The PROSIM team composed of representatives  of ICU (Istituto per la Cooperazione Universitaria, Italy), NARC (National Agriculture Research Center, Jordan), DGGREE (Direction Génerale du Genie Rural et  Exploitation des Eaux, Tunisia) and the associated partner to the project, INRA (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Morocco) was reunited the second week of May in Murcia (Spain) as part of the activity “Implementation of study visit on mixed waters solutions in Spain for PPs” organised by the project's partner Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura (CEBAS - CSIC) as mentioned in the previous news!

During the third day PROSIM Team also made other interesting and varied visits, such as the one to the Symbiotic wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of the University of Murcia or to the Miraflores Irrigation Community in Jumilla.

This Symbiotic WWTP is very especial because it is completely integrated in the environment of the Espinardo Campus of the University of Murcia!

Symbiotic purification is so called because it combines two processes simultaneously: a fixed bed biological reactor, with very high performance, called SYMBIOTIC BIOLOGICAL REACTOR (SBR), characterized by the application of water to be treated by subsurface drip, and the generation of green spaces especially in the area covering the beds in perfect harmony with treatment.
In addition, the system incorporates artificial wetlands (lagoons, ponds, etc.) where the self-purifying process continues including the elimination of nitrates, which contributes to improving the quality of the treated water. In the wetlands it is possible to carry out projects for the recovery of autochthonous flora, as well as to provide refuge for a large number of birds, both passerine and aquatic, as well as amphibians, reptiles and fish. This WWTP treat the wastewater from all the University and irrigate the University gardens.

After this visit, the study group went to the Irrigation Community of Miraflores located in Jumilla. A small Irrigation Community with 967 members with a total surface with irrigation infrastructures of 1515 Ha.

The volunteer director of the organisation, who is himself a farmer, explained to the group the functioning of the irrigation community: the distribution of tasks among all the farmers who volunteer their time for the management of the organisation, the distribution of water among the farmers and the management of the funds and technical needs of the facilities.

PROSIM partners were able to see how the Community manage reclaimed water carrying out periodic analysis for monitoring the different water sources used for irrigation, analysing and evaluating various physical-chemical and microbiological parameters. With the use of reclaimed water from the Jumilla WWTP, the Miraflores Irrigation Community increased from 3600 m³/ha to 4900 m³/ha per year.

Furthermore, Miraflores representative explained and showed the technological advances that have been achieved since the creation of the community and thanks, in majority, to the self-financing of the farmers.