People and Projects Solving Freshwater Restoration Challenges

EcoAdvance European Project

Showcase category ➤ Star Scientists

SPAIN

Juan Tomás García Bermejo

Associate professor (Mining and Civil Engineering Department)
Director de la ETS de Ingeniería de Caminos, Canales y Puertos y de Ingeniería de Minas

Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Research group: HIDROM Ingeniería Hidráulica, Marítima y Medioambiental

Scientists & Researchers
My Projects

LIFE DESIROWS (LIFE19 ENV/ES/00447) 

  • Key project facts

    LIFE DESIROWS (LIFE19 ENV/ES/00447) is a demonstration project to reduce first-osmosis brine, crystallize salts, eliminate nitrates and recover water resources.

  • What impact did these projects have on biodiversity, if any?

    The objective has been to maximize the use of the water resource, with values ​​greater than 92% of recovered water, minimize energy consumption and the cost for farmers, avoid the emission of greenhouse gases and discharges into Mar Menor, as well as eliminate waste through the crystallization of the brine, so that the resulting salts are reusable as a byproduct for the industry. The project supported the biodiversity in the Mar Menor, Spain.

  • What work challenges did you face and what approach did you take to solve them?

    This European project, made up of local partners, “faces a problem that is very close to us in the Region of Murcia, but that with climate change other parts of the world will also suffer, so we anticipate solutions,”What technical lessons that you learned are transferable to other places/projects?

  • What is your biggest barrier and what are you trying to do about it?

    To demonstrate that it is possible to eliminate brine and nitrates from well water in the Cartagena field using renewable energy and at an affordable cost, the researchers have combined up to seven reverse osmosis technologies with state-of-the-art membranes, denitrification with bioreactors in series, cooling tower, mechanical vapor compression and atmospheric evaporation using parallel fabrics to reduce the necessary surface area. Together they have managed to treat up to 20 cubic meters of water per day in the pilot plant installed at the Arco Sur Mar Menor facilities, with the equipment operating for about ten hours a day.

    The researchers have calculated the different electrical consumption for each combination of technologies and conclude that the option that requires the least installed power is the use of reverse osmosis and atmospheric evaporation, with identical consumption data, 4 Kwh/m3, to those of seawater desalination.

My Focus and Approach
  • Lessons Learnt - Some recommendations for others?
    1. What’s most important:

      A dream for the sector: to achieve the double paradigm, to have water resources while improving water quality.

    2. Do this, not that: 

      Perseverance.

    3. Always start by:

      Studying of the conditions: technical, socio-economical, environmental.

    4. What to do when things get difficult…:

      Be patient. Talk, talk, talk. Work with the river, not against it.

    5. 5 simple steps to:
      1. Start think about /study and listen to flamenco.
      2. Research.
      3. Speak with the stakeholders.
      4. Prepare the best strategy.
      5. Do it in the collaboration with both: researchers and stakeholders.

    6. The biggest barrier and what I am trying to do about it:
      Salinity of the water & pollution - the possibility of contributing to the recovery of brackish groundwater in a region that has always been a pioneer in the field of desalination.
My Journey
  • My journey:

    Since I started my studies in Civil Engineering my main interest has been working in the water cycle. The scarcity of water resources has been something that has marked me, my father lived in the countryside from the water he collected from a cistern. All the work I have done in the twenty-two years of work experience that I have always focused on water management and improving of the water quality.

    I have participated in multiple projects on water treatment, and I have always valued the possibility of contributing to the recovery of brackish groundwater in a region that has always been a pioneer in the field of desalination.

  • My Education:
    • Ingeniería de Caminos, Canales y Puertos - Universidad de Cartagena
  • The Big Change:

    I started on the position of the Director of the School of Civil Engineering in 2022.

    Already in 2019, I presented a series of sustainable measures to address water scarcity at the COP25 Climate Summit. I always have been concerned about the environment…..

  • Favourite part of the work I do:

    Teaching of the young students.

Interview

Key Topics:

Key Topics

These relate to specific topics (e.g. technical solutions; restoration activities etc.) addressed within the showcase materials.

  • Hydraulics
  • Water quality / Pollution control
  • Hydrology
  • Climate change
Prone2Success Factors Demonstrated:

Prone2Success Factors Demonstrated

These are the Prone2Success checklist factors which are highlighted within this showcase. More information on the Prone2Success checklist can be found here.

  • Measurable goals to improve ecosystem services
  • Supports WFD, NRL and other restoration policy goals
  • Communicate/engage with stakeholders from the outset
  • Restoration works (design) are self-sustaining
  • Local planning processes are transparent / clearly understood
  • Include long term monitoring
  • Take climate change into account
NRL Restoration Categories:

NRL Restoration Categories

These are the restoration categories (listed under Annex VII of the European Nature Restoration Law (NRL) which are relevant to this showcase.

  • [2] Improve hydrological conditions
  • [8] Restore natural sedimentation
  • [19] Stop or reduce the use of chemical pesticides / fertilisers
  • [33] Convert brownfield sites, industrial areas, quarries into natural sites
Resources
Articles
Videos of my projects

DEBATE "PENSAR DE NUEVO" | María Gómez, Juan García Bermejo y Paula Periago

Peer reviewed papers
  • Condition Assessment of Water Infrastructures: Application to Segura River Basin (Spain): 
    DOI:10.3390/w11061169
  • Urbanization and Management of the Catchment Retention in the Aspect of Operation of Storm Overflow: A Probabilistic Approach
    DOI: 10.3390/su11133651
Best solutions I have found

Acknowledgements & Links

This material was provided by: Zuzana Boukalova and Juan Bermejo

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