The AQUAVAL Project is an initiative focused on efficiently managing rainwater in urban environments through the use of sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS). Its purpose is to mitigate the negative impacts derived from urbanization and climate change, especially in the Mediterranean region, where the combination of waterproofed soils, episodes of torrential rainfall, and an arid climate represents a great challenge for water management.
Conventional urban drainage systems are often designed to evacuate water as quickly as possible to sanitation infrastructure, which can lead to problems such as flooding, contamination of water bodies, and inefficient use of water resources. In this context, AQUAVAL introduces innovative solutions that mimic the natural hydrological cycle, integrating green infrastructures into the urban landscape and promoting the efficient use of rainwater.
The project has developed pilot experiences in the Xàtiva and Benaguasil (Valencia) municipalities, implementing different types of SUDS to demonstrate their effectiveness. Its main strategies include the infiltration and storage of rainwater for subsequent reuse in irrigation, urban cleaning, and aquifer recharge. In addition, the project has promoted the development of rainwater management plans and municipal ordinances to integrate these solutions into urban development.
AQUAVAL is part of European strategies for adaptation to climate change and efficiency in water management. It addresses problems such as water scarcity, pollution of rivers and aquifers, and the reduction of the heat island effect in cities. Its multidisciplinary approach involves local administrations, universities, companies, and private entities to ensure its success and replicability in other Mediterranean cities.
The Mediterranean region's particularities, such as the dry climate combined with high-intensity storms and the prevalence of dense and highly impermeable cities with combined sewage systems, mark differences with other European regions where the use of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS) is more common.
To face some of the great challenges generated by rainwater runoff in municipalities, which has increased in recent years due to climate change and the growing waterproofing of soils in urban areas, some municipalities, such as those of Benaguasil and Xátiva in Valencia, have been promoting SUDS for several years.
These systems can very efficiently address some of the problems caused by such runoff, help improve energy efficiency in the municipal water cycle and contribute to mitigation and adaptation to the effects of climate change.
The first challenge of the project was to analyze and study the situation of the combined sewerage networks in both municipalities. This confirmed that they were insufficient to manage the current runoff adequately, so floods occurred in some areas, susceptible to increasing in frequency and intensity, by the climate change scenarios expected in the future.
The second challenge was to select the location and type of the SUDS demonstration infrastructures to be installed, select six sites in various common urban spaces and land uses, and propose different SUDS techniques appropriate to each space. The design and construction activities required more time than expected due to the lack of experience in this type of project from consultants and construction companies, requiring more assistance and supervision from AQUAVAL's technical partners (PMEnginyeria, predecessor of Green Blue Management SL., and the University of Abertay-Dundee, experts in SUDS).
Finally, another of AQUAVAL's major challenges, in addition to the technical aspects, was to involve the main local and regional actors related to rainwater management and urban planning so that they would be involved in a long-term vision of such management and in the development of a strategic action plan to promote SUDS at the regional level, national and even Mediterranean, with the collaboration and participation of Administrations, public and private companies, Universities and non-profit organizations.
Thus, the last stage of AQUAVAL consisted of the drafting of a Sustainable Rainwater Management Plan for each of the two municipalities, based on the incorporation of sustainable drainage techniques at the municipal level and considering the effects of climate change.
Proposals were also drafted for rainwater management ordinances that incorporate building and urban aspects where sustainability criteria prevail, and that will be a reference not only for other municipalities in the province but also at the national level.
On the other hand, the project created a Working Group (WG) on Efficient Water Management in order to promote new opportunities and employment niches and promote new materials and products that allow both the use of water and the of rainwater as well as the development of sustainable drainage systems. This WG proved to be very useful for exchanging experiences with other public and private entities, and through this, it increased the interest of other municipalities in developing similar actions.
The monitoring and control carried out throughout the project duration have made it possible to demonstrate the efficiency of the SUDS proposed for the Mediterranean climate in flood prevention and environmental protection. In addition, with its implementation, the water collected has been managed for use in irrigation, street cleaning, and/or recharge of aquifers in both localities.
