Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona

On 24 May, a delegation of three professors from Gaston Berger University in the Senegalese city of Saint-Louis, accompanied by representatives of the University of Barcelona (UB) and from the DNGO Fundació Món-3, visited the AMB for a technical work meeting. At the encounter, Joan Pinyol, the director of the Environment Area, presented information about the metropolitan strategy for the comprehensive management of the water cycle.

The Senegalese delegation expressed special interest in the pricing system and in wastewater treatment (the reuse and desalination strategy).

This visit tool place in the context of the project ‘Contribution to the durable management of the water resources of Saint-Louis, Senegal', fostered by the Fundació Món-3 in conjunction with Gaston Berger University as the local partner. For its part, the AMB provides financial support through a grant of €24,890 within the framework of subsidies for international cooperation projects in 2016 and 2017.

The University of Barcelona is also participating in the project by providing technical assistance and training for the HIDROSEC research group.

The project includes a number of different actions designed to address problems suffered by towns on the periphery of Saint-Louis and the university campus. In addition to knowledge transfer and raising awareness of both the public and politicians, a pilot plant will be set up on the university campus to demonstrate wastewater treatment.

The aim is to introduce the benefits of water sanitation based on durable, low-cost solutions using natural purification techniques such as the construction of wetlands. These technologies are easily adaptable to the context in which they are implemented and are easy to install and maintain, their only requirement being the provision of a suitable space.