They work on tools that allow predicting the demand and availability of water resources or the risk of floods

The Water Technology Center (Cetaqua) and Hidralia, an Andalusian environmental company specialized in the integral management of water, collaborate in different projects and studies with the aim of advancing in a more sustainable management of water, as well as seeking solutions to the consequences of the climate crisis facing cities.

A series of investigations and programs that have been made known with the publication of Cetaqua's annual report, which includes a balance of its collaborative R&D&I activity in the water and environmental sectors as well as its different milestones, being available on both the Cetaqua and Hidralia websites.

In this way, Cetaqua and Hidralia throughout 2020 have continued to advance in projects such as GOTHAM with the aim of promoting sustainable and participatory management of the aquifer of the Poniente Almeriense. An innovative work that seeks to predict the availability and demand of water resources, as well as their impact on the sustainability of groundwater bodies. It also integrates the different water users (irrigation communities, managers of the integral water cycle, industrial users and the competent public administration) to provide a common framework for collaboration and participation between the different users and thus detect their needs and the information generated at all times.

Progress has also been made in the iON WIPES project, led by Hidralia with the collaboration of Axaragua and executed by Cetaqua Andalucía. This initiative tests a monitoring system based on artificial vision that will detect and record the accumulation of solid waste or 'cakes' in wastewater pumps, to determine the main influencing factors.

Another of the initiatives that has been carried out during the year 2020 has been LAGAR, a project developed for Hidralia with two objectives. On the one hand, to minimize the impact on the infrastructures of the drinking water supply network thanks to the support of corrosion and scale risk maps due to the circulation of water of different origin. On the other hand, monitor different quality parameters in the drinking water distribution network. To this end, a series of sensors have been installed and 'Machine Learning' models are being developed for the prediction and creation of an alert system.

Other studies that have been carried out have allowed to know the effects of the introduction of desalysalted water in the supply network of Roquetas de Mar (Almería), as well as the adaptations and needs of the network; the assessment of flood risk and estimation of damage associated with new storm phenomena in Rincón de la Victoria (Málaga); or the recovery of waste from Wastewater Treatment Plants, with the intention of finding new processes to transform your waste and that can be used for a new purpose or to replace materials within other industrial processes or products.

Finally, highlight the TERRA project that is aimed at improving intelligent water management in Mediterranean coastal environments, through the integration of information, predictive modeling and knowledge of aquifers as a value proposition.

Cetaqua and Hidralia continue to collaborate in the development of different initiatives throughout this year and continue to carry out proposals and research with which they intend to deepen the sustainability of the processes of the integral water cycle through the application of concepts such as digitalization, resilience and circularity, which have become fundamental pillars of the European recovery plan 'Next Generation EU' which aims to contribute to economic and social progress and face the environmental crisis facing society.