The Córdoba company Proymática 21, located in Córdoba TechPark, participates in the European project "Ayumi," an international initiative for circular water management that aims to transform urban wastewater into a "safe, regulated, and sustainable resource for agricultural irrigation."
According to Córdoba TechPark in a statement, the main objective of the program is to extend the use of regenerated water on a large scale in European agricultural operations. To this end, the consortium promotes modular technological solutions for purification, real-time control digital tools, and artificial intelligence to monitor emerging contaminants, such as microplastics and pharmaceutical residues, thus ensuring the water sustainability of crops without jeopardizing food security or soil quality.
The project has a total budget of 6.5 million euros funded by the European framework program Horizon and brings together 19 entities from seven different countries, including SMEs, large companies, universities, public research centers, cooperatives, and administrations responsible for water management.
Among the international partners are the University of Turin, the Technical University of Berlin, the National Center for Scientific Research of France (CNRS), and the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, based in the Netherlands.
The Spanish participation is represented by Aqlara, specialized in drinking water supply and sanitation services, and by Proymática 21, focused on modeling and computational simulation of materials and multiphysical processes.
The Córdoba company contributes with its advanced knowledge in technological development, mathematical modeling, and simulation of physical and chemical processes. Its work focuses on the design and construction of two pilot demonstration units aimed at removing contaminants present in urban waters before their use in irrigation.
"The technologies applied by the company include advanced catalytic oxidation and microwave-assisted oxidation and pretreatment using rotating biological contactors," explained Carlos Macía, technical director and founding partner of the Córdoba company.
"Ayumi" enables five demonstration locations with field trials in Spain, Italy, Germany, Greece, and Egypt. Although the consortium has just started the technical development of the project, the execution schedule extends until May 2030, by which date it is expected to have validated modular treatment plants and physical filtration prototypes operating autonomously in agricultural operations.
In addition, the initiative will provide the sector with a digital platform with integrated artificial intelligence and a marketable predictive software, which will facilitate real-time monitoring of contamination levels for irrigators through mobile applications or web tools.