In a world marked by climate uncertainty and the growing pressure on natural resources, water has become the epicenter of a global challenge that allows no delays. Structural water scarcity, combined with the climate crisis and resource waste, threatens the resilience of our cities and economies. International projections estimate that by 2030 the global water deficit could reach 40% of projected demand, putting the access of billions of people to this vital resource at risk. In Argentina, more than 14 million inhabitants depend on AySA for drinking water supply, with demand having grown by more than 20% in the last decade. In this scenario, the Virrey del Pino reverse osmosis plant is positioned as the largest of its kind in the region and a strategic infrastructure to guarantee safe water for the west of Greater Buenos Aires.
The challenge is immense: high energy and chemical consumption, variability in feed water quality, and risks of membrane fouling that threaten efficiency. But the opportunity is equally transformative: the application of specialized AWC chemicals would reduce consumption by more than 20%, extend membrane life by 20%, and significantly reduce energy use, a saving equivalent to the annual consumption of thousands of households. In addition, with less membrane fouling, chemical cleanings are spaced out, generating additional savings in water and chemicals that can also be quantified as benefits under the VWBA methodology, strengthening impact traceability. This project not only optimizes an operation: it drives a new vision of water management, with additional benefits in reputation, ESG compliance, and replicability across the region.
It is a visionary water management model that turns today’s challenges into opportunities for tomorrow’s transformation. In the Greater Buenos Aires market, where surface and groundwater sources are under structural stress and up to 30% of distributed water is lost in inefficiencies, the optimization of this plant becomes essential. The strategic objective is clear: to transform reverse osmosis operation into a more efficient, sustainable, and resilient model, reducing costs and environmental footprint, increasing availability of drinking water, and improving operational reliability. Located in La Matanza, this facility supplies high-density communities and is a regional benchmark.
The raison d’être of the project lies in the urgent need to reduce costs, improve the carbon footprint, and strengthen the resilience of a key system. The actors involved are AySA as operator, AWC as technology provider, a structuring team specialized in water efficiency and sustainability, and external consultants as verification entities to ensure benefit traceability. The link with Water Positive is direct: this project replenishes more water than it consumes, meets additionality (new impact not required by regulation), ensures traceability (digital monitoring under VWBA), and demonstrates intentionality (explicitly designed to generate verifiable and reportable impacts).
Located in the municipality of La Matanza, the optimization project at the Virrey del Pino reverse osmosis plant seeks to reduce the high energy and chemical consumption that characterize its current operation and that are exacerbated by variability in feed water quality, causing frequent membrane fouling. Today, this situation translates into high costs, overly frequent chemical cleanings (CIP), service interruptions, and significant environmental impact from discharges and indirect emissions. The technical and strategic opportunity lies in implementing an integrated program with advanced AWC chemicals, capable of optimizing dosing, spacing out cleaning cycles, lowering pumping pressure, and maximizing plant recovery. The transformed volume is notable: thousands of additional cubic meters of drinking water per year, along with reduced discharged chemicals and lower energy consumption. Direct benefits include reduced indirect CO₂ emissions, water regeneration through increased recovery efficiency, and replacement of polluting inputs with more sustainable solutions.
This project is made possible by AySA as operator, AWC as technology provider, the structuring and sustainability team, and external consultants who will verify the benefits. It is a replicable model for other large-scale urban plants, key to acting now in the face of structural water deficits. Public utilities and sustainability-driven companies that lead this type of solution gain not only in ESG compliance and alignment with emerging regulations, but also in competitive differentiation, reputational visibility, and the ability to tell a powerful story of sustainable transformation. The expected results, water and chemical savings, energy and CO₂ reductions, extended membrane life, and greater service reliability, are fully quantifiable and traceable. With this, AySA not only secures the present but lays the foundation for a future where each cubic meter managed represents a commitment fulfilled with sustainability, innovation, and society.
The proposed technical solution is based on the application of state-of-the-art AWC chemicals combined with optimized operating protocols and a robust digital monitoring system. Traditional alternatives of physical-chemical pretreatment and more frequent cleaning were evaluated, but this hybrid, technological and digital, solution was chosen for its ability to maximize efficiency without increasing environmental impacts. High-performance antiscalants limit mineral deposit formation, biodegradable cleaners restore membranes with a lower ecological footprint, and selective biocides control biological growth. This intervention has the capacity to transform thousands of cubic meters of water per day into higher quality drinking water, benefiting high-density urban communities. It is a gray solution with a strong digital component, oriented toward resilience.
The technical and strategic justification lies in solving a key operational and environmental problem: high costs from chemical and energy consumption, frequent membrane failures, and contaminant discharges. In this hydrological context of structural basin stress, the selected technology is the most appropriate based on criteria of efficiency, cost/benefit, replicability, and regulatory compliance. It is fully aligned with Water Positive, as it generates additional recovered water benefits, ensures traceability with VWBA, and was designed with intentionality to maximize verifiable impacts.
The expected benefits are quantifiable: a 30% reduction in CIP cleaning frequency, implying water and chemical savings; increased efficiency in drinking water recovery; extension of membrane life by at least 20%; and reduced energy consumption per cubic meter treated. Environmental benefits include lower indirect CO₂ emissions, less reject volume with contaminants, and strengthened ecosystem resilience of the Matanza-Riachuelo basin. Social benefits include greater supply reliability, public health improvements by ensuring water quality, and job creation in digital monitoring and optimized operation. Economic benefits are reflected in reduced operating costs, increased system resilience, and consolidation of ESG certifications and reputation for AySA and its partners.
