The congressmen are immersed in their meetings when, suddenly, an alert from the application that the more than 95,000 Mobile attendees have installed appears on their phone screens. It is not optional, without it you cannot access the fairgrounds and it is a tool that the organization uses to provide relevant information.
“Help support anti-drought efforts in Barcelona. We encourage everyone to use water responsibly during their stay in Barcelona. “Every drop counts!” says the message in English, accompanied by a link to the information distributed by Turisme de Barcelona with different tips such as showering instead of bathing or turning off the tap when brushing your teeth. Leaflets with similar messages have been distributed by the Gremi d’Hotels in the accommodation rooms, which is where the highest consumption occurs.
The reminders, although very discreet, are also seen inside the room. Twenty screens convey the message and every time the congressmen go to wash their hands after going to the bathroom they find a drawing of a large drop of water stuck on the mirror urging responsible use of water in Catalan, Spanish and English.
In addition, the external lakes in which the architecture of the Gran Via de l’Hospitalet complex designed by Toyo Ito is reflected are dry. The water accumulated during the last months was removed by a tank truck from the Hospitalet City Council to wash the streets. Some of the dry spaces have been left as is and others have been covered with white stones and a sign on top asking please that no one step on them, that it is “a new sustainable garden area adapted to the situation of drought that Catalonia is going through and climate change.”
This more informative part is complemented by the intense work of those responsible for maintaining the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via venue. In recent weeks they have carried out a set of surgical measures to reduce water consumption by 25% compared to four years ago. To do this, they have shortened the time during which water comes out every time you press on them and in one third they have installed diffuser filters that give the sensation that the same water comes out but in reality it is less.
The measure was already successfully implemented at the ISE audiovisual show at the end of January and now the seconds of water that come out with each press have been reduced even further. In addition, valves distributed throughout the venue trigger the alarm at Fira’s infrastructure management center if any leak is detected in real time.
