The best partner for water management

ACCIONA has become the ideal partner for complete water supply and drainage services, from which over 2.5 million people already benefit.

There are still 1.2 billion people in the world who do not have drinking water in Navarro, Head of Operations and Maintenance, Services and Desalination at ACCIONA Agua. Indeed, if we are to begin to reduce this worrying statistic, it is increasingly necessary that private companies and public administrations collaborate. It consists of managing the complete water cycle, a fi eld in full development and in which ACCIONA Agua has much to say.

ACCIONA Agua is now providing full supply and drainage services to more than 2.5 million people in just under 100 Spanish municipalities, between them cities and towns such as Madrid, Valencia, Soria and Getafe (in the Madrid region).

In foreign markets, there is great potential now that the building of water infrastructure is another path for entering integrated water cycle management. Manuel Navarro points to various markets in Latin America - Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Chile - and the Middle East, Italy, Portugal and Australia, as some of ACCIONA's main targets. In the latter case, completion of the plant in Adelaide and participation in other top projects, such as the drinking water plant at Mundaring in Perth, has transformed ACCIONA Agua into one of the market leaders.

Made-to-measure service

So, what are the big competitive advantages that make ACCIONA the ideal partner in a water management project. On the one hand, it has an R&D & Innovation laboratory in Barcelona that is expressly dedicated to water, a world leader in research on reverse osmosis membranes for desalination. On the other, it has a highly competent team of professionals designing water infrastructure and its management.

And, above all, "ACCIONA can operate in all the stages of the water cycle, providing a service according to the needs of the client, usually the public administration. The obligations of the companies in the sector are to inform and educate citizens to use only the water they need, explained Mr. Navarro. The three essential elements in water supply services are quality, quantity and continuity, he says. ACCIONA Agua stands out in the water treatment sector, which embraces treatment of drinking water and wastewater, and desalination, in which it is a world leader. These activities currently make up two-thirds of revenues. But, in the mid-term, expansion will focus on management of drinking water services to the home.

The challenges

In the private sector management of water, two models coexist: administrative concession and mixed company (the service's public incumbent partnering with a private operator). ACCIONA Agua adapts to either model. Following the municipal and regional elections held recently in Spain, a scenario is beginning to emerge in which new opportunities for business are appearing, said Mr. Navarro. This comes as a result of the need to reduce the public defi cit, which demands efforts on fi nances and effi ciency in management.

"We do not sell water, he reminded, "we provide a service. This means the Company's profit is not obtained by promoting the consumption of water, but its sustainable use and effi cient management. Sustainability in the water cycle means collecting the minimum volume of water from the environment and returning it to nature in an equal or better condition.