This project aims to generate measurable, additional, and scientifically verifiable water benefits for the operations of a brewing industry located in southern Spain, through a hybrid intervention model that combines advanced treated effluent reuse with the ecohydrological restoration of a degraded natural wetland. The receiving wetland, identified as the Brazo del Este, is part of the lower Guadalquivir marshland complex and exhibits physical and ecological characteristics ideal for acting as a sink and natural purifier of regenerated water.
The intervention is fully aligned with the Volumetric Water Benefit Accounting (VWBA) 2.0 framework, to account for the reused flow that replaces direct freshwater withdrawals, and to quantify the volume of water that, through managed infiltration, contributes to the recharge of shallow aquifers. Additionally, the Water Quality Benefit Accounting (WQBA) approach is incorporated to evaluate the reduction of pollutants through natural processes of phytoremediation, sedimentation, and biological oxidation within the restored wetland.
From a technological perspective, high-performance tertiary treatment units are integrated—including ultrafiltration, advanced oxidation processes (AOP), and UV disinfection—enabling the production of regenerated water that meets quality standards for indirect environmental use. This water is safely conveyed and directed to specific areas of the wetland, which have been preconditioned to optimize infiltration and water-soil interaction. The green infrastructure employed, based on naturalistic hydraulic engineering, maximizes retention times, promotes aquatic biodiversity, and enhances nutrient recycling, thereby ensuring a more resilient, efficient, and restorative hydrosocial cycle.
The brewery located in Seville operates in one of the most water-stressed regions of the Iberian Peninsula. According to the European Environmental Agency (EEA), this area has a high water stress index, with a significantly negative regional water balance, especially during the dry season. The imbalance between demand and water availability has been exacerbated by declining precipitation, rising average temperatures, and cumulative pressure from intensive agriculture, urban supply systems, and industrial activity concentrated in southern Spain’s logistic corridors.
The area surrounding the plant, which includes the Brazo del Este Natural Park, has undergone structural degradation of its hydroecological function. This is manifested in the alteration of hydrodynamic regimes, which have lost their natural seasonal variability; the disconnection between surface water bodies and groundwater masses; and increasing nutrient and untreated organic matter pressure due to urban and industrial discharges that exceed the wetland’s natural purification capacity.
From a technical standpoint, the causes are grouped into three interrelated axes: (1) the loss of structural water balance, quantifiable through negative monthly balances between effective precipitation and evapotranspiration, along with abstraction rates that exceed the natural recharge thresholds of the area’s Pliocene aquifers; (2) the underutilization of alternative water resources, such as reclaimed water, which, despite meeting environmental quality regulations, has yet to be systematically integrated into water planning frameworks; and (3) the functional disarticulation of wetlands, whose regulatory, buffering, and infiltration capacities have been diminished due to siltation, loss of hydrophilic vegetation, and topographic simplification, ultimately degrading water quality and associated aquatic biodiversity.
In response to this situation, the project proposes an integrated solution that combines grey infrastructure—for treatment and transport of effluent—with green infrastructure designed to restore the hydrological and ecological services of the wetland. First, an advanced tertiary treatment line is incorporated, transforming industrial effluent into high-quality regenerated water suitable for environmental reuse, in accordance with the standards established by Royal Decree 1620/2007. The treatment process includes ultrafiltration with fine-pore membranes (0.03–0.1 μm), advanced oxidation technologies (ozone and/or hydrogen peroxide combined with UV radiation), and a double-stage UV disinfection to ensure full microbiological safety.
Once treated, the water is conveyed through a closed pressurized network to strategic wetland locations, where it is applied in a controlled manner across zones of filtering vegetation and designated infiltration areas. These zones undergo ecological intervention focused on the functional restoration of the ecosystem, involving hydraulic micro-topography works that reshape the terrain to slow water flow, extend retention, and enhance infiltration into the subsurface. Native aquatic vegetation with high nutrient assimilation and sediment stabilization capacity (Typha, Scirpus, Phragmites) is planted to enhance natural purification processes. This hybrid solution enables the simultaneous generation of VWBA benefits (volumetric replenishment), WQBA improvements (pollutant load reduction), and ecological restoration with a scientifically robust and traceable foundation.
Implementation is structured in three sequential phases, each defined by clear technical and operational objectives based on hydrological, ecological, and traceability engineering criteria.
