Mercabarna is indeed one of the city of Barcelona’s largest water consumers. In 2007 806,900 m3 were consumed (equal to 323 Olympic-sized swimming pools), 73% of which had to do with consumption by precinct businesses.

In this regard, Lluís Alberich, Mercabarna’s Industrial and Services manager, announced certain water-saving measures for the precinct, such as implementing consumption reduction systems in toilets, showers and taps, installing new watering systems or putting water from aquifers to better use.

The plans for improving water consumption efficiency can be consulted by visiting Environment and cleaning in the website.

Also taking part in this day session were Ramon Llagostera and Núria Costa, heads of Environmental Strategy on Barcelona City Council, who outlined the city’s water-saving policy; and Enric Queralt, from the Llobregat River Delta Water Users Community, who announced the measures that will be applied in order to make better use of subterranean waters.

An example of responsible consumption
The fruit and vegetable firm Hermanos Fernández López presented the water-saving measures that it applies to the industrial process of selecting, washing and packaging potatoes. First the potatoes are cleaned and then the soil is removed and sent to a purification plant. There it is pressed and further water is obtained which, once treated, is used to rewash the potatoes. Through this system the company has reduced water consumption to half in the past five years.