The global water crisis is unavoidable: the world is heading toward a 40% deficit in water availability by 2030, representing an unprecedented risk for food security, industry, and the well-being of millions of people. In this context, Ixtapaluca starkly reflects this challenge: the Chalco–Amecameca aquifer suffers a structural deficit greater than 100 million m³/year, the population depends on intermittent networks and costly tanker trucks, and land subsidence threatens infrastructure and housing. This project emerges as a concrete and bold response, by combining in the same industrial site rainwater harvesting and wastewater reuse, transforming what was once waste into a strategic resource.
The intervention integrates two complementary and technically robust solutions: on one hand, rainwater harvesting with twenty 25 m³ tanks and one underground 500 m³ cistern, capable of storing up to 1,000 m³/year; on the other, a biological WWTP of the MBBR type with a capacity of 13.8 m³/day (~5,000 m³/year), equipped with clarifier, tertiary filtration, and UV disinfection, guaranteeing a high-quality effluent for non-critical industrial uses. Together, these solutions provide more than 6,000 m³/year of assured water, equivalent to the annual consumption of about 120 families, and reduce more than 2 tons of CO₂e per year by eliminating tanker transport and decreasing intensive pumping.
The project is located at the Rotoplas plant in Ixtapaluca, State of Mexico, within the Valley of Mexico – Río Balsas basin, and responds to the urgent need to relieve pressure on the aquifer. Its purpose is twofold: to ensure the industry’s water supply and, at the same time, generate measurable environmental and social benefits for the community. The actors involved include Rotoplas as operator and financier, technology providers of cisterns, UV systems and biological reactors, as well as external verifiers who audit under VWBA 2.0 methodology. With intentionality, additionality, and traceability guaranteed, this project aligns with the Water Positive strategy by generating quantifiable benefits of volume, quality, and climate resilience.
Ixtapaluca faces structural scarcity, depleted wells, deficient urban infrastructure, and high costs for water transport, generating a vicious circle of dependence and inefficiency. Currently, water is paid for twice: extracted from deep wells and purchased through tanker trucks, only to later be discarded as wastewater without added value. This scenario is worsened by a regulatory framework that still does not fully promote safe reuse at industrial scale. The opportunity lies in closing the cycle within the same industrial site, optimizing every drop and reducing losses through proven technologies and digital monitoring.
The technical solution combines rainwater harvesting with a capacity of 1,000 m³/year and an MBBR WWTP of 13.8 m³/day (~5,000 m³/year), with clarification, filtration, and UV disinfection, enabling the recovery of more than 6,000 m³/year of water. This integration generates immediate benefits: reduction of more than 150 tanker truck trips per year, lower CO₂e emissions, constant availability of water for industrial processes and auxiliary services, and elimination of polluting discharges into the environment. In the short term, it ensures water autonomy for the plant; in the medium term, it stabilizes operating costs by reducing external water purchases; and in the long term, it constitutes a replicable and scalable model for any industrial park located in water-stressed regions.
Thus, the project becomes a benchmark of water self-sufficiency for companies with ESG objectives. Sectors such as manufacturing, beverages, and food find in this initiative not only a technical and regulatory solution for their water consumption, but also an opportunity for competitive differentiation, international visibility, and reputational leadership as protagonists of the transition toward a regenerative water economy, aligning technical innovation with tangible environmental and social impact.
The project’s implementation is organized around a hybrid technical solution combining rainwater harvesting infrastructure and a wastewater treatment plant. The rainwater system consists of galvanized gutters with first-flush diverters, twenty 25 m³ surface cisterns and one 500 m³ underground cistern, with a multilayer filtration train and UV disinfection ensuring quality for industrial uses. The MBBR WWTP incorporates pretreatment, aerobic and anoxic biological reactor, secondary clarifier, tertiary filtration, UV disinfection, and sludge digestion, reaching a capacity of 13.8 m³/day. Both solutions integrate with digital monitoring via SCADA, electromagnetic flowmeters, and multiparameter sensors for pH, turbidity, and conductivity, enabling real-time traceability.
The justification for this solution lies in the aquifer’s overexploitation and the need to reduce dependence on the network and tanker trucks, turning an underutilized resource into a strategic input. This configuration was chosen over alternatives such as wetlands or conventional treatments due to its smaller spatial footprint, efficiency in contaminant removal, and modular scalability. This ensures additionality and traceability under VWBA 2.0, aligning with the Water Positive strategy.
Expected benefits include more than 6,000 m³/year of assured water, reduction of contaminant discharges to DBO₅ <20 mg/L and coliforms <240 NMP/100 ml, reduction of more than 2 tons of CO₂e/year, and up to 240 days of water autonomy. It also provides climate resilience, improves community water security, and reduces operating costs. Socially, it contributes legitimacy, jobs during construction and operation, and a clear message of corporate responsibility.
Risks considered include hydrological variability, technological failures, and social acceptance. To mitigate them, redundant pumping and disinfection systems are implemented, preventive and predictive maintenance protocols, contingency plans for extreme droughts, and shared governance with local authorities. Long-term resilience is ensured with continuous monitoring, external audits, and the possibility of expanding modular capacity. Hydraulic, sanitary, and environmental safety protocols prevent critical failures such as contamination, supply shortages, or saline intrusion.
