Barcelona port drives circular water reuse

The AiguaNova initiative brings together the Port of Barcelona, MB92 Barcelona shipyard and Club Natació Atlètic-Barceloneta (CNAB) with the aim of reusing greywater from showers at CEM Sant Sebastià.

Treated water will support yacht cleaning and cooling activities at MB92, significantly reducing potable water consumption. 

“AiguaNova exemplifies how collaboration between port, sports and business entities can generate innovative solutions to the environmental challenges facing our city,” said José Alberto Carbonell, president, Port of Barcelona.

”In a context marked by water scarcity, initiatives like this help us advance toward a circular economy and position Barcelona as an international benchmark in greywater recovery and reuse. We will continue working with our port community to extend this model and actively contribute to preserving such an essential resource as water.”

Circular economy

The project is unique in Europe for applying greywater reuse from a sports centre to industrial port operations, reinforcing the port’s aim for sustainable wastewater management.

Greywater from locker room showers will undergo preliminary filtration before being pumped through an underground pipeline beneath Passeig Joan de Borbó to MB92.

There, an ultrafiltration treatment plant will enable safe reuse for cleaning yacht hulls and cooling towers, reducing reliance on drinking water. It’s an approach embeds circular economy principles into daily port activities.

CEM Sant Sebastià consumes 33,600 cubic metres of water annually, with more than 25,000 cubic metres potentially recoverable through greywater reuse.

MB92 currently uses around 50 cubic metres daily for operations, nearly all of which will be replaced through water recycling once AiguaNova is operational.

Barcelona City Council has allocated €100,000 to co-finance the project, in recognition of the port achieving best practice in water recycling.