas, it is the Valencian Community and the Region of Murcia that have applied the most to it. Valencia is the autonomous region that reuses the greatest flow of water (271.54 hm3 in 2022) and Murcia is the one that does so in a greater percentage, up to 97% of the treated wastewater. Between them, they produce more than half of the regenerated water used for irrigation throughout Spain. According to data from the Department of Environment, Water, Infrastructure and Territory, the Valencian Community recycles 40% of the water in the entire country and Murcia 27%. Behind, at a considerable distance, Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Andalusia and the Canary Islands (with 12, 8, 7 and 5% respectively).
Reclaimed water is mainly used for agricultural irrigation, exceeding 60% of the total, followed by recreational uses (irrigation of golf courses, among others) and municipal uses (irrigation of green areas, street cleaning, etc.) and , to a lesser extent, for industrial uses.
In 2022, the water reused for productive and environmental purposes in the Valencian Community reached the figure of 271.54 hm3, of a total treated volume of 483 hm3, which represents 56.24% of the treated water, data collected in the report annual report of the Water Sanitation Entity of the Generalitat.
123.92 hm3 were used directly in productive uses, especially in agriculture, and also in recreational, urban and industrial activities. The remaining 147.62 hm3 had an environmental purpose as they were destined to alleviate the water deficit in the river basins. The incorporation of these flows into river channels makes it possible to feed both river basins, aquifers and wetlands, making it possible for them to be used downstream.
The percentage of reuse varies with respect to the volume purified in each province. Thus, Castellón only required 42.09% of the regenerated water for productive and environmental uses (4.08 hm3 for productive uses and 19.56 hm3 for environmental purposes), compared to 53.04% for Valencia (59. 91 hm3 for productive uses and 93.66 hm3 for environmental purposes) and 68.64% that was reused by the province of Alicante (59.93 hm3 for productive uses and 34.4 hm3 for environmental purposes). Specifically, in the regions of this province 94.33 hm3 were reused, of which 55.6 hm3 were used for agriculture.
Of the 2,100 public wastewater treatment plants in Spain, practically a quarter are in the Valencian Community. And while the state average for reuse of healthy water is between 7 and 13%, in the Valencian territory the percentage increases radically to 56% overall, 69% in the province of Alicante and 100% in the 14 treatment plants. of the Vega Baja.
In the city of Alicante, an ambitious project is being developed: “Zero Discharge, 100% Reuse”, which through the rationalization of flows and the remodeling of the Rincón de León and Monte Orgegia WWTPs, will provide 20 hm3 of purified water, which They are currently discharged into the sea, to irrigate the crop fields in the regions of L'Alacantí and Baix Vinalopó.
