For the use of treated wastewater to become a viable water resource, it is necessary to invest in the development of new technologies to produce water with the necessary quality for its reuse in agricultural or industrial activities, and at the same time, to be economically viable and environmentally sustainable.
In this context, iRAIN is born, a project whose objective is to develop an innovative system of water resources management through the research of new systems and technologies to regenerate and reuse wastewater and its nutrients for agricultural use in a safe way. All this, through the application of advanced hybrid tools that combine monitoring and artificial intelligence through the fusion of data from satellites, drones, agricultural robots and sensor networks.
Telespazio Ibérica, with cartographic roots and more than 20 years of experience in territorial solutions for large corporations, is a reference company at European level in the sector of New Technologies applied to the Territory. Telespazio Ibérica participates in a multidisciplinary consortium created specifically for this project, led by Facsa and bringing together 10 different entities. On the one hand, companies such as Giditek, Aquacorp, Azud, Airbus, Telespazio, Saltó and Akis, and on the other hand, two Technology Centers, EURECAT and CATEC, which guarantee the transfer of knowledge necessary to achieve the disruptive innovations proposed in the iRAIN project.
As indicated by the iRAIN consortium, “the purpose of iRAIN is to substantially improve the management and use of wastewater, to fight against water scarcity and to maximize the profitability and efficiency of both the reuse practice and the regenerated and recovered resources”.
Representatives of all these entities have met today at the WWTP of Pliego and the facilities of the Irrigation Community of Pliego where most of the activities of this innovative project will be carried out. During the meeting, the participants analyzed the work plan of the project, which has been divided into four activities (three of industrial research and one of experimental development).
The first activity will focus on researching water regeneration and nutrient recovery techniques for agricultural use, the second on researching advanced techniques for monitoring water quality and crop status. The third will study and design digital solutions aimed at the combined and optimized management of the activity of wastewater treatment plants with tertiary treatment and reclaimed water management for different uses of its effluent, including fertigation. Finally, the fourth activity will serve to evaluate the improvements and impact through validation in realistic environments.
This project is part of 'TransMisiones', an initiative of the Centro de Desarrollo Tecnológico y de Innovación (CDTI) and the la Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), which coordinates funding to groups of companies and groups of research and knowledge dissemination organizations that collaborate for the joint development of a coordinated R&D action in response to environmental challenges such as the optimization of water management.
This project is granted by the CDTI and supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (expediente = MIG-20232038 / título = INVESTIGACIÓN EN LA REGENERACIÓN DEL AGUA Y LA APLICACIÓN DE INTELIGENCIA ARTIFICIAL PARA UNA AGRICULTURA RESILIENTE FRENTE AL CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO Y LA ESCASEZ HÍDRICA) with a grant of 2,060,186 euros.
