The planet faces an unprecedented water crisis: by 2030, a 40% deficit in available freshwater is projected, driven by climate change, overexploitation, and pollution of critical basins. Every day, millions of cubic meters of water are lost worldwide, enough to supply entire cities, representing a failure of vision rather than a technical limitation. In Espírito Santo, the metropolitan region of Vitória concentrates both industrial and urban demand, under a context of growing water stress that threatens social and productive security. Structural scarcity translates into social conflicts and risk for the local industry’s water security. Against this backdrop, the Vitória WRS Reuse Station emerges as a visionary response: it transforms losses into opportunities, recovering industrial-quality water equivalent to the annual consumption of thousands of households and reducing dependence on natural sources. The project aligns with global Water Positive commitments and the Science Based Targets for Water, meeting the principles of additionality, traceability, and intentionality. Through the optimization of reverse osmosis with specialized AWC chemicals, it seeks to increase permeate yield, reduce rejections, and extend membrane life, turning innovation into volumes of water recovered and reduced pressures on the basin. The expected result is a replicable model that makes Espírito Santo a Latin American benchmark for industrial water reuse and an example of how VWBA methodologies make it possible to measure and communicate tangible benefits.
The industrial reuse market in Brazil is expanding, but still limited: less than 2% of consumed water is reused in industrial processes, reflecting enormous growth potential and opening a strategic window for pioneering projects like Vitória WRS. Its objective is clear: to transform losses into efficiency, reduce freshwater withdrawals, and strengthen industrial resilience in the region. The plant is located in the municipality of Vitória, Espírito Santo state, and responds to the growing water deficit and urgent need to reduce dependence on conventional sources in a vulnerable territory. Its raison d’être lies in anticipating the crisis and offering a circular, scalable, and measurable solution. The actors involved form a cooperative ecosystem: the local plant operator, technology provider AWC, the Aqua Positive platform as project structurer, and a verifying entity under VWBA standards that ensures the credibility of impacts. In this way, the project not only meets local needs but also connects directly with the global Water Positive strategy, by demonstrating additionality (benefit beyond the baseline), traceability (digital monitoring and ESG reporting), and intentionality (alignment with global and local goals) as pillars of a new water economy.
Located in the municipality of Vitória, this reuse station currently faces a critical challenge: a significant fraction of processed water is lost due to scaling and fouling in reverse osmosis membranes, limiting the flow available to industry, reducing system competitiveness, and increasing brine discharge into the environment. Without intervention, the baseline maintains restricted efficiency, with high operating costs and pressure on external water sources. The proposed solution, reverse osmosis optimization using specialized AWC chemicals, turns losses into tangible opportunities: every cubic meter recovered is reincorporated into the production cycle, reducing basin withdrawals, ensuring industrial continuity, and decreasing discharges. In numbers, the volume of regenerated water equals the annual consumption of thousands of families in the region, an immediate and measurable impact that reinforces water resilience. The benefits manifest in reduced emissions, energy savings, substitution of polluting inputs, and a circular model that integrates efficiency and sustainability. This change is possible thanks to an ecosystem of actors: the local water authority, Vitória’s industrial users, technology partner AWC, and the Aqua Positive platform as project structurer. The project is replicable in other regions facing similar challenges and represents a strategic opportunity for companies seeking to meet ESG commitments, gain visibility, and achieve competitive differentiation in the context of new environmental regulations. In short, it is about acting now to transform a technical problem into a strategic advantage and position partners as leaders in an unavoidable water transition.
The main intervention is the optimization of reverse osmosis for industrial reuse, through the use of AWC additives that control scaling, disperse solids, and protect membranes. This solution arose after evaluating alternatives such as biological membranes or constructed wetlands, which, while offering environmental benefits, did not provide the operational capacity required for a high-demand industrial setting. Optimized reverse osmosis was chosen for its efficiency, competitive cost, regulatory compliance, and scalability potential. The plant has the capacity to treat several thousand cubic meters per day, delivering industrial-quality water that substitutes freshwater withdrawals. It is gray infrastructure supported by digital monitoring systems, making it a hybrid solution that integrates physical technology and intelligent control.
Technically, the process includes physical-chemical pretreatment of the recycled effluent with coagulation-flocculation, filtration, and ultrafiltration stages, followed by the dosing of specialized chemicals that inhibit scaling and biofouling to maintain stable permeability. High-efficiency reverse osmosis membranes are optimized to operate at higher recovery and lower pressure, achieving industrial-quality permeate. The digital monitoring system via IoT and SCADA controls flows, conductivity, energy consumption, and membrane condition, ensuring real-time traceability.
This proposal addresses a critical problem: water loss due to poor membrane performance and pressure on external sources. Its suitability to Espírito Santo’s context is justified by the need to guarantee water resilience in a basin with climatic variability and growing industrial demand. Selection criteria were based on recovery efficiency, reduced operating costs, positive environmental impact, and replicability, as well as alignment with Brazilian CONAMA regulations, ISO 24512 standards, WHO guidelines, and European reuse references. By linking with the Water Positive strategy and VWBA principles, the solution ensures additionality (beyond baseline), traceability (digital monitoring and external verification), and intentionality (alignment with global goals).
Expected benefits include the reuse of hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of water annually, reduced brine discharge, and improved effluent quality, with direct impact on emissions reduction and energy savings. Additional benefits include less contamination of receiving bodies, contribution to climate resilience, social benefits such as industrial stability and local employment, and economic benefits through cost reduction, certification access, and strengthened ESG reputation.
