This research is part of the industrial PhD that will be carried out over the next three years by Mohamed Assabri, who holds a degree in Environmental Sciences and a master’s in Science and Technology of Water Resources from the University of Girona (UdG). The project is supported by the Government of Catalonia and by Cicle de l’Aigua del Ter SA (CATSA), the company that manages Girona’s water system.

At the presentation held this morning, the following representatives took part: Deputy Mayor and Councillor for Talent, Innovation, Health and Community, Xavier Aldeguer Manté; Councillor for Climate Action, Sergi Cot Cantalosella; and Oriol Gutiérrez, representative of the Technology and Knowledge Transfer Unit at the Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA).

“This second industrial PhD continues the path initiated by Girona City Council, using this academic tool for collaboration with universities and research centres to bring in talent to tackle the challenges the Council faces in its service to citizens,” explained Deputy Mayor Xavier Aldeguer i Manté.

“With this second industrial PhD of the year, now promoted within the public company CATSA, together with the previous one at TRARGISA, both public companies in the urban area are now connected through a technical and academic collaboration with the university. This fosters key knowledge transfer to address all current and future challenges of the water cycle,” highlighted Councillor for Climate Action, Sergi Cot Cantalosella.

“At ICRA we are very pleased to strengthen our relationship with CATSA and Girona City Council, and to contribute our knowledge to provide more tools and resources that will allow us to be better prepared to face future water-related challenges in Girona,” said Oriol Gutiérrez.

The project, starting on October 1st, will be used to implement new tools and mechanisms aimed at improving and increasing the resilience of Girona’s current water management model. To achieve this, a study will first be carried out on the functioning and distribution of the Girona water system, including conventional water sources from the Montfullà DWTP, and proposing new alternative sources such as the construction of new wells, the reuse of water from the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), and the possible optimisation of the city’s surface aquifers.

These new alternatives will be applied in a simulation system that will allow direct and local observation of how they respond to future adversity scenarios such as drought, and how water can be managed in each case. This way, decision-making can be improved through predictive models and real-time data, while assessing the environmental and economic impact of different management strategies with the goal of reducing them.

Finally, it will also help determine the level of investment needed to effectively integrate alternative water sources into the system and how this approach could be applied to other municipalities. Importantly, the project will not only propose new tools and methodologies, but also explore new applications for mechanisms that already exist.

Industrial PhDs to improve the city

This is the second industrial PhD project promoted by Girona City Council. Last February, the research led by industrial PhD candidate Sílvia Busquets i Font was presented, with the aim of implementing a health monitoring network based on wastewater analysis from different neighbourhoods of the city.

The industrial PhD is part of the Industrial Doctorate Plan of the Government of Catalonia, an initiative that promotes collaboration between universities, companies, and institutions to foster applied research and innovation.