Ebro River Water Quality Monitoring and Alert System

Enable Monitoring and Diagnosis of Incidents.

Challenge

Every year, the Ebro River Basin Authority (CHE) executes its action plan to prevent and reduce the contamination of surface and groundwater in the Ebro River Basin. CHE’s work also protects water quality, enshrining the right of users to enjoy a healthy water environment.

To help maintain water quality and protect people visiting the area, CHE relies on several water quality monitoring networks. One of them is the SAICA network (Automated Water Quality Information System) whose main objective is to detect spillages' focal point and safeguard water supplies throughout the basin.

The SAICA network needs to be appropriately cared for to ensure the integrity of its infrastructures and operations, and to guarantee data quality and reliability.

ADASA’s Solution

ADASA was entrusted with the maintenance and operation of 23 of CHE’s automatic water quality control stations, one self-positioning multi-parameter system for stored water (aquaDam ), its basin control centre, and communication system.

Our remit was to guarantee the provision of real-time information about the Ebro river basin’s surface water quality by taking control of the exploitation of data in the basin control centre and its day-to-day management. We set about improving infrastructures, renewing system analysers, and implementing a technology-based remodelling of the network’s automatic monitoring configuration.

All information received is available in real-time on the CHE system website (www.saicaebro.com). Such prominent visibility allows project personnel, CHE management and the public to view and manage information 24/7, adhering to the scheme’s total transparency criteria.

Result

The Ebro River Basin Authority knows the discharges' characteristics and origin thanks to ADASA’s online water quality analysis products and our automatic alert stations. Incidents can be monitored and diagnoses in real-time, too.

Network maintenance guarantees access to instantaneous information and historical records. Both facilitate decision-making and planning actions that ensure sustainable water use, complying with the European Union’s Water Framework Directive principles.

The statistics are impressive: during 2020, 10.4 million records were logged and 42 pollution episodes identified relating to 10 different control points. The documenting of these situations meant the data gave rise to more effective contingency plans, minimising environmental impacts, and quickly controlling incidents that otherwise may have impacted more severely on protected water bodies. All this helped to save the Ebro river basin's unique characteristics, ensuring its continued social and economic benefits to society.

Client

Established in 1926, the Ebro River Basin Authority (CHE) was the first river basin authority in the world; its objective was to manage an entire river basin.

The Ebro river basin is the largest in Spain with a total area of 85,534 km2. The Ebro River Basin Authority is the management body, regulator and maintainer of the waters and their irrigation. It is also responsible for ensuring the territory it covers complies with the EU Water Framework Directive.

CHE’s primary function is to ensure the Ebro basin’s surface and groundwater quality, maintaining its ecological health and correct chemical balance.