However, operational risks such as technological failures, variability in influent quality, or accelerated corrosion are identified, as well as environmental risks associated with prolonged droughts, social acceptance, and potential saline intrusion. To mitigate these, redundant systems, contingency plans, shared governance among stakeholders, and strict quality control protocols will be implemented. Long-term resilience to climate change is ensured through continuous monitoring, adaptation of operating parameters, and the inclusion of a water governance committee to oversee critical decisions. Predictive maintenance protocols, equipment calibration, availability of critical spare parts, and external audits complete the prevention strategy against serious failures such as contamination, supply shortages, or technical emergencies.
The model is scalable and replicable in other industrial basins in Brazil and Latin America with similar challenges. Its expansion depends on technical conditions such as effluent availability, regulatory frameworks that encourage reuse, and social acceptance of water circularity. Its competitiveness is demonstrated in performance indicators such as cost per cubic meter recovered and return on energy efficiency, which outperform other alternatives. In addition, public-private, community, and technological partnerships facilitate expansion, making Vitória WRS a demonstrative case with international projection.
Implementation is conceived under a phased scheme that allows progress in an orderly and adaptive manner, ensuring validation of each stage before scaling the project. The process begins with a comprehensive diagnosis of context and baseline, measuring current reverse osmosis efficiency, rejection volumes, water quality, energy consumption, and associated emissions. This initial data establishes the point of comparison for the entire project. It then moves into the design and agreement phase, where technical solutions are defined, partnerships with the water authority, Vitória’s industries, and technology partner AWC are formalized, and CAPEX/OPEX budgets and schedules are established.
The next phase involves installation and commissioning, which includes the implementation of AWC chemicals, integration of IoT and SCADA digital systems for monitoring flows, quality, and energy, and training of local staff. Once in operation, benefits are validated by applying the VWBA Reduced Withdrawal / Reduced Consumption method, precisely calculating m³/year of water recovered, emission reductions, and efficiency improvements. In parallel, physical and digital traceability protocols are established to ensure that every regenerated liter is accounted for and verified, using flowmeters, quality probes, automatic reports, and external audits.
In the continuous operation phase, shared governance mechanisms are consolidated among operators, authorities, and external verifiers, establishing clear roles in operation, maintenance, and data validation. A preventive and corrective maintenance plan is foreseen with regular routines, quarterly audits, risk simulations, and scheduled membrane replacement, accompanied by ongoing training. Governance agreements define the use of regenerated water, avoiding conflicts and ensuring transparency.
The monitoring system relies on digital platforms that report in real time KPIs of efficiency, volume reused, contaminants removed, and energy consumed, allowing continuous comparison of the with-project versus baseline scenario. Automatic alarms notify of deviations and activate contingency plans. Data is audited by third parties to ensure credibility in claims communicated to stakeholders and ESG reports. Finally, a continuous improvement scheme is implemented, adjusting processes based on data feedback and enabling the incorporation of technological innovations, ensuring the permanence of benefits over time. Thus, Vitória WRS becomes a demonstrative case not only of technical efficiency but also of governance, traceability, and resilience, with the capacity to be replicated in other industrial basins in Brazil and the region.
The Vitória WRS project consists of the optimization and operation of an industrial reuse station based on reverse osmosis, reinforced with the application of specialized AWC chemicals that extend membrane life and improve recovery rates. The main intervention is the reuse of treated effluents to supply industrial processes, avoiding freshwater extraction and contributing to regional water security. Technically, the process integrates physical-chemical pretreatment, antiscalant dosing, advanced filtration, high-efficiency reverse osmosis, energy recovery systems, and digital monitoring through IoT and SCADA. The plant operates with flows of several thousand cubic meters per day and supplies industrial users in Vitória. It complies with international standards such as ISO 24512, WHO guidelines, Brazilian national legislation (CONAMA), and European water reuse references.
The relevance of this solution lies in the fact that the region faces structural water stress, aquifer overexploitation, and risk of saline intrusion. Compared to a baseline of significant losses and brine discharges, the project succeeds in transforming waste into resources, increasing water efficiency and reducing pressure on the basin. This makes the plant a benchmark for resilience in a context of climate and social vulnerability.
Expected results include the reuse of hundreds of thousands of cubic meters per year, improvements in recovered water quality with reductions in key contaminants such as BOD, solids, and conductivity, as well as additional benefits such as reduced CO₂ emissions, lower brine generation, contributions to biodiversity, and enhanced public health and food security in the region.
The strategic and commercial value lies in contributing to the Water Positive roadmap of participating industries, strengthening their ESG reputation, obtaining social license to operate, and achieving competitive differentiation in the market. In addition, the project integrates into global commitments such as the Science Based Targets for Water, the Nature Positive Water Initiative, and European ESRS E3 standards, consolidating its alignment with the 2030 Agenda.
Its model is replicable in basins and sectors facing similar challenges, from Brazilian industrial corridors to intensive agricultural regions in Latin America, provided that technical conditions of effluent availability, reuse regulatory frameworks, and social acceptance exist. Public-private partnerships, local communities, and technology providers form the basis of its scalability.
The final expected impact is a tangible improvement in the basin’s water balance, greater resilience to climate change, local job creation, improved community health, and safer access to water. For investors, clients, and society, the project sends a clear message: the transition to a regenerative economy is not only possible, but already underway, and Vitória WRS is living evidence that water innovation can transform entire territories.
