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Guest-Column
At Aqualia, we have 7,0
In 2008, Aqualia, following FCC’s strategic
lines, created the Innovation and Technolo-
gy Department to coordinate and promote
R+D+i projects. R+D is an added value that
we can contribute to our service offering
as well as to other utilities. An important
milestone was reached in 2010 when we
were awarded the UNE 166002:2006 cer-
tifcate. The more than three million Euros
which Aqualia invested in R+D+i activities
in 2011 underscore or strong commitment
to the research and development activities.
Our goal is to double investment so that by
2013 it is equivalent to 0.45% of sales.
We interpret innovation in a broad manner
and with its feet on the ground. Our aim
is not to have a research team in an ivory
tower. Our projects, with the support of the
entire Aqualia staff, are more client-focused.
We can say that we have 7,000 potential
investigators, as many as the company’s
employees. Projects, moreover, are always
undertaken with other partners, sometimes
in-house partners from FCC. When this
happens are able to obtain great syner-
gies with other divisions, such as Energy,
Environment, and Construction, similarly to
the case of the IISIS project for designing
the future urban landscape. If we work with
external partners, the great advantage is
that they can contribute highly specialised
knowledge. This is particularly true in our
collaboration with the Universities of Alca-
lá, Almería, Cádiz, Santiago de Composte-
la, Valladolid, and Vigo. Research centres,
moreover, contribute material and human
resources of great added value.
Research areas
Our current 20 projects involve three key
research areas and their corresponding
sub-areas: quality (standard drinking water
indicators; reuse of water, desalination,
measurement and analysis); sustainability
(reduce energy consumption and emis-
sions, use of wastewater and waste as
resources, alternative technologies and op-
timization of water resources); and, end-to-
end management of management systems
and processes, including communication
with clients.
Our positioning is ideal for developing many
of these projects; our 1,100 services and
more than 500 potabilization and treatment
facilities gives us the advantage of being
able to study and roll out our innovations.
Clearly, one of Aqualia’s strong points in
relation to R+D+i is the fact that we own
nearly 100 laboratories. Not many compa-
nies can boast of having a network inter-
connected to these types of facilities that
have also been certifed by AENOR. Five
of these, located in Ávila, Adeje, Tenerife,
Oviedo, Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz and
Lérida were certifed by ENAC. A team of
technicians work at these facilities focusing
on analytical control and using sophistica-
ted methodologies and instruments, essen-
tial for conducting our research.
Most of these investigations are suppor-
ted by public funding programs, regional,
national, and European which bolster our
Our conception
of innovation is broad
and related to the
activity. We do not want
to lock ourselves up in
an ivory tower.
By: Frank Rogalla
Aqualia Director of Innovation and Technology