Adasa and CRSRI are strengthening their collaboration on IQ-RAS to move towards smarter and safer aquaculture

2026-09-16

Adasa and CRSRI are strengthening their collaboration on IQ-RAS to move towards smarter and safer aquaculture

 

A delegation from the Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute (CRSRI) has visited Adasa’s facilities in El Prat de Llobregat to advance IQ-RAS, an R&D initiative aimed at developing new smart tools for monitoring, predicting and controlling water quality in recirculating aquaculture systems.

Adasa welcomed a delegation from the Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute (CRSRI) to its facilities in El Prat de Llobregat. CRSRI is the Chinese partner with whom Adasa is collaborating on the IQ-RAS proposal: ‘Smart water-quality protection for aquaculture systems using recirculation’, within the framework of the bilateral CHINEKA programme run by the CDTI and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). The visit provided an opportunity to deepen the technical collaboration between the two organisations and to share the vision, capabilities and next steps for IQ-RAS.
 
During the day, the teams from Adasa and CRSRI discussed the proposal together, whilst also gaining first-hand insight into Adasa’s capabilities in R&D&I, the manufacture of analysers for water quality monitoring, and the development of digital solutions. The agenda also included a tour of the company’s facilities.
 
 

From water quality control to risk anticipation

Recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) enable a large proportion of the water used in production to be reused, paving the way for more efficient aquaculture models. However, maintaining stable water quality conditions and anticipating episodes of microbiological contamination remain among the main challenges.

Conventional methods of microbiological analysis rely mainly on spot sampling and laboratory analysis, with turnaround times that can take several days. This limits the ability to react quickly to changes that could compromise fish health, biosecurity or the performance of the facility.

IQ-RAS aims to go one step further: moving from simply measuring what is happening to also being able to anticipate what might happen and take action before the risk materialises.
 
The aim of the initiative is therefore to develop and validate a smart solution capable of monitoring, predicting and controlling water quality in RAS facilities, enabling the early detection of physico-chemical and microbiological risks and helping to improve both the sustainability and the productivity of aquaculture production.
 
IQ-RAS thus represents a commitment to applying advanced sensor technology, microbiology and artificial intelligence to one of the major challenges facing modern aquaculture: gaining a better understanding of water conditions, anticipating risks and having tools that enable faster, safer and more efficient decision-making.
 
 

Sensors, microbiology and artificial intelligence in a single solution

The IQ-RAS approach combines different technological layers within a single system: physical sensors for the continuous monitoring of water quality parameters, data acquisition and processing, virtual sensors based on artificial intelligence, predictive and anomaly detection models, decision support systems, and a visualisation and control platform.

The parameters covered include variables such as temperature, pH, conductivity, turbidity, redox potential and dissolved oxygen, as well as microbiological parameters such as E. coli, integrating actual measurements with models capable of estimating variables not measured directly and generating microbiological risk indicators.

 

A collaboration combining expertise from Spain and China

The cooperation between Adasa and CRSRI is based on complementary technological capabilities.

  • Within IQ-RAS, Adasa will play a leading role in defining the system requirements and architecture, developing advanced data acquisition and sensor modules, virtual sensors, the integrated visualisation and control platform, and the subsequent demonstration and validation of the system.
  • For its part, CRSRI will participate in the joint definition of system requirements and will lead the development of the intelligence layer designed for early detection, prediction and automatic risk mitigation.

Both organisations also plan to collaborate on the deployment and validation of prototypes at pilot aquaculture facilities in China.

This complementarity is one of the cornerstones of IQ-RAS: combining Adasa’s expertise in water quality monitoring, instrumentation, microbiology, systems integration and digital solutions with the scientific capabilities and knowledge of the application context provided by CRSRI.