Alegría et al. (2025) Reuse of wastewater and desalination for urban uses

Identification

• Journal: DYNA
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-01
• Authors: Natalia Alegría, Igor Peñalva, Charles Pinto, ANGEL LUIS SILVEIRO GARCIA ALZORRIZ, JORGE SILVEIRO, María Urrestizala
• DOI: 10.52152/d11512

Research Groups

The specific affiliations of the authors (NATALIA ALEGRIA GUTIERREZ, IGOR PEÑALVA BENGOA, CHARLES PINTO CAMARA, ANGEL LUIS SILVEIRO GARCIA ALZORRIZ, JORGE SILVEIRO, MARÍA URRESTIZALA DE ANDRÉS) are not explicitly provided in the text.

Short Summary

This paper explores the viability of wastewater reuse and desalination as sustainable alternatives to enhance urban water system resilience, particularly for the Bilbao metropolitan area on the Cantabrian coast, by analyzing existing technologies, regulations, and real-world examples from Spanish cities. It concludes that while both technologies are advanced, their economic optimality for urban-only use varies significantly with climatic factors like rainfall.

Objective

• To explore sustainable alternatives, specifically wastewater reuse and desalination, to strengthen the resilience of urban water systems in the context of climate change and resource pressure, with a contextualized analysis for the Bilbao metropolitan area.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Cantabrian coast (Spain), with a specific focus on the Bilbao metropolitan area. Comparative examples are drawn from Madrid, Barcelona, and Seville (Spain).
• Temporal Scale: Analysis considers "recent decades" of technological advancements, current regulatory frameworks (R.D. 1085/2024), and historical water supply challenges.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: No specific computational models are mentioned. The study is based on a contextualized analysis of existing technologies and real-world cases.
• Data sources:
  • Analysis of real-life wastewater reuse cases in Spanish cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Seville).
  • Review of current Spanish regulations for reclaimed water quality (R.D. 1085/2024).
  • Assessment of current wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) capabilities (advanced tertiary treatments).
  • Evaluation of reverse osmosis desalination technology and plant capacities.
  • Consideration of climatic (rainfall) and urban factors.

Main Results

• A specific regulation (R.D. 1085/2024) defines quality parameters for urban reuse of reclaimed water (e.g., irrigation, flushing, cleaning).
• Real-life reuse examples in Spain: Madrid uses over 15 x 10^6 m³/year (13 L/person/day), Barcelona primarily uses it for indirect river recharge (8 L/person/day), and Seville uses 2.7 x 10^6 m³/year (16 L/person/day), aiming for 4 x 10^6 m³/year.
• The economic optimality of sustainable reclaimed water reuse for urban purposes is not favorable in areas with more than 120 days of rain per year, such as Bilbao, where simpler logistical solutions like tanker transport are often preferred.
• Current wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) can achieve required quality levels through advanced tertiary treatments (activated carbon, ultrafiltration, UV radiation).
• Reverse osmosis desalination is a viable alternative for coastal cities with limited freshwater, with standardized plants capable of producing over 500,000 m³/day.
• The study presents both technologies for the Bilbao metropolitan area, emphasizing the need to consider local climatic and urban factors.

Contributions

• Provides a contextualized analysis of wastewater reuse and desalination as solutions for urban water resilience, specifically addressing the challenges faced by traditionally high-rainfall areas like the Cantabrian coast (Bilbao) due to climate change.
• Highlights the economic limitations of urban-only reclaimed water reuse in regions with high annual rainfall, suggesting that alternative logistical solutions might be more cost-effective.
• Synthesizes current regulatory frameworks, advanced treatment technologies, and large-scale desalination capabilities with real-world operational data from Spanish cities.

Funding

No specific funding projects, programs, or reference codes are mentioned in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Alegría2025Reuse,
  author = {Alegría, Natalia and Peñalva, Igor and Pinto, Charles and ALZORRIZ, ANGEL LUIS SILVEIRO GARCIA and SILVEIRO, JORGE and Urrestizala, María},
  title = {Reuse of wastewater and desalination for urban uses},
  journal = {DYNA},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.52152/d11512},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.52152/d11512}
}

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