Water management

We integrate technologies for efficient treatment and recovery of industrial water

Ensuring the provision of this resource in quality and quantity is essential to continue with the operations of all our facilities.

For this reason, water management is one of the main environmental challenges for us and we are committed to achieving net zero consumption of freshwater in the iberian peninsula by 2050, supporting our strategy with innovative projects.

What are the challenges?

Water stress - in other words, the extraction of water at a rate greater than its natural recharge - threatens to be insufficient to cover the needs of both people and ecosystems.

Energy supply

Population growth, economic development, and climate change place unprecedented pressure on resources, which has made guarantee of supply a challenge for multiple sectors.

Water access

Access to water in the quantities necessary to ensure well-being and sustainable development is another of the critical technological challenges for our society in today's global landscape.

Technological solutions

To minimize the water problem and thereby guarantee the supply for our operations, we must use alternative resources such as seawater, through desalination processes, and wastewater from different sources, through its regeneration.

Seawater desalination

Desalination technologies make it possible to convert saline water into water suitable for industrial use.

Its energy consumption may vary depending on factors such as the technology used, the quality of the input water, the salinity, and the operating conditions.

Wastewater regeneration

There are two wastewater regeneration strategies, designed to maximize the percentage of water reused and minimize, or even eliminate, the discharge of liquids. The 2 advanced approaches we use are:

MLD (Minium Liquid Discharge), addressed from the area of Technology and Corporate Venturing.
ZLD (Zero Liquid Discharge), used in the Water Zero Tech project.

The selection of one or the other strategy will depend on factors such as environmental regulations, the cost, and availability of freshwater and the need to guarantee supply.

What do both technologies consist of?

In desalination by reverse osmosis, water is forced through a semipermeable membrane by applying high pressure so that in the passage through the membrane a stream of purified water and a rejection that concentrates the salts are separated.

This process involves the use of advanced treatment technologies, such as membrane filtration and the application of specific pretreatments and/or post-treatments (chemical, physical, and/or biological) depending on the characteristics of the water to be regenerated, to ensure that the regenerated water meets the quality specifications required for use in different industrial processes.

What we're doing at the Repsol Technology Lab

Facilities, employee, and water tank at the Tarragona complex

Water Zero Tech

From the area of Technology and Corporate Venturing, we are working on multiple solutions and developments of regeneration technologies, as well as on the validation of regeneration schemes through the "Water Zero Tech" Project.

Corporate Venturing works in coordination with the TechLab Scientific team in the active search for technological startups that provide solutions to face the challenges in the regeneration of industrial waters.

Pipelines in the La Pampilla refinery industrial complex

R3volution European project

From the Repsol Technology Lab and Repsol Petróleo, we participate in the R3Volution project, funded by the "Horizon Europe" program (Research and Innovation Program) and aimed at addressing the challenge of wastewater reuse in different industrial sectors.

This project aims to develop a solution that allows the recovery of more than 90% of industrial water, while also recovering residual solutes and maximizing energy integration through the use of residual heat.

Other low-carbon and circular economy projects

CO₂ storage

We develop technologies to capture, transport, store, and reduce CO₂ from the atmosphere.

Learn more

Primer electrolizador de hidrógeno renovable

Renewable hydrogen

We are committed to this energy vector with net zero CO₂ emissions for use in industry and to produce renewable fuels.