The Industrial Park is located in a strategic node of urban-industrial development in northern Santiago and is notable for hosting a wide diversity of productive sectors, ranging from heavy manufacturing to the food and pharmaceutical industries. This variety leads to the generation of wastewater with highly disparate physicochemical profiles, including high concentrations of BOD, nutrients, recalcitrant compounds, suspended solids, and emerging contaminants. Historically, the management of these effluents has been the individual responsibility of each company, with no centralized technical coordination or external verification mechanisms, resulting in unequal practices, high operating costs, and cumulative environmental risk.
In this context, the present project proposes a profound and systemic transformation in the water management of the park, based on the development of shared and modular infrastructure that enables the treatment, regeneration, and reuse of industrial effluents with criteria of efficiency, traceability, and sustainability. The proposed system will be adapted to the nature of the pollutant and the specific volumes per sector through state-of-the-art treatment technologies, allowing quality standards to be reached that exceed those required by current regulations. This new infrastructure will enable the implementation of a collective water reuse model, reducing pressure on natural sources and avoiding discharge into sensitive receiving bodies such as the Quilicura Wetland.
The project adopts a robust technical approach based on the VWBA (Volumetric Water Benefit Accounting) and WQBA (Water Quality Benefit Accounting) frameworks, which will allow the transparent demonstration and auditing of the benefits achieved both in terms of recovered water volume and improved quality. In addition, data traceability will be ensured through interoperable digital platforms and third-party validation mechanisms.
The absence of a common treatment plant in the Industrial Park has led to a highly fragmented water management scheme, where each company operates in isolation, applying disparate criteria for effluent handling. This lack of coordination has resulted in a system without comprehensive monitoring capacity or mechanisms to track the cumulative impacts of environmental discharges. Consequently, there has been an accumulation of point and dispersed liquid emissions, many of which directly affect the Quilicura Wetland, an urban ecosystem that acts as the final receptor of these flows and whose resilience capacity is severely compromised.
Although some facilities formally comply with the limits established in regulations such as Supreme Decree No. 90 (DS90), the current model does not follow a systemic logic of environmental damage prevention nor does it include continuous improvement or water reuse strategies. The disconnection between industrial actors, environmental authorities, and the community has generated an environment where negative externalities proliferate: progressive deterioration of the wetland’s biodiversity, emergence of health vectors, loss of ecosystem services, and social conflicts associated with perceptions of risk and environmental injustice.
Furthermore, this situation represents a significant loss of opportunities to implement water efficiency and circularity measures, such as internal or inter-company reuse of treated water, with potential environmental and economic benefits. Ultimately, the lack of common water infrastructure and governance not only aggravates environmental impact but also prevents the park from evolving toward a resilient, competitive, and globally sustainable production model.
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.
© 2025 Aquapositive. All rights reserved. Further distribution is not permitted without authorization from Aquapositive.