The fundamental objective of AQUAVAL was to achieve efficient rainwater management in the urban area based on the implementation of innovative solutions based on Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS).
This objective was set by covering the following aspects:
- Avoid over-discharges from the unitary sewer system in order to improve the quality of the water in the receiving environment (Albaida and Turia rivers).
- Avoid frequent flooding and overflows of the unitary network of the urban area in times of rain.
- Bring versatility to drainage infrastructure in the face of the effects of climate change.
- Reduce electricity consumption (and, therefore, CO2 emissions into the atmosphere) both in urban water management (pumping, treatment plants) and in buildings (with the use of vegetated roofs).
- To reduce the "heat island" effect that occurs in cities.
- Save on drinking water by taking advantage of the natural resource "rainwater" for irrigation and street cleaning uses
- To promote the application of SUDS in Southern Europe, following the indications of the European DAYWATER project as a complement to conventional practice.
- To develop municipal policies that integrate environmental aspects into urban planning and water management legislation, thus contributing to sustainable development.
AQUAVAL thus promotes the management of urban rainwater as a key component for sustainable cities, through the following actions in municipalities:
- Analysis of the current starting point and proposal of interventions.
- Design, construction, monitoring and control of the proposed facilities.
- Proposal for sustainable urban stormwater management plans and new water and land use planning policies.
- Creation and coordination of working groups on efficient water management.
Dissemination and promotion of the use of SUDS in similar settings.
The growth of impermeable areas in cities modifies the natural flows of the hydrological cycle, and the reduction of vegetated spaces reduces natural infiltration and evapotranspiration. As a result, significantly larger runoff volumes are generated, and response times are accelerated. This increases the risk of punctual flooding in the urban fabric and discharges of untreated water, especially overflows of the unitary network to the receiving basins (streams, ravines, rivers, seas, and oceans), affecting citizens and the environment.
In this sense, flooding and pollution can be reduced by acting both with conventional hard engineering solutions (larger collectors, new pipes, etc.) and through the use of sustainable drainage techniques conveniently distributed throughout the city, which, in addition to contributing to solving the problem, entail an important battery of benefits. The basic principle of action must always be that of decentralised retention: infiltrate and retain at source as much rainwater as possible in both public and private spaces.
To this end, AQUAVAL was an experience of a pilot project demonstrating the efficiency and goodness of using different sustainable urban drainage techniques (SUT) in two municipalities of the Mediterranean basin, strongly affected by the conditions described.
The proposed SUDS constitute a wide range of solutions that have made it possible to address the planning, design and management of rainwater in both urban environments of Xàtiva and Benaguasil, giving as much importance to environmental, landscape and social aspects as to hydrological, hydraulic and municipal infrastructures. Its main function is to avoid, reduce and delay the discharge of rainwater into the network of collectors or receiving watercourses, increasing infiltration, channelling the water, managing its storage, treatment and discharge, and preferably reusing it in irrigation systems, street cleaning and/or aquifer recharge.
The solutions proposed for these purposes were the following:
Modelling of current sanitation networks (in both cases unitary networks)
Proposed SUDS localization
Construction of 6 SUDS demonstration experiences, financed by the Provincial Council of Valencia:
in Xàtiva:
bioretention areas and rainwater use deposit in the City of Sport à its objective is to delay and reduce the discharge of runoff into the main sewer network
vegetation ditches on the margins of the Ronda Norte à creation of multifunctional drainage infrastructure and downstream flood reduction
cistern, vegetated roof and courtyard with permeable pavement in the CP Gozalbes Vera à educational actions, rain storage for non-potable uses and reduction of flows and volumes of runoff in the main sewer network
in Benaguasil:
vegetated retention basins Parque Costa Ermita à drainage and reduction of runoff and sediments that reach the main avenue of the urban area and that the municipal sewerage network is not able to evacuate
cistern in Youth Center à educational action with water storage for garden irrigation and other non-potable uses
infiltration pond in Les Eres Industrial Estate à reduction of runoff by directing the water towards a vegetated basin built that retains and filters it, with disconnection from the sewerage network and recharge of the aquifer
Adaptation of a municipal project in Benaguasil: change from conventional impermeable parking with scuppers and collectors to parking with permeable pavement in the area of the new Indoor Swimming Pool à filtration, treatment and storage of water by porous construction material for its subsequent infiltration into the natural terrain
Drafting of 2 Sustainable Rainwater Management Plans
Drafting of municipal rainwater ordinances and regulations (model for other municipalities and regions)
Communication and dissemination of the use of SUDS, as an efficient rainwater management approach
The traditional approach to rainwater management focuses on quantity, trying to evacuate water as quickly as possible and directing it out of the city, even if that leads to problems for municipalities that are located downstream.
