SMARTH2OTEL successfully culminates in validating digital solutions for more sustainable water and energy management in the tourism sector in real environments

• The technologies developed for the prediction of health risks, water reuse, energy generation and digital monitoring have been validated in real environments (Camping Les Medes and Hotel Samba), improving the efficiency of pioneering tourist establishments in sustainability.
• The project, led by the Catalan Water Partnership -with the participation of the companies Ulbios, Aeris Tecnologías Ambientales, LENTE Ingenieros, Nexmachina and the GAIA cluster-, has been co-financed by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism.

After three years of development in three successive phases, the project SMARTH2OTEL successfully concluded after researching and validating innovative technologies aimed at transforming the management of the water and energy cycle in the tourism sector. Thus, the third and final phase has made it possible to validate in real conditions the technical, operational and economic efficiency of the solutions designed in the previous phases.

The pilots of the last phase of the project have been deployed at Camping Les Medes and Hotel Samba, both in the province of Girona, where technologies have been tested in real time for: early detection of the risk of Legionella, advanced wastewater purification and biogas generation and comprehensive digitization of resource consumption; integrated into an advanced cloud platform that centralizes the comprehensive management of water and energy resources.

The main result has been to validate digital solutions that respond to the real challenges faced by the tourism sector, especially in contexts of high water pressure and the need for energy optimization. Among the most outstanding results:

• Validation of the ULBIOS Water system for the prediction of Legionella risk, which combines biosensors, operational variables and predictive algorithms to anticipate health risk situations.
• Implementation of a train of grey and black water treatment technologies using AnMBr systems and advanced oxidation technologies, which have demonstrated feasibility for the safe reuse of water in tourist establishments.
• Digitization of tourism infrastructures to capture, analyze and manage water and energy consumption data in real time through IoT devices and LoRa private network.
• Development and implementation of a comprehensive Cloud Platform that centralizes all information in an operational tool for decision-making based on key indicators and automated alerts.

The success of this experimental phase has made it possible to consolidate a replicable model for tourist establishments that wish to move towards a comprehensive, efficient and sustainable management of their resources. In addition, the SMARTH2OTEL initiative is a benchmark in the promotion of a new generation of technological tools that respond to the need to mitigate climate impact, reduce costs and move towards a real circular economy in the tourism sector.Led by the Catalan Water Partnership  (CWP), and co-financed by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism within the framework of the call for Innovative Business Groups (AEI) 2024, expert companies in the water and energy cycle have participated in this last phase of the project: AERIS Environmental Technologies, LENTE Enginyers, Ulbis, the company specialized in digitization Nexmachina and the GAIA cluster.