Finally, the solution is scalable and replicable in other industrial parks and water-stressed sectors, thanks to its modularity, regulatory compliance, and competitive costs per cubic meter of recovered water. Its expansion is supported by public–private partnerships, community collaboration, and specialized technology providers, consolidating a replicable model across different basins and geographies.
Project implementation follows a phased and adaptive scheme, structured into stages with detailed technical development. In the first stage of diagnosis and baseline (0–6 months), digital rain gauges and runoff measurements are installed to record actual rainfall availability, in addition to characterizing influents and effluents for key parameters (BOD₅, TSS, N, P, coliforms). A comparative water balance is built and future demand modeled, establishing reference KPIs.
The second stage covers construction and installation (7–18 months). Gutters with first-flush diverters, modular cisterns and underground cistern, the multilayer filtration and UV disinfection system, and the MBBR WWTP with reactors, clarifier, and sludge digester are installed. Electromagnetic flowmeters, multiparameter probes, and IoT sensors are integrated, and hydraulic, electrical, and sanitary tests are conducted.
In the third stage of validation and initial operation (19–30 months), the system’s efficiency and performance are tested, quality and flow parameters are continuously monitored, and real-time reports are generated via SCADA. External audits under VWBA methodology and laboratory verifications are performed.
The baseline is compared with post-project data to evaluate benefits in water savings and reuse, emission reduction, and regulatory compliance. Physical traceability is ensured with meters at every entry and exit point, while digital traceability is managed through the SCADA platform and automatic reports. Scheduled alarms flag flow or quality deviations, and external validation protocols ensure transparency.
In terms of governance, Rotoplas participates as operator, technology providers as responsible for installation and maintenance, and external verifiers together with CONAGUA and CAEM as regulators. Roles include operation, monitoring, validation, and preventive and corrective maintenance. Agreements exist on the use of generated water and contingency plans for droughts or critical failures.
Monitoring is structured with digital logs, quarterly reports, semiannual calibration of instruments, monthly bacteriological tests, and predictive maintenance. KPIs include volume harvested, volume treated and reused, reduction in network consumption, emissions avoided, water autonomy, and quality compliance. The with-project scenario is compared against the without-project scenario, ensuring additionality and intentionality. Continuous improvement mechanisms include process adjustments, data feedback, and technological updates, guaranteeing long-term benefits and reinforcing the Water Positive strategy. Cost savings and strengthened water security are also expected. Strategically, its replicability positions the company as a leader in water innovation and ESG compliance. The final impact: less pressure on the aquifer, reduced emissions, more water available for the community, and a narrative aligned with the Water Positive future.
The project in Ixtapaluca responds to one of the greatest global challenges: the water crisis. In a context where global demand will exceed availability by 40% by 2030, the Chalco–Amecameca aquifer starkly reflects the problem: an annual deficit of more than 100 million m³, land subsidence, potential saline intrusion, and dependence on inefficient networks and costly tanker trucks that increase the carbon footprint. Faced with this reality, the initiative proposes a dual and transformative solution: harvesting rainwater and reusing treated effluents in the same industrial facility, reducing extraction from critical sources and generating local water resilience.
What will be done: The intervention consists of installing an integrated rainwater harvesting system composed of 20 surface cisterns of 25 m³ and one underground cistern of 500 m³ (total capacity 1,000 m³/year), together with an MBBR-type wastewater treatment plant of 13.8 m³/day (~5,000 m³/year). The treatment train includes pretreatment, biological reactor, clarification, tertiary filtration, and chemical-free UV disinfection, ensuring an effluent suitable for non-critical industrial uses. The entire system is integrated into a SCADA digital monitoring platform with flowmeters and multiparameter probes, ensuring physical and digital traceability. The design complies with NOM-001 and NOM-004, references NOM-127, and aligns with VWBA 2.0 principles.
Relevance: The project addresses aquifer overexploitation, high costs of external supply, and the need to reduce pollutant discharges. Compared to the baseline of dependence and waste, it establishes a model of water autonomy and circularity. It also strengthens climate adaptation by ensuring up to 240 days of autonomy during the rainy season and reducing community vulnerability to droughts.
Expected results:
Strategic value: The initiative contributes to the company’s Water Positive roadmap, reinforces social license to operate, improves ESG reputation, and aligns with global commitments such as SDGs, SBTi, NPWI, and ESRS E3. It represents tangible competitive differentiation, regulatory compliance, and communicates sustainability leadership to clients, authorities, and investors.
Replicability: The model is highly scalable in industrial parks, agro-industries, and urban areas under water stress. Its modularity, efficiency, and competitive costs make it adaptable to different geographic conditions. It also promotes public–private and community partnerships that facilitate replication and strengthen collective impact.
Final impact: The project directly contributes to the basin’s water balance by reducing aquifer pressure by more than 6,000 m³/year. It generates jobs in construction and operation, improves community water security, reduces emissions, and delivers a powerful message: the transition toward a regenerative water economy is already possible, and this project is tangible proof, aligning technique, strategy, and purpose in a single model of action.