However, the sustainable drainage approach is committed to solutions that do not increase the downstream problem, both in quantity and quality of that rainwater.
In addition, it seeks to obtain other added values in terms of landscaping, urban comfort and improved biodiversity.
The philosophy of the alternative approach provided by the SUDS, such as those carried out in Xàtiva and Benaguasil, is essentially based on the reproduction, as faithfully as possible, of the natural hydrological cycle in urban spaces, generally affected by strong anthropisation and a constant increase in the impervious surface. This has led to a drastic decrease in water retention in the soil and infiltration into aquifers, leading to an increase in the runoff volume and the peak values of its waves. In addition, urban development also tends to increase the concentrations and types of pollutants present in water.
SUDS provide cities with new means and techniques to give a sustainable approach to rainwater management, integrating runoff management into the urban landscape, taking inspiration from the natural behaviour of each watershed prior to the urbanisation process. In this way, the SUDS somehow return the water to the surface, allowing it to coexist with the citizen and help to improve the urban landscape.
For this reason, it is important to take them into account not only for new areas of urban growth, but also in the regeneration, reconversion and readaptation of already consolidated areas of the built fabric.
In any case, and especially in any new urban development, it would be necessary by municipal regulations:
Introducing the Separative Drain.
encourage infiltration and permeabilize urban surfaces.
Capture and store rainwater in cisterns and cisterns.
capture and laminate runoff in a scattered manner in the city.
Incorporating the concept of sustainable drainage in the early stages of the urbanization process of municipal planning is thus key to being able to carry out an integrated design capable of reducing costs and maximizing benefits in the long term. In the management chain that this entails, four steps are taken:
prevention, both of contamination (e.g. with frequent sweeping of surfaces) and of the generation of runoff (e.g. by minimising impermeable surfaces)
Control at source, managing runoff wherever it occurs (rooftops, streets, squares, gardens, etc.), reducing flows and volumes and ensuring an initial quality treatment with the use of vegetated roofs, cisterns, permeable surfaces and pavements, filtering strips, infiltration pits and trenches, bioretention areas and rain gardens
Urban management, at the neighborhood or urbanisation level, to continue reducing flows, volumes and pollutant loads, through the use of SUDS such as green gutters, filtering drains, infiltration tanks and detention tanks
watershed management, using retention ponds and artificial wetland systems
The results obtained in the AQUAVAL project in both municipalities have made it possible to promote the use of SUDS in other cities in the Mediterranean area, and in particular:
avoid over-discharges into the central sewer system in order to improve the quality of the water in the receiving environment
avoid flooding within the urban area during episodes of not very intense rainfall, considering the effect of climate change.
Reduce energy consumption and maintenance costs of sanitation and drainage facilities.
reduce the "heat island" effect produced in cities by large impermeable surfaces.
contribute to the capture of atmospheric CO2 and the promotion of biodiversity, increasing infiltration and the creation of green areas.
take advantage of natural water resources such as rainwater for non-potable uses of irrigation, street cleaning, etc.
AQUAVAL thus involves the development and implementation of a more coherent and integrated strategy for the use of SUDS techniques in the southern regions of the Mediterranean, where these techniques and strategies were quite unknown until now. In this sense, the drafting and management of sustainable urban water management plans will reduce the amount of over dumping and pollution of rivers.
The entities involved in executing this AQUAVAL project constituted both the Associated Consortium for its development and the Working Group on Efficient Water Management generated within the framework of this initiative.
