Costa Brava (ES)

About

The Costa Brava region in Catalonia, Spain, supplies water to over 6.5 million people across 634 municipalities, managed by the Consorci d'Aigües Costa Brava Girona (CACBGi). The region faces serious challenges from climate change, including severe droughts, aquifer salinisation and sharp seasonal population increases driven by tourism.

Costa Brava has been a leader in water reuse since 1989, using reclaimed water for agriculture, urban services and environmental restoration. Now, the region aims to go further, expanding reuse for more sensitive applications, including indirect potable reuse through aquifer recharge, as part of Catalonia's goal to triple the volume of reclaimed water within four years.

RECREATE focus in Costa Brava:

• Monitor and digitise existing wastewater reclamation plants to assess risks linked to different uses (e.g., irrigation, urban, aquifer recharge)
• Develop soft sensors to detect compounds like THMs that influence public risk perception
• Evaluate a novel low-energy desalination process at pilot scale using innovative membranes
• Simulate desalination systems for improved cost-efficiency using historical and bench-scale data
• Digitally model the quantity and quality of AWR in the region
• Consolidate and stress test existing AWR infrastructure under climate change scenarios
• Implement stakeholder engagement strategies to build trust and support co-creation

Goals by the end of the project:

• Support Costa Brava in its transition toward a circular water economy
• Enable safe expansion of reclaimed water use, including for potable purposes
• Improve monitoring, digitalisation and efficiency of AWR systems
• Strengthen the region's ability to adapt water management to climate challenges

Costa Brava stands as a forward-thinking example of how to scale and diversify water reuse in regions under growing environmental and social pressure.