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In December, the Company announced that it
had been awarded two contracts by Instituto
Aragonés del Agua (Water Institute of Aragón)
for the operation, maintenance and upkeep of
the wastewater treatment plants in Bajo Cin-
ca, which include the Fraga, Mequinenza and
Zaidín WWTPs, and the Huesca - Almudévar
plant, all located in the province of Huesca.
Huesca-Almudévar WWTP
The new 3-year contract at the Huesca
– Almudévar WWTPs is worth over two
million Euros. The Huesca WWTP has
been managed by Aqualia since it was
commissioned in 1999. Furthermore, the
Almudévar WWTP was included in the
operations contract of the Huesca plant
in 2008, the year on which management
of the facility was transferred to Instituto
Aragonés del Agua.
The Huesca facility has the capacity to
treat a daily flow equivalent to a population
of 130,000 people with an average daily
flow of 24,000 cubic metres. The biological
treatment is performed with activated sludge
in two aerated lagoons with a total volume of
5,185 cubic metres. The sludge produced is
stabilised in a single-stage 3,670 cubic me-
tre anaerobic digester. The biogas genera-
ted is used in a CHP system with electricity
generation for self-consumption and heat
recovery. Once the sludge is digested, it is
dewatered in centrifuges and all of it (about
4,500 tonnes/year) is sent to composting for
agricultural use.
The Almúdevar WWTP has a treatment ca-
pacity to serve a population of 3,384 people,
which translates into a daily average flow of
1,701 cubic metres. The biological treatment
involves extended aeration in two aerated la-
goons with a total volume of 720 cubic me-
tres. Sludge produced is dewatered in cen-
trifuges and all of it (about 150 tonnes/year)
is used for composting purposes.
The wastewater flow through the La Gavia
WWTP allows 97% reduction of organic
matter and suspended solids, and 85% of
nitrogen and phosphorus, through an ad-
vanced biological treatment with nutrient
removal. The wastewater treatment plant
not only produces reclaimed water, but also
obtains a sub-product, the sludge, which,
according to an integral concept of sustai-
nable development, is treated in four 7,250
m
3
anaerobic digesters, thus reducing or-
ganic matter and also obtaining methane
gas, which is used to heat the sludge befo-
re entering the digesters, as well as genera-
ting electricity. The La Gavia WWTP produ-
ces 5,500 MWh per year, which is enough
to supply a population of 1500 inhabitants
and minimising CO
2
emissions.
The relationship between Aqualia and CYII
(Canal de Isabel II) is a clear example of an
organic collaboration between public admi-
nistrators and/or mixed and private com-
panies within a sector where collaboration
between government and companies has
been working very well for years, for the be-
nefit of citizens.
Aqualia secures two new contracts in
Aragón
The new contracts for the Bajo Cinca
(Fraga, Mequinenza and Zaidín) and the
Huesca-Almudevar plant bolster Aqualia’s
positioning as the leading management
and operations operator of wastewater
treatment plants (WWTP) in Aragón.