The project consortium was made up of:
City Council of Xàtiva (Valencia)
Benaguasil City Council (Valencia)
PMEnginyeria, predecessor of Green blue Management SL. (Valencia)
Valencian Community Foundation European Region-FCVR
Abertay University (UK)
The Working Group involved both the Associated Consortium and:
Official College of Industrial Engineers of the Valencian Community (COIICV)
INVATE Foundation
Water and Progress Foundation
Valencian Federation of Construction Entrepreneurs (FEVEC)
Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FVMP)
Valencia Provincial Council
Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV)
Professional Associations of Architects and Civil Engineers
This group promoted actions related to water management, aiming to bring the Valencian Community into contact with the most cutting-edge methods of water use being developed in other regions of the European Union.
AQUAVAL is a pilot project demonstrating the possibilities offered by sustainable drainage systems and techniques (SUDS), both providing environmental, social and economic benefits, as well as building a knowledge-based approach to sustainable urban development.
AQUAVAL supports the implementation of EU water policy by addressing a wide range of issues such as improving river water quality, urban water management, aquifer recharge, minimising energy consumption and improving the environment and urban quality of life, under the main objective of the Local Agenda 21 of the Rio Earth Summit "Think globally, act locally", a concept that was integrated into the Water Framework Directive.
Its demonstrative nature in the region of Valencia, and in general of the entire Mediterranean area, has been the use of SUDS at a pilot level in different areas and situations of two different municipalities, Xàtiva and Benaguasil, which will allow to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of the introduction of such systems on a large scale, to deal with urban pollution arising from surface runoff
In this way, action is taken on the origin of the problem, as dictated by the Water Framework Directive (WFD), and measures from parent directives such as the Floods Directive or on best practices to limit, mitigate or compensate for the problem of soil sealing and the development of Green Infrastructures are integrated. This can help to reduce the "heat island" effect in urban areas, thus addressing climate change and reducing the energy demand of air conditioners, for example, as well as promoting potential soil infiltration, avoiding runoff and relief from pipeline systems.
Reducing rainwater runoff also allows its treatment in situ, preventing it from ending up in the municipal sewerage system once contaminated with urban dragging.
On the other hand, as a result of the actions carried out in AQUAVAL and the results obtained, the E2STORMED project subsequently emerged in a continuous and complementary way, in which the municipality of Benaguasil also participates, with the focus of linking water management to other sectors and urban areas, within a broader and planned program of regenerative eco-sustainability transferable to other Mediterranean regions. This project thus addresses the challenge of improving energy efficiency in the urban water cycle in the cities of the Mediterranean arc, through innovative rainwater management systems.
The monitoring for a full hydrological year of the SUDS actions carried out in Xàtiva and Benaguasil with sustainable drainage solutions for infiltration, conduction, and storage has made it possible to verify the benefits of this type of system for rainwater management in both quantity and quality.
The results obtained, published in high-impact scientific journals, show a high performance of SUDS both in attenuating peak flows in rainfall episodes, as well as in reducing pollution loads and improving energy efficiency, reducing drainage and runoff problems in both municipalities, and thus, for example, the cistern of the Youth Center is capable of covering practically all year round the needs of water for irrigation in its area of location; and in addition there are hardly any overflows to the sewerage network, and in the rest of the SUDS of Benaguasil, the runoff was stored and infiltrated at source, with hardly any overflows to the municipal sewerage network.
AQUAVAL has been a pilot project, demonstrative and easily replicable, which has involved in some way all the necessary actors for its implementation, generating the necessary documentation and procedures so that the authorities are able to incorporate and integrate these measures into their climate change adaptation policies, allowing rapid replication in other locations with similar geoeconomic characteristics.
In relation to this, and within the framework of this initiative, a Working Group on Efficiency in Water Management was constituted, which allows the participation of the main actors in the water sector in the Valencian Community, both public and private, and the identification of new opportunities and work niches, through the development of new materials and products that allow the use of rainwater and the development of systems sustainable drainage.
It is important to note that the City Council of Benaguasil (Valencia), was awarded for the proven success of its participatory project in AQUAVAL, having won the award corresponding to the "Water Management" category in the XIII Sustainable City Awards of the Environmental Forum Foundation, for reducing rainwater flows, energy costs and consumption, and consumption of drinking water with use of rainwater for uses such as irrigation.
