In a world where freshwater demand could outstrip availability by 40% by 2030, continuing with a “use and dispose” industrial water model is neither sustainable nor competitive. Chile—and particularly the Metropolitan Region, is facing increasing water stress, with declining surface flows and overexploited aquifers threatening both community water security and the operational continuity of industrial parks. The Quilicura Industrial Park, one of the most dynamic and diversified in the country, is home to food, beverage, logistics, and manufacturing companies, all dependent on a stable and secure water supply.
This project breaks away from the linear logic: it implements an integrated industrial water recovery and reuse system, capable of transforming treated effluents into a safe resource for productive and service uses. The solution combines physical treatment, advanced filtration, chlorine-free disinfection, and digital traceability, ensuring that every cubic meter recovered meets both internal and regulatory standards. The impact is tangible: more than 150,000 m³ per year of recovered water, equivalent to the annual domestic consumption of 2,000 households, will be reintegrated into industrial processes and secondary uses such as landscape irrigation and street cleaning.
More than a technical upgrade, this is a paradigm shift: industry moves from being a net consumer to becoming a regenerative actor in the Mapocho River basin, reducing withdrawals, avoiding pollutant discharges, and strengthening the basin’s water resilience. The project is embedded within the Water Positive strategy, meeting the principles of additionality (recovering volumes previously unavailable for use), intentionality (design oriented toward measurable water replenishment), and traceability (physical and digital monitoring audited by third parties).
In an era where industrial sustainability is measured by verifiable results, this initiative proves it is possible to remain competitive, meet ESG objectives, and at the same time deliver quantifiable benefits to the basin.
The challenge is clear: Quilicura Industrial Park operates in one of Chile’s most water and environmentally-pressured urban zones. The combination of high industrial density, reliance on groundwater sources, and climate variability has created a scenario where every cubic meter matters. Currently, a significant portion of process water is discharged as effluent, even after basic treatment, representing both a resource loss and a burden on external treatment systems.
The technical opportunity lies in capturing and reprocessing these streams through a modular tertiary treatment plant equipped with high-efficiency filtration, ultrafiltration membranes, advanced oxidation, and UV disinfection. This technology produces safe, high-quality water for internal non-potable uses (cooling towers, industrial cleaning) and external applications, reducing fresh water extraction by more than 60% and eliminating liquid discharges to the sewer in the targeted volumes.
In the short term, the project will generate direct savings in supply and treatment costs, reduce the corporate water footprint, and enable the reporting of verified water benefits under VWBA 2.0 . In the medium and long term, it will contribute to basin resilience, reduce regulatory risk in the face of future restrictions, and strengthen the social license to operate for participating companies.
The model is fully replicable in other industrial parks across the country and the region, particularly in water-stressed contexts. Anchor companies in the food, manufacturing, and logistics sectors can lead this transition, gaining not only ESG compliance and competitive differentiation but also a powerful corporate narrative: being part of the generation that turned water management into a pillar of industrial competitiveness and sustainability.
The proposed solution is based on a systemic vision of industrial water management, aimed at eliminating pollutant discharges and maximizing the circular use of the resource within the park. To this end, the design and implementation of a shared technical system is proposed, allowing the treatment, regeneration, and reuse of industrial effluents while respecting the diversity of processes and pollutants present in the park’s various companies. This system will be based on technological modules organized by industrial sectors or functional clusters, allowing efficient management according to the type of contaminant load (organic, inorganic, biological, or emerging).
The technological core of this model will consist of a combination of advanced treatments that may include: membrane bioreactors (MBR) for the elimination of biodegradable organic load, advanced oxidation processes (AOP) for the destruction of recalcitrant compounds, filtration and polishing systems (multilayer, activated carbon) for the removal of fine solids and heavy metals, and chlorine-free disinfection technologies such as dual-pass UV, ensuring microbiological quality suitable for reuse.
A key feature of this system will be its traceability capacity through IoT technologies. Each module will be equipped with sensors for flow, pH, conductivity, temperature, turbidity, BOD, and TSS, all connected in real-time to a centralized digital platform. This will enable not only operational control but also the generation of quantifiable and verifiable evidence for auditing water benefits under the VWBA and WQBA approaches.