Phase 1 – Diagnosis and Baseline Assessment (0–3 months): A comprehensive hydraulic assessment of the brewery is conducted, measuring available reuse flows (daily and seasonal averages), current discharge points, and the performance of the secondary treatment system. Concurrently, a hydrogeological study of the receiving wetland is performed, determining its hydraulic conductivity, groundwater table depth, temporary storage capacity, and soil physicochemical characteristics. An ecological baseline is also established, including vegetation mapping, bioindicator fauna analysis, and trophic variables (chlorophyll-a, total phosphorus, turbidity), which will serve as reference indicators for WQBA.
Phase 2 – Engineering and Technical Execution (4–12 months): A modular tertiary treatment unit is installed, combining ultrafiltration, advanced oxidation, and dual UV disinfection. This treatment train produces high-quality regenerated water with controlled parameters for COD, BOD₅, nitrogen, phosphorus, TSS, and coliforms. The treated effluent is then transported through a closed conduit to preconditioned infiltration zones within the wetland. Topographic modifications are implemented to create lamination terraces, containment berms, and vegetated islands that optimize flow velocity and increase water-soil interaction. Introduced vegetation acts as a biological filter, reducing organic load and nutrients through bioassimilation and mechanical retention. All infrastructure is designed for adaptive management through the use of control gates and real-time sensors.
Phase 3 – Monitoring and Validation (12–36 months): A three-tier monitoring system is deployed: (1) hydraulic monitoring with electromagnetic flow meters to measure infiltrated volumes and system efficiency; (2) physicochemical monitoring through multiparameter stations to track key water quality indicators (BOD₅, nitrates, phosphates, turbidity, coliforms); and (3) ecological monitoring via piezometric tracking, biodiversity surveys (macroinvertebrates, waterbirds), and remote sensing (NDVI, soil moisture) to validate the wetland’s ecological response. All data is managed through the Aqua Positive digital platform, enabling complete traceability, third-party verification, and the generation of certifiable water benefit credits.
This project delivers a comprehensive water replenishment and functional restoration intervention within the lower Guadalquivir River Basin, aimed at generating additional, measurable, and traceable water benefits for a brewing industry in the metropolitan area of Seville. The initiative integrates advanced technological solutions with ecohydrological restoration strategies in the Brazo del Este wetland, combining grey and green infrastructure under a robust methodological framework aligned with VWBA 2.0 and WQBA standards.
The project responds to a structural basin-wide problem: extreme pressure on surface and groundwater resources, deterioration of floodplain-associated ecosystems, and insufficient integration of non-conventional water sources, such as treated effluent. The region suffers from a negative water balance intensified during the dry season, driven by climate change, agricultural expansion, and urban growth. In this context, the Brazo del Este—a former meandering branch of the Guadalquivir repurposed as a drainage canal—has lost much of its ecological function, although it retains strategic potential for infiltration, natural depuration, and hydrobiological recovery.
The proposal centers on reclaiming treated industrial effluent from the brewery through a tertiary treatment system that includes ultrafiltration, AOP, and dual UV disinfection. This system produces regenerated water suitable for indirect environmental uses, aligned with Royal Decree 1620/2007. The water is delivered through pressurized closed-loop systems to pre-engineered zones of the wetland, where it is applied using micro-topographic features, lamination terraces, and filtering vegetation. These interventions support progressive infiltration into the subsoil, facilitate aquifer recharge, and generate simultaneous benefits in water quality improvement.
Methodologically, the generated benefit is quantified under two key VWBA 2.0 categories: A-2 (volume of regenerated water replacing direct withdrawals) and A-4 (volume infiltrated into the subsurface). This is supplemented by WQBA-based metrics associated with pollutant load reduction in the receiving body (BOD₅, nitrates, phosphorus, coliforms, and suspended solids). The action of native aquatic vegetation—Typha spp., Phragmites australis, Scirpus spp.—functions as a biofilter, promoting nutrient removal, particle sedimentation, and oxygenation throughout the water column.
Execution is organized in three stages. The first involves hydrological, hydrogeological, and ecological diagnostics to define baseline quality and flows, soil characteristics, and piezometric conditions. The second stage includes the installation of the treatment technology and physical conditioning works in the wetland. The third phase involves deploying a real-time monitoring system using multiparametric sensors, piezometric probes, satellite imagery (NDVI and soil moisture), and bioindicator validation. All data will be recorded in the Aqua Positive platform, ensuring traceability, external verification, and compatibility with international reporting frameworks such as Science-Based Targets for Water (SBTs), Act4Water, and CDP.
Beyond enabling the brewery to scientifically compensate for the water embedded in its products and processes, the project contributes actively to the regeneration of the local hydrosocial cycle, restoring a critical wetland for climate resilience, and opening opportunities for community engagement, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable territorial development.
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