Somos FCC - Nº14

Aguas de Badajoz reaches the maximum score in a European program Caltaqua tackles two new projects for the improvement of the sanitation and water network in the province of Caltanissetta New contract in Cantabria First contract in Castellón Ambato’s new WWTP will improve the quality of life of residents in the Ecuadorian city and surrounding areas Aqualia, awarded as “Best Company of the Year 2019” Management of the supply in Zaragoza The European Benchmarking Cooperation (EBC) organisation has awarded the service, managed by Aqualia, its “three star” certificate, the highest category, in recognition of the company’s conti- nuous improvement and commitment to organi - sing or hosting improvement activities. This pro - gramme compares and evaluates water services at the international level, and it has published the conclusions of the 13th edition, in which the Badajoz Municipal Wa- ter Service participated through Aqualia, the company that manages the service in the city. Forty-three ope- rators from 18 countries, two of them non-European (United States and Singapore) participated in the most advanced level of the benchmarking exercise to compa- re their management models based on predetermined variables and indicators. The benchmarking exercise has enabled the company to detect its strengths and weaknesses, compare its expertise and lay the founda- tions for an internal improvement programme. Caltaqua, Aqualia’s Sicilian subsidiary in charge of managing the integral water cycle in the pro- vince of Caltanissetta, is preparing for the integral reconstruction, in terms of both civil works and electromechanical equipment, of the treatment plant it operates and maintains in the municipali - ty of Serradifalco. The company has just asked the is- land’s Water and Wastewater Department to issue the project’s financing decree, the last administrative step before work begins. The Serradifalco treatment plant, which serves the town’s almost 7,000 inhabitants, will thus see its treatment line renewed and its operation optimised. The public company MARE, dependent on the Go- vernment of Cantabria, has awarded Aqualia the O&M contract for the San Román de la Llanilla WWTP and the associated high-level sanitation facilities (24 EBAR’s). MARE has chosen the te- chnological solution presented by Aqualia, which will minimise energy and reagent consumption and convert waste into resources. The plant is desig - ned to treat an average daily flow of 158,800 cubic me- tres, which enables it to manage the wastewater of over 428,000 equivalent inhabitants and provide sanitation coverage for the city of Santander and the municipalities of Camargo, Astillero, Villaescusa, Santa Cruz de Beza- na and Piélagos. Aqualia has started to provide service in its first contract in the province of Castellón that contemplates the cleaning, maintenance and conservation of the 140-kilometre-long municipal sewerage network of Oropesa del Mar. The City Council has chosen Aqualia’s proposal because it is the most advantageous for the residents of the municipality. The duration of the contract is two years, with the possibi- lity of extension for a further two years. The new treatment plant built by Aqualia will serve 220,000 inhabitants, including the districts and towns whose wastewater will also go to the facility’s collectors. The plant’s treatment capacity is 760 l/s. This represents a significant advance in the coverage of wastewater treatment for the population, which until now was less than 5% of the city’s total flow. The inauguration of the WWTP in the city of Ambato, capital of the province of Tungurahua, 150 kilometres from Quito, was a great event for the Ecuadorian city. Aqualia won the “Best Company of 2019” Awards, selected by the readers and followers of iAgua Magazine, a lea- ding magazine in the sector in Spain and Latin America. This award, the magazine’s highest distinction, recognizes the company’s operational work and communication, ahead of Acciona and the Institute of Water and Environmental En- gineering. This is the third time (2015 and 2017) that Aqualia has received the “big award”, as the most representative entity of the sector. The slogan used by the company in its communication, “People working for people” combines inte- grity and professionalism as Aqualia’s hallmarks. The Board of Directors of the state-owned company Aguas de las Cuencas de Espa - ña (ACUAES), of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, has awarded Aqualia the contract to operate the water supplies to Zaragoza and the Ebro co - rridor and the centres of the Lower Ebro in Aragon. The contract is worth 6.7 million euro for a two-year term, with possible extensions of one year each, up to a maximum of four years. B R I E F - W A T E R 62 WATER B R I E F