The project had a total budget of €1,228,618.00, of which the Life+ Programme for Environmental Policy and Governance of the EU, contributed with funding of €499,433.22 (40.65%) and the Provincial Council of Valencia with €299,168.48 (24.35%).
At the European level, and within the European strategy for adaptation to climate change, the project affects the following EU lines:
Climate Change Adaptation
Comunicación UE COM (2011)112 – "A roadmap for moving to a competitive low carbon economy in 2050".
EU Communication COM(2013) 216 final – "An EU Strategy on Adaptation to climate change", which clearly promotes the transition to green infrastructure and ecosystem services-based approaches in the urban context.
Communication EU COM(2013) 249 final – "Green Infrastructure: Enhancing Europe's Natural Capital".
SWD (2013) 137 final document – "Adapting infrastructure to climate change", which explains the vulnerability of urban infrastructures to changing rainfall regimes.
Environment and resource efficiency.
European Flood Management Directive (2007/60/EC Assessment and Management of floods risks).
European Water Directive (2000/60/EC Water Framework Directive).
At the national level, there is so far no complete or uniform legislation in Spain for the purposes of the legal regime for the regulation and management of rainwater, and there are only isolated rules. This adds a complexity in this sense, derived from its own territorial complexity and the distribution of competences.
In any case, the related legislation regarding rainwater would be as follows:
Hydrological Planning Regulations, approved by RD 907/2007, of 6 July.
RD 1290/2012, of 7 September, amending the Regulation of the Public Hydraulic Domain, approved by RD 849/1986, of 11 April, and RD 509/1996, of 15 March, implementing RD-Law 11/1995, of 28 December, establishing the rules applicable to the treatment of urban wastewater, addressing issues of overflow, runoff, stormwater drainage and drafting of technical standards.
RD 233/2013, of 5 April, which regulates the State Plan for the promotion of housing rentals, building rehabilitation, and urban regeneration and renewal, 2013-2016, which establishes criteria for the design of management of riverbeds, urban runoff, green roofs, etc.
Order FOM/298/2016, of 15 February, which approves Rule 5.2 - IC surface drainage of the Road Instruction.
RD 638/2016, of 9 December, amending the Regulation of the Public Hydraulic Domain approved by RD 849/1986, of 11 April.
Other regulations on flood risk management, ecological flows, hydrological reserves and wastewater discharges.
At the level of the Valencian Community, it should be noted:
Revision of the Territorial Action Plan on Flood Risk Prevention in the Valencian Community, PATRICOVA (DOGV, 2015), which has been a notable milestone within the complex Spanish regulatory and institutional framework in the field of urban drainage. Article 23 of the plan stipulates that the use of SUDS in the design of green infrastructure will be encouraged as a defense action against flood risk.
Resolution 997/IX, on the incorporation of prevention measures and techniques related to the use of sustainable drainage systems in the design of green infrastructure included in or associated with land use plans, approved by the Public Works, Infrastructure and Transport Commission at the meeting of 30 May 2017. According to it, new urbanization projects should incorporate as much as possible infiltration and drainage measures in paved urban surfaces.
In short, and within the general framework of the regulations set out above, the ultimate management of rainwater refers to the scope of municipal competence and the requirements of its own local by-laws in each case in which these exist for this purpose:
promoting the development of roofs and green areas.
avoiding as far as possible the continuous sealing of urban soil, promoting the permeability of pavements and other surfaces of public roads, getting the involvement of the Administration, society and local economic agents for the establishment of a framework of action that is committed to a medium-term transformation of the city
The AQUAVAL project lasted 42 months, taking place between January 2010 and June 2013.
Andrés Doménech I.; Vallés F.J.; Millán P.; Nácher B.; Perales S. 2014. Monitoring of sustainable urban drainage systems within the framework of the European Life+AUVAL project. In: "Experimental activity of R+D+i in Hydraulic Engineering in Spain. Seminar 2012". Balairón Pérez L.J. & López Gómez D. (eds.). UPV Publishing. pp.: 45-46.
