In a world where water stress intensifies year after year—where more than 40% of the global population lives in water-scarce regions—it is no longer acceptable to discard millions of liters of potentially usable water after every industrial process. This is the paradox faced by Aguascalientes: a semi-arid region marked by overexploited aquifers and growing urban and industrial pressure, while high-quality treated effluents are discharged without any regenerative purpose. The current scenario demands more than efficiency—it calls for transformation.
This project emerges as a concrete, scalable, and bold response to that challenge. By implementing an on-site water reuse system for non-potable industrial purposes—such as cooling towers, surface cleaning, and landscape irrigation—it unlocks a strategic opportunity to break the linear extractive paradigm and shift toward a circular water model. The goal is not just to recover flows: it’s to regenerate value where waste used to exist, reduce dependency on vulnerable underground sources, and enable a new operating standard for the private sector.
Following VWBA 2.0 methodologies, this project applies the A-2 method (withdrawal reduction) as a measurable water efficiency activity, and the A-3 method (volume provided) when generating an alternative source that replaces freshwater demand. Moreover, given its location in one of Mexico’s most water-stressed basins (Río San Pedro), every regenerated and traced cubic meter represents a tangible improvement in regional water resilience.
The project is located in the municipality of Aguascalientes, within a rapidly expanding industrial park. It brings together several key stakeholders: the industrial operator responsible for the effluents (end client), the technology provider (Geodesic Innovations), the project structurer and water benefit verifier (Aqua Positive), and strategic partners who contribute to digital traceability and performance monitoring. This governance model ensures compliance with the principles of additionality (the intervention would not occur otherwise), traceability (each m³ is documented and georeferenced), and intentionality (the goal is explicitly water replenishment).
More than a technical initiative, this is a statement of intent—a commitment to a Water Positive model where companies do not merely minimize their footprint but leave a regenerative one. A model in which water is no longer “used and discarded” but instead revalued, multiplied, and reintegrated. Aguascalientes can become a symbol of this transition—and this project, the first bold step.
The water reality in Aguascalientes is critical: 100% of potable water comes from underground aquifers, whose recharge is increasingly limited due to urban sprawl, climate change, and agricultural overuse. At the same time, industrial development is expanding and producing treated effluents that could cover part of current water demand—if the infrastructure for reuse existed. The opportunity is clear: to transform a water liability into a strategic asset through regeneration technologies that are already available and proven.
This project intercepts, treats, and reuses wastewater generated within an industrial park in Aguascalientes, using modular systems based on filtration, ultrafiltration, and advanced oxidation. The regenerated water will be reused for non-potable purposes inside the same industrial park, thus reducing groundwater extraction and generating net volumetric water benefits from the first month of operation. The estimated reuse volume exceeds 25,000 m³ per year, equivalent to the annual consumption of more than 300 average households in the region.
Immediate benefits include reduced freshwater withdrawals (measured through A-2 methodology), creation of an alternative supply (A-3), reduced pollutant loads to the environment (through on-site reuse), and full digital traceability of every regenerated cubic meter. The intervention also helps relieve pressure on an overdrawn aquifer under legal restriction, aligning with Mexico’s National Water Plan priorities.
The selected technology offers high operational efficiency, low energy requirements, autonomous performance, and strong scalability. Its modular design allows future expansion to new industrial users within the same park or replication in similar sites. This model offers not only a technical solution to a structural problem, but also a compelling business case with environmental, reputational, and regulatory impacts. Companies leading this transition can claim certified VWBA water benefits, demonstrate ESG compliance, stand out in public tenders, and reduce operational and legal water risks.
In short, this is not just another water treatment project—it is a strategic intervention that redefines the role of industry in water-scarce contexts, where every drop matters and every decision shapes the region’s water future.
The project proposes a comprehensive solution that addresses both water quantity and quality simultaneously through advanced infrastructure, territorial planning, and sustainable management of the urban water cycle.
The plant will be designed using modular and adaptable technologies to facilitate scalability and accommodate variable pollutant loads. An automated control system supported by online sensors will measure key parameters such as flow, quality, and operational efficiency.
The proposed technological layout includes: mechanical screening, grease removal, sand removal, an anoxic reactor for nitrogen removal, transformation of the activated sludge system into a Membrane Bioreactor (MBR), advanced filtration with activated carbon, reverse osmosis for specific applications, and final disinfection via ultraviolet radiation. This process train ensures a high-quality effluent suitable for agricultural reuse, industrial processes, and aquifer recharge.
Treated water will be redistributed through dedicated secondary networks connected to agricultural and industrial users, as well as infiltration zones. Green infrastructure such as trenches and percolation wells will be implemented in permeable soils.
Monitoring will be continuous and digital. All operational and quality data will be collected in real time via platforms like Aqua Positive, ensuring full traceability, enabling external validation, and supporting reporting aligned with frameworks such as ESRS E3, CDP Water, and Science-Based Targets for Water.
Implementation will follow a phased approach: detailed diagnostics and executive design, construction and equipment installation, commissioning and operational adjustments, and continuous operation with predictive maintenance. This staged development will optimize resources, minimize operational risks, and ensure long-term functional sustainability.
The objective of this project is to transform water resource management in the Aguascalientes Valley—one of the regions most severely affected by water stress in Mexico—through the implementation of a tertiary wastewater treatment plant with a capacity of 2,000 liters per second. The plant is designed as a structural intervention to harness urban residual flows in an efficient, safe, and environmentally responsible manner, reducing pressure on the aquifer and improving water quality.
The proposed technical solution integrates an intensive reuse approach for treated water in productive (technified agricultural irrigation, non-potable industrial uses) and environmental (artificial aquifer recharge) applications, thereby strengthening both water availability and sustainability. This approach is framed within the VWBA 2.0 methodology, applying method A-4 (indirect recharge), and incorporates WQBA indicators to track water quality improvements.
The Aguascalientes aquifer has been declared in a state of critical overexploitation by CONAGUA, with an annual deficit exceeding 100 million cubic meters. The drop in the water table has resulted in land subsidence, damaged urban infrastructure, declining well yields, and contamination by substances such as arsenic. In this context, developing a new safe water source through reuse is both strategic and urgent.
The treatment plant design incorporates an advanced process train aimed at producing high-quality effluent that meets NOM-001-SEMARNAT-2021 and NOM-127-SSA1-2021 standards and is safe for proposed uses. The technologies include:
This configuration yields a stable, traceable, and safely reusable effluent suitable for a wide range of applications with low health risks and strong institutional acceptance.
Treated water reuse will be channeled into three main applications:
This strategic distribution ensures that reused volumes have a real impact on reducing groundwater extraction.
System operation will be based on an automated and digital control scheme. Sensors will monitor flow, pressure, turbidity, conductivity, nutrients, bacteria, and metals, with real-time transmission to a central platform such as Aqua Positive. This traceability enables:
Expected Impact
