Vigo

Site: Vigo is the largest metropolitan area in Galicia with ~500,000 inhabitants. At the Vigo Free Trade Zone, NICE will have access to industrial and business buildings such as the Balaidos Industrial Park - which has one of the biggest green walls in the EU equipped with automatic irrigation - and the Porto do Molle business centre, demonstration site of the Run4Life H2020 project equipped with segregated grey and black water collection in all bathrooms.

Situation: Vigo is located in the north-west of Spain, with a temperate oceanic climate, entailing mild, rainy winters and a dry and warm summer period. During rainy and stormy periods the Balaidos Industrial Park suffers flooding events, with the runoff flowing into a nearby tributary of Lagares River. Greywater at the Porto do Molle business centre is treated by an state-of-the-art aerobic membrane bioreactor and disinfection before being reused for toilet flushing.

Solution: Vigo is an excellent location to test nature-based solutions technologies. Stormwater and combined sewer overflow catching & treatment can address flooding, and improve urban water quality, whereas greywater treatment with nature-based solutions can be compared to the Run4Life project's solutions. The following pilots are implemented in Vigo: green walls and vegetable rooftops for the treatment of 2 m3/d greywater, rain gardens and constructed wetlands for the treatment 5 m3/d of stormwater and combined sewer overflow and 10 m3/d of river water for river basin restoration.