Andrés Doménech I.; Rodríguez Hernández J.; Perales Momparler S. 2017. redSUDS 2017 Conference.- Challenges and future of SuDS in Spain IIAMA-UPV Valencia, GITECO Univ. Cantabria, Green Blue Management (eds.). 148 pp.
Ballester-Olmos J.F.; Peris García P.P.; Perales Momparler S.; Andrés Doménech I. 2015. Water in Benaguasil. A journey through time. Espacio Creativo Proyectos Gráficos SL (ed.). Benaguasil City Council. 73 pp.
Escuder Bueno I.; Andrés Doménech I.; Morales Torres A.; Perales Momparler S. 2013. Towards an improvement in energy efficiency in rainwater management in urban environments: the project E2STORMED. JIA Water Engineering Conference 2013. Valence. 2 pp.
Garrote de Marcos L.; Iglesias Picazo A.; Hydroinformatics and Water Management Research Group UPM. 2012. Adaptation to climate change. - Identification of adaptation measures based on impacts on water resources in the Community of Madrid Canal Isabel II Foundation; UPV (coord.). 161 pp.
Martín M.; Hernández-Crespo C.; Oliver N.; Gargallo S.; Perales S. 2014. Physical-chemical characterisation of the discharge waters of sustainable urban drainage systems within the framework of the European project Life+AQUAVAL. In: "Experimental activity of R+D+i in Hydraulic Engineering in Spain. Seminar 2012". Balairón Pérez L.J. & López Gómez D. (eds.). UPV Publishing. pp.: 43-44.
Perales Momparler S. 2011. Innovation in the efficient management of rainwater in urban environments: AQUAVAL Project. Presentation AQUAVAL. 40 pp.
Perales Momparler S. 2012. First experiences of sustainable drainage (SUDS) in Spain. - AUVAL Project. Higher Technical School of Architecture. Valencia, 28 March. 66 pp.
Perales Momparler S. 2018. Governance and SUDS: international experiences and situation in Spain. SUDS: Challenges and Opportunities for Better Water Governance in Cities. Murcia, 5 October. 23 pp.
Perales Momparler S.; Jefferies Chr.; Perigüell-Ortega E.; Peris-García P.P.; Muñoz-Bonet J.L. 2013. Inner-city SUDS retrofitted sites to promote sustainable stormwater management in the Mediterranean region of Valencia: AQUAVAL (Life+ EU Programme). Novatech. 10 pp.
Perales Momparler S.; Andrés Domenech I.; Andreu J.; Escuder-Bueno I. 2015. A regenerative urban stormwater management methodology: the journey of a Mediterranean city. Journal of Cleaner Production, 109: 174-189.
Perales Momparler S.; Andrés Domenech I.; Hernández-Crespo C.; Vallés-Morán Fr.; Martín M.; Escuder-Bueno I.; Andreu J. 2017. The role of monitoring sustainable drainage systems for promoting transition towards regenerative urban built environments: a case study in the Valencian region, Spain. Journal of Cleaner Production, 163: 113-124.
Perales Momparler S.; Andrés-Doménech, I., 2016. Challenges for the integration of sustainable drainage systems into current planning processes. Proceedings IX Iberian Congress of Water Management and Planning. Valence. 19 pp.
Perales Momparler S.; Valls-Benavides G. 2013. SuDS Sustainable Drainage Systems. Paisea, 24: 68-75.
Peris García P.P.; Perales Momparler S. 2016. The commitment to urban green infrastructure for rainwater management has a reward CONAMA 2016. 9 pp.
Soriano L.; Del Moral L.; Lara A.; Martínez J.; Sánchez L. 2017. Sustainable urban drainage systems: current development and future trends. New Water Culture Foundation. 28 pp.
Sara Perales Momparler
Green Blue Management SL.
Management
Email: sara.perales@greenbluemanagement.com
Phone: 963309121
Ignacio Andrés Doménech
Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering IIAMA-UPV
Department of Hydraulic Engineering and Environment
Email: igando@hma.upv.es
Phone: 963879820
