The British journal Journal of Environmental Management, one of the leading international publications in the field of environmental sciences with a high impact factor, has recently published the results of the Water Harmony project, developed by Sorigué and the Leitat technological centre. 

The indexing and positioning of this journal within the first quartile of its category internationally reinforce the scientific relevance of the published work and its contribution to advancing knowledge in advanced solutions for wastewater treatment and reuse. 

“This backing gives us an added layer of technical and reputational credibility, because it validates the work carried out and Sorigué’s role as an industrial partner in these types of initiatives,” explains Zulema Borjas, project manager at the Innovation Department and coordinator of the Water Harmony project. 

Nanofibres to treat wastewater 

Water Harmony presents the development and validation of a modular system based on electrospun nanofibres with dual functionality: a silver-based biocidal module, designed for microbiological inactivation, and a photocatalytic module with titanium dioxide (TiO2), aimed at the degradation of waste from the pharmaceutical or cosmetics industry. 

This approach makes it possible to simultaneously address the elimination of pathogens and emerging contaminants, one of the main limitations of conventional treatments, and obtain water of sufficient quality to be reused in the agricultural sector. 

One of the most significant milestones of the work has been the validation of the system beyond the laboratory scale, through its implementation in a pilot plant with real effluent from the La Llagosta wastewater treatment plant. 

Thus, under representative operating conditions, it has been possible to evaluate the system’s performance and verify its effectiveness. The results show 99% efficiency in eliminating E. coli bacteria and a degradation capacity of 57.1% and 30.8% for organic contaminants such as methylene blue and rhodamine B, respectively. 

Sorigué and the Leitat technological centre 

A leading technological centre in Catalonia, Leitat is celebrating 120 years of history driving the generation and transfer of knowledge to strengthen the business fabric. 

For its part, Sorigué, through its Innovation Department, has maintained a consolidated collaboration with the centre since 2017, jointly developing applied research initiatives aimed at accelerating technology transfer and its validation in real industrial environments. 

Within the framework of the Water Harmony project, the endorsement from the scientific journal Journal of Environmental Management not only supports the scientific soundness of the work carried out, but also highlights Sorigué’s role as a strategic industrial partner in the co-development and scaling of advanced solutions for water treatment and reuse. 

The publication, concludes Zulema Borjas, “highlights our collaboration with leading technological centres such as Leitat and reinforces the position of our Department and of Sorigué as a partner committed to the co-development of innovative solutions aimed at their practical application and effective transfer to the industrial environment”.