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WATER IN CATALONIA

Institut Arnau Cadell

Comenius Project 11-13

WATER & CATALONIA

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Contents Catalonia, Barcelona, geography ,droughts, floods

Where does water in Barcelona come from?

Water use process

What happens with waste water? Water consumption

Water quality

Water history

Catalonia, Barcelona: Geography

• It’s a narrow coastal plain, widened by river deltas, and a series of mountain ranges

• Roughly parallel to the coastline and separated by undulating plains.

• Precipitation values around 500-700 mm a year.

• Climate : mild winters and warm Summers, with a warming trend in the 1990s.

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Catalonia: floods and droughts

• Floods and droughts are a common of Mediterranean water cycles.

• In Barcelona region, there have been major floods in 1962 .

• Local flash flooding is getting more important

• Drought conditions have become also more frequent in the 1990s.

Domestic consumption: 14%

Industrial activities: 7% Agriculture: 79%

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MAP OF RIVERS, LAKES AND

RESERVOIRS IN CATALONIA

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Where does the water consumption in

Barcelona come from?Mainly from three rivers:

Llobregat River

Besòs River

Ter River

Llobregat; 52%

Besos ; 2%

Ter; 46%

Water coming from the Pyrenees is also used

Another water source comes from the desalination plant of el Prat (15%)

Llobregat River• 170 km long, 4957 km2

of basin surface.

• From the north west of Catalonia, flows into the Mediterranean Sea, close to Barcelona.

• Polluted by the effluents from different industries located along the basin.

• Water is treated at Sant Joan Despí and Abrera. 8

Ter River• 208 km long, with 2955

km2 of basin surface.

• From the middle of the Catalan Pyrenees, passes Girona, and into the Mediterranean Sea.

• Water is treated in a third and transported to Barcelona through a pipeline.

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Ter and Llobregat Rivers supply 55 and 45 % of drinking water to Barcelona and surroundings.

Besòs River• It’s smaller

• From the north-eastern border of Barcelona.

• Passes through the industrialized ring around Barcelona

• The most polluted river in Europe in the 1970s and 1980s. Since 1990s, the river has been cleaned up .

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The river has extreme variations  in flow depending on rainfall.

Water use process

Rivers & Sea:

Collecting- Purification Transport Distribution Consumption

SewerTreatmentReturn to nature

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Water purification plant orDesalination plant

Waste water treatment plant

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Water purification treatment plant process

CollectingPurificationTransportDistributionConsumption

Desalination treatment plant

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Since 2009, water supply comes from the Mediterranean Sea.

It is treated in the desalination treatment plant in Prat de Llobregat, the biggest in Europe.

aereal view SWRO and WWTP

Desalination el Prat

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What happens with waste water?

Once used, the wastewater goes to sewage, which facilitates the collection of this water and the

rainwater. Then , it’s lead to wastewater treatment plants., purified and  returned to the environment in environmental condition, ready to reuse it

Waste Water treatment plant process

SewerTreatmentReturn to nature

Final Objetive: Return water to nature (rivers) in enviromental

conditions

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Barcelona, water consumption

It’s at the top of big cities, saving water, (109 litres/p/d)

London (166,50 litres/person/day),Paris (120 l), Rome (234 l), Vancouver (320 l), São Paulo (185 l) and New York (607 l).

Figures: 60% consumption from domestic sector,28% consume from commerce and industry 5.3% municipal services

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Water consumption Water consumption has been reduced by 15% in the last 12 years, from

115 million cubic metres in 1999 to almost 98 last year. Consumption is 109.5 litres per inhabitant per day, 23 litres less than 12 years ago.

Objective; an average daily potable water consumption to 54 litres /day

Water consumption in St Cugat

• Data from winter season & an average home of 4 people

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Average liters/person/day  

125,4005

Average price (€/m3)   2,352

Average (Euros) (bill)   106,214

Barcelona: did you know?• Barcelona is the most

expensive city in Spain for water.

• Water in Barcelona is provided by public, semi public and private companies

• Many taxes are included in our bill

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Water Quality

At the end of 1980s, the rivers of the Barcelona region stood as the most polluted and degraded of Western Europe.Since 1991 a comprehensive program of water treatment plants has been implemented and the situation has improved a lot.

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Barcelona,water history• In Catalonia, we have a long tradition that comes from

the Romans that is transporting water from aqueducts.

• In our town,St. Cugat, there are houses with wells.

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Thanks for listeningInstitut Arnau Cadell

Miriam Cardoner, Elena Cardoner, Vera Miras

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• Thanks to all for listening to us.

THE END