The treated water will be reintegrated within the park for non-potable uses such as internal green area irrigation, vehicle or industrial floor washing, cooling system supply, or even production processes that do not require potable water. This approach will drastically reduce the park’s dependence on fresh water sources (wells or public network) and will allow up to 80% of non-potable industrial uses to be substituted with internally sourced regenerated water.
In short, the proposed solution lays the foundation for a new standard of water performance in urban industrial environments, integrating technical efficiency, economic sustainability, digital traceability, and environmental compliance into a replicable model at national and international levels.
The project execution is divided into four main stages:
Stage 1: Technical Diagnosis A water industrial census of the park will be carried out, identifying company typologies, effluent-generating processes, estimated pollutant loads, current discharge points, and on-site reuse opportunities. This diagnosis includes interviews, technical visits, plan analysis, and the use of satellite images to identify risk areas.
Stage 2: Modular Treatment System Design Based on the collected data, solutions will be designed for clusters of companies with similar needs. Treatment technologies will be selected according to the pollutant profile, including physical-chemical treatment trains, bioreactors, and tertiary treatment modules. Online quality sensors will be integrated, with connectivity to a central platform.
Stage 3: Demonstrative Pilot and Validation A pilot plant will be implemented in one or more volunteer companies to validate system efficiency under real conditions. Treated flow, quality parameters before and after treatment, and the volume of water reused will be measured. This phase includes external auditing to enable future project certification.
Stage 4: Scaling and Governance Based on the pilot results, a progressive expansion model will be designed for the rest of the park, along with a governance scheme including business participation, technical operators, and local authorities. A tariff model, performance-based incentive system, and joint reporting mechanisms will be defined.
Technologies or Actions Applied
The system includes advanced low-footprint, high-efficiency technologies adapted to the urban-industrial context:
Monitoring Plan
Operation will be supported by sensors for flow, BOD, TSS, turbidity, pH, temperature, and conductivity. Data will be stored in real time on an interoperable digital platform (e.g., Aqua Positive), with automatic alerts, company-level traceability, and the possibility of third-party audits. Additionally, monthly physicochemical sampling campaigns and an annual water balance of the entire system will be conducted.
Partnerships or Implementing Actors
Execution requires coordination between:
This project represents a unique opportunity to transform the water management model in Chilean industrial parks, aligning with international standards and anticipating future regulatory demands.
This project proposes a comprehensive transformation of the water management model in the Industrial Park, located in a strategic area of northern Santiago, characterized by a high concentration of diverse industrial activities. Currently, companies in the park manage their wastewater independently, resulting in operational fragmentation, high costs, and significant environmental risks, especially for the Quilicura Wetland, the natural receptor of discharges.
In response to this problem, the project proposes the design and implementation of modular and shared infrastructure that enables efficient, safe, and sustainable treatment and reuse of industrial effluents. By integrating state-of-the-art technologies (MBR, AOP, UV, activated carbon), the system will adapt to different pollutant profiles and offer a scalable solution applicable to both organic processes and complex chemical loads.
The methodological approach is based on the VWBA (Volumetric Water Benefit Accounting) and WQBA (Water Quality Benefit Accounting) frameworks, which will allow quantification of both the volume of water reused and the improvement in resource quality. Traceability will be ensured through online sensors and interoperable digital platforms enabling continuous monitoring, operational control, and external validation.
Implementation is structured in four stages: first, a technical diagnosis to characterize the park’s water and pollutant flows; then, design of the modular system by industrial clusters; third, a pilot phase to validate treatment and reuse efficiency under real conditions; and finally, progressive expansion to the rest of the park under a shared governance and financial sustainability model.
Each stage includes specific metrics and control instruments to ensure data quality, regulatory compliance, and credibility of reported benefits. Moreover, the treated water will be reused for non-potable activities within the park, such as irrigation, industrial cleaning, and cooling systems, reducing dependence on external sources and eliminating discharges to the wetland.
The project not only addresses an urgent need for environmental mitigation but also sets a new standard for industrial water management in Chile, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and with replicable potential at the national scale. Its value lies in the effective articulation between technological innovation, operational efficiency, ecosystem protection, and collaborative governance.
