PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Lack of water is not only caused by low or unequal concentrations of rainfall. It is directly related to excess consumption. In Spain, despite a reduction in average rainfall of 10%, water consumption has risen by 20%, making Spain the 3rd highest consumer in Europe. The policy of attempting to increase the supply of water as a response to increasing demand is clearly no longer sustainable. In Spain, campaigns aimed at the consumer have been carried out during periods of drought, but as they have not attempted to introduce technical water-saving devices as part of the strategy, the population quickly returned to increased consumption once the crisis was over. Recent projects like Life 96/ENV/E/000509 in Zaragoza and in Teror in the Canary Islands have demonstrated the effectiveness of integrated campaigns aimed at raising the publics awareness of the need to reduce water consumption combined with other local authority initiatives. The challege is to create mechanisms which will ensure a permanent change in water use. The project will be developed in Alcobendas, one of the municipalities on the edge of Madrid with a population of 90.000. This local authority has made the rational use of water one of the central challenges of its administration, seeing it as part of an integrated strategy to achieve long-term sustainable development.
OBJECTIVES
The overall aim of the project was to work toward a more rational and sustainable use of water within the municipality by encouraging a more respectful water-saving culture amongst the local population, EMS and local administrations. This would be achieved by carrying out a campaign to make the local population aware of the effectiveness of technical saving methods and devices for optimizing water use, as well as providing specific legislation and market mechanisms to make this an attractive option. It also aimed to promote an alternative gardening approach with low-water use and carry out a pilot project where water savings measures would be introduced into the design, building and management of a new-build planning scheme. Throughout the awareness campaign, the project would practice an integrated approach, targeting different sections of the public with a wide range of actions: Conferences and meetings on sustainable water practices for different sectors and social groups, publicity campaigns , the creation of a new municipal regulation on water with environmental criteria, the development of new funding mechanisms ( green credit)to promote the new measures as well as events geared to the main productive sectors.
RESULTS
The project achieved a high profile for its awareness campaign through developing a coordinated approach with key actors: the local authority, the main water authority, the environment department, the financial institutions, as well as professionals working within the building and water technology sector. As a result a significant impact was made on water use, at the same time as mechanisms were established for producing a long-term change in water consumption. The project succeeded in convincing a sizeable proportion of the population to save water with 4.840 water-saving devices installed producing an estimated saving in 102.218.863 liters of water a year, whilst 14 public schools requested the installation of the water-saving devices in their centers. 5 companies have also been persuaded to implant a system of environment management which would include water saving. The project also made an advance on the legal infrastructure with a new municipal regulation being proposed which will integrate the principle of water-saving at municipal level in the city. 1000 new build houses in the pilot scheme introduced watersaving devices which included economic valves which reduced the water flow to 8 l/s, a double flush which allowed for selection in the the WCs and a double circuit of recycled water that allowed used water to be rechanneled into the cisterns. The project could have a high transfer potential with its focus on an imaginative,integrated and coordinated approach combining a high-profile awareness campaign with the promotion of relatively cheap and easy to use water-saving devices. The awareness campaign showed tangible results with more than 1000 calls and visits made to the project center “Water House” as a response to a wide-ranging publicity campaign which included 4 television presentations and 13 publications aimed at different sectors and parts of the population. The project also organized 3 seminars with 350 participants, a technology workshop, and promoted 2 key competitions “ Gran Marathon de Ahorro del Agua” and one aimed at engineering and architects consultants for ideas to incorporate saving measures in new-build. The key success elements for the take-up of water saving devices were seen to be 1) An effective widespread and long term publicity campaign ( using posters, calenders, stickers, brochures, leaflets and exhibition stands)reaching every household 2) Increased availability and knowledge of the water-saving devices in local shops through signed agreements with suppliers 3) Practical demonstration mounted by the project in the local “Water House” center 4) High profile media campaign (television, radion and press)