The most relevant operational and environmental risks include possible technological failures, hydrological variability, or social resistance to innovations. To mitigate them, redundant systems, contingency plans, strict shared governance protocols, and community communication mechanisms will be implemented. Long-term resilience to climate change is ensured through adaptive monitoring, flexibility in chemical dosing, and response protocols to extreme events such as supply shortages or saline intrusion. The plant will meet international operational safety standards, emergency protocols to prevent critical failures, and predictive maintenance plans.
In terms of scalability and replicability, this model can be extended to other reverse osmosis plants in Argentina and Latin America, as well as to industrial sectors requiring high-efficiency water treatment. Conditions for its expansion include regulatory frameworks that promote water efficiency, availability of innovation financing, and strong public-private partnerships. Its competitiveness is evidenced in clear performance indicators: lower operating cost per cubic meter produced, longer equipment life, and verifiable environmental benefits. Collaboration between public operator, technology provider, and verifying entities creates a governance scheme that facilitates scaling this solution regionally.
Project implementation is conceived under a phased scheme that combines progressive technical interventions with an adaptive approach. The first stage corresponds to baseline diagnosis, characterizing water, energy, chemical consumption, and CIP cleaning frequency, establishing initial performance indicators. Subsequently, the detailed design and installation phase develops, selecting reverse osmosis technologies and specialized AWC chemicals over less efficient alternatives, integrating flow meters, IoT sensors, and quality probes to ensure operational precision. This phase includes a validation pilot in one reverse osmosis line, executed over three to six months, allowing protocol adjustments and performance verification. Once effectiveness is proven, full plant scaling begins, with staff training and standardized procedures, planned for a one-year horizon. Commissioning is accompanied by intensive monitoring and KPI reporting such as recovery, kWh/m³, chemical reduction, and cleaning frequency.
The baseline is complemented with laboratory analysis and online measurement, generating historical series comparable between the initial and project scenarios. Data are collected daily for critical variables and weekly or monthly for quality parameters, integrated into SCADA and IoT platforms that allow complete digital traceability. Physical water traceability is ensured with instrumentation from intake to distribution, while digital traceability is guaranteed through platforms generating automatic reports, deviation alarms, and secure database storage, with blockchain validation possibility. External verification is carried out through audits and third-party reviews, confirming outputs, outcomes, and impacts measured under VWBA.
In governance terms, AySA assumes technical operation, AWC provides technology and specialized support, regulatory authorities oversee compliance, and independent verification entities validate results. Roles are clearly distributed: operation and maintenance by AySA, supply of inputs and technical support by AWC, and external control by verifiers. Agreements exist on the use of generated and saved water, as well as preventive and corrective maintenance protocols to ensure operational continuity. The maintenance plan includes scheduled inspections, preventive replacement of critical components, and rapid response protocols for unforeseen failures.
Monitoring relies on digital systems integrated with VWBA and WQBA reports, quantifying saved, regenerated water and removed contaminants. The with/without project comparative analysis robustly demonstrates added value. Continuous improvement is ensured through constant data feedback, process adjustment based on results, and technological updates according to international standards. Thus, permanence of benefits is guaranteed over time, building resilience to climate variability, operational risks, and new regulatory requirements.
The operational efficiency project at the Virrey del Pino Plant constitutes a comprehensive intervention to optimize chemical and energy use in reverse osmosis systems. The main intervention focuses on applying advanced AWC products and incorporating a state-of-the-art digital control and monitoring system. Technically, the process includes pretreatment stages, controlled dosing of antiscalants and biocides, real-time monitoring through flow meters and IoT sensors, and operation of reverse osmosis trains with capacity to produce tens of thousands of cubic meters of drinking water per day for users in western Greater Buenos Aires. The design complies with national drinking water regulations, international water quality standards (WHO), and regulatory frameworks such as ISO 14001 for environmental management and energy efficiency.
The relevance of this solution lies in addressing a critical problem: high operating costs from chemical and energy consumption, frequent membrane cleanings, contaminant discharges, and vulnerability of the Matanza-Riachuelo basin. This basin, one of the most pressured in the country, suffers from overexploitation of groundwater, industrial and urban discharges, and use conflicts affecting vulnerable communities. The Virrey del Pino plant, located in this context, becomes a key piece to relieve water stress, improve water quality, and contribute to basin sanitation and resilience plans. Compared to the baseline scenario, the project generates a qualitative leap by reducing consumption by more than 20%, extending membrane life, and lowering water and chemical use in cleaning processes. It is the right solution because it combines chemical and digital innovation, operational resilience to climate change, and alignment with regional environmental and social objectives.
Expected concrete results include savings of more than 150,000 m³ of water per year due to less frequent cleanings, improved water quality with more stable parameters of turbidity, TSS, and dissolved compounds, and additional benefits such as reduced indirect CO₂ emissions, greater ecosystem resilience of the basin, and public health improvements. Strategically, the project contributes to AySA’s Water Positive roadmap by generating additional volumetric benefits, fulfills ESG commitments by providing social license to operate, competitive differentiation, and enhanced reputation, and integrates its benefits within international frameworks such as SBTi for Water, NPWI, and ESRS E3 standards.
The model is highly replicable: it can be implemented in other urban and industrial basins under water pressure, in Latin American utilities, or in water-intensive industrial sectors such as food and energy. Its scalability is ensured with clear regulatory frameworks, innovation financing, and partnerships with operators, governments, and communities. The expected final impact is multiple: it contributes to the water balance of the basin by reducing pressure on groundwater, strengthens climate resilience through efficiency and flexibility, generates skilled employment, ensures reliable access to water, and sends a strong message to investors, clients, and society: that the transition to a regenerative economy is possible when technological innovation and public-private cooperation become drivers of transformation.
