1. CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS AS NATURE BASED SOLUTION FOR
RESTORATION AND PROVISION OF SERVICES
A CASE STUDY IN GRANOLLERS, BARCELONA
Joan García y Maria Solé
(Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya-BarcelonaTech, Spain)
Jornada de llançament del projecte ALERA
Granollers, 29 i 30 d’abril de 2015
5. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM
• Can Cabanyes is a highly human-impacted area near the river
Congost in the municipality of Granollers.
• At the beginning of the 2000 in this area there were:
1. Old landfill
2. Uncontrolled orchards
3. Wastewater treatment plant
4. Solid waste treatment plant
5. Industrial park
6. Highway AP7
7. Circuit of Catalonia
8. River channeled
The city can not take advantage of the potential
services that could be obtained
6. THE PROPOSAL
• Clean up and restore the river environment with a series of
measures which can reconcile enviromental improvement
with the use of the area (ecosystem services)
• One of the measures was to build a 1 he constructed wetland
which is fed with the effluent of the Granollers wastewater
treatment plant
• Project leaded by Granollers city council and collaboration
GEMMA group (UPC). Finnancing source: city council and ERDF
(EU)
7. • Started operation in 2003; Construction: 72,000 €
• Different habitats
• 2 plant species (cattail and reed)
1. Shallow planted zones
2. Island
3. Deep unplanted zones
Effluent Influent
Section view
Plan view
THE WETLAND PROJECT
13. El proyectoEl proyectoSUPPORTING SERVICES: IMPROVE AND RESTORE HABITATS
• More than 170 plant species
• Increase in populations of reptiles, birds and mammals
• Amphibians pond
17. El proyectoEl proyectoPROVISION SERVICES: WATER FOR IRRIGATION
2008
• Reclamation plant and
distribution network;
Construction: 500,000 €
• Finnancing source: City Council &
Catalan Water Agency
• Water for park irrigation
18.
19. El proyectoEl proyectoFUTURE INNOVATION CHALLENGE:
INDUSTRIAL WATER REUSE
• Current uses of effluents mostly based on agricultural irrigation
are slowing the potential of water reuse:
1. Production and consumption points are in different places
2. Agriculture can’t pay for the cost of reclamation and the
projects need subsidy
• The perception problem and concept of “naturalization”
Naturalization
Effluents of a wastewater plant are discharged to an artificial
“naturalized” water body, and after a time period this water is reclaimed
and distributed. Therefore, the water source is not a wastewater
treatment plant, it is a restored ecosystem where natural physical,
chemical and biological reactions improve the water quality to the point
that it is a “new” water
20. El proyectoEl proyectoTHE PROJECT WHERE WE CAN TACKLE THIS
INNOVATION
Distribution network Industrial water
consumption
Industrial sectors
21. El proyectoEl proyectoREFERENCES ON THE WETLAND SYSTEM
• García, J. y Domingo, V. (2006). Reutilización de aguas depuradas para usos ambientales en
Granollers. Tenología del Agua 263, 62-68.
• Matamoros, V., García, J. and Bayona, J.M. (2008). Organic micropollutant removal in a full-
scale surface flow constructed wetland fed with secondary effluent. Water Research 42,
653-660.
• Llorens, E., Matamoros, V., Domingo, V., Bayona J.M. and García, J. (2009). Water quality
improvement in a full-scale tertiary constructed wetland: Effects on conventional and
specific organic contaminants. Science of the Total Envinronment 407, 2517-2524.
• Alfranca, O., García, J. and Varela, H. (2010). Economic valuation of a created wetland fed
with treated wastewater located in a peri-urban park in Catalonia, Spain. Water Science
and Technology 63, 891-898.
