The conference on the current state of the sewer network organized by the CWP brings together councils, private and public entities

• The day highlighted the importance of the sewer network within the urban water cycle and had more than 130 attendees.
• The event served to bring together institutions in a space for debate and exchange of knowledge where problems and possible improvements were discussed, the main changes of Royal Decree 665/2023, the new European and Spanish regulation of DSS and sanitation. It has also served to publicize success stories and improvement solutions for the management and maintenance of the sanitation network.

Last Tuesday, April 30, a day organized by the CWP was held focused on the review of challenges and opportunities to improve the management of the sewerage network. At the event, different topics were discussed by different experts and speakers who provided experiences and knowledge in front of an audience made up of entities associated with the cluster, town councils and public and private companies involved in the management of the sanitation network .

Xavier Amores, director of the CWP started the event with a welcome where he emphasized the need to give visibility and importance to the management of the sewer in a joint and planned way. The first block of the day consisted of presentations on topical issues and relevance for the sector which began with the intervention of Xavier Yagüe, CEO of Hidrotec. He introduced the session with a reflection on the current situation of the sewerage network in Catalonia mentioning the problems it suffers from such as, for example, that in some municipalities the sewerage tax is still not paid, as well as its potential for improvement through innovative technology already on the market. Subsequently, the main changes of Royal Decree 665/2023 in the matter of over-exemptions of urban sanitation systems were discussed by Xavier Vicens, head of the department of administrative intervention of the environment of the Catalan Water Agency. To end this first blog, Pere Malgrat, strategic consultant in urban drainage and resilience, spoke about the new European and Spanish regulation of DSS and sanitation, which will represent a revolution in the management of sanitation in Catalonia and Spain.

The second block of the day consisted of the presentation of real success cases in municipalities where the speakers, high and low sanitation managers, presented in a round table format and, subsequently, answered questions from the public. Alejandro Ortiz from BCASA spoke about the Barcelona Comprehensive Sanitation Master Plan (PDISBA), Maria Jou d’Aigües de Manresa and Sílvia Busquets from ICRA presented the project “solutions for the management of discharges from unitary systems” , Jesús Belda from the Besòs Tordera Consortium explained the management of the sewer service in the same consortium and finally Ferran Guri and Enric Corbella from Aigües de Mataró spoke about the management of the sewer system in Mataró before and after the Real Decree 665/23.

El tercer bloc de la jornada es va dur a terme en format elevator pitch on es van presentar solucions de millora de la xarxa de clavegueram i de l’impacte dels sobreeiximents en mans de diferents experts del sector:

• “Hydraulic performance according to RD 665/2023. Different approaches to calculate it.” Presented by Xavier Torret, managing partner of the company BGEO OPEN GIS, SL.
• “Quantitative study of the overflows in the sanitation network of Zaragoza for the reduction of its environmental impact during periods of rain”. From the hand of Natalia Gil, Chemical Engineer Water Quality Division, Energy Improvements.
• “Assessment of the state of the Clavegueram using AI for the preparation of the PIGSS” – by Lucas León, CEO of INLOC ROBOTICS.
• “Sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) and a case of success in Santiago de Compostela” by Clara Muñoz, Product Marketing Manager of ACO.
• “Solutions for level, speed and quality in collectors and overflows” presented by Carlos Expósito, Sales Representative North-East Zone of LaCroix.
• “Hydraulic diagnosis of overflows under rain scenarios using advanced modelling” by Javier Climent, Managing Director at Hydrodynamic & Environmental Services (HYDRENS).

The day ended with the conclusion of Jordi Cros, president of the CWP, who emphasized the need for a change in the management model of the sewer network. He emphasized the importance of a joint collaboration between all the agents involved, a comprehensive effort from the beginning and a good planning of actions to comply with the requirements of the new regulations.

More than 130 experts attended the day and showed a great interest in the topics discussed, which has motivated the CWP to propose the organization of an annual day around the issues related to the management of the sewerage network.