It is increasingly common to hear the word drought in our environment, a cyclical natural phenomenon that should be exceptional, separated by a long period of years. The acceleration of climate change leads us to a world where water will be a much more precious commodity than it is now. The Catalan reservoirs, almost always below the normal level in recent times, now with only 30% of their capacity, warn of the need to take urgent saving measures. The Generalitat de Catalunya has had a renewed plan against drought since 2020 that includes the use of desalination plants, water regeneration plants and wells that allow the production of 103 cubic hectometres per year. A necessary but insufficient effort. The message from the political bodies emphasizes, above all, that saving must start at home, from ordinary citizens to such important institutions in the Catalan and Spanish spheres as Barça, which for years has already become aware of this global issue.
The Barcelona club not only looks at every penny to reverse the bad economic situation, but also takes every drop of water into account. Barça has been carrying out actions since the beginning of the 2000s that have enabled 30% water savings in the fields of the Joan Gamper sports city and 20% in the now demolished Spotify Camp Nou. Everything is designed and calculated in the house of Blaugrana youth football to reduce the cost of the liquid element, with constant improvements year after year.
The five natural grass fields of Sant Joan Despí, which make up a total of 43,056 m2, plus the 7,140m2 of the Estadi Johan Cruyff, have a continuous monitoring computer system, with sensors and cameras that control the agronomic and climatic values ??related to the grass, such as air humidity, soil, wind speed, insolation and rainfall. Balance is sought, neither an excess nor a deficiency of water that causes stress due to lack of irrigation or, on the contrary, diseases, such as the appearance of fungi that involve more water. Good lawn health is closely related to savings.
In addition to technological monitoring, human work is important. Course keepers aerate the turf weekly to encourage water ingress, which increases absorption. Natural products are used so that the water infiltrates better and takes root more strongly.
On the other hand, the height of the harvest is taken into account to help photosynthesis and the assimilation of CO2. These tasks contribute to providing more energy to the plant and maintaining correct nutrition, an objective that is also achieved thanks to the quality of the water. Barça, which has wells under concession, applies an osmosis and ozone treatment to the water that helps in the nutrition of the grass (Ph, dissolved salts, electrical conductivity…).
That water ends up in the sprinklers, so common on soccer fields, which in the case of the Blaugrana entity have been strategically divided into sectors, all areas controlled drop by drop to adjust consumption. Each of the 312 sprinklers in the sports city, 52 per natural grass field, including the Johan Cruyff, can be used individually and remotely. The most intense irrigations are carried out at night for two reasons: the development of the plant and to minimize the effects of heat. Fans are also used to circulate hot air and create cool areas.
Without the Camp Nou operating until November 2024, Barça has roughly transferred the water treatment and programming system to its provisional home at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. The third phase of the works in Montjuïc provides for the installation of the irrigation system. The Barcelona club, however, will take a qualitative leap with the remodeled Camp Nou, where there will be many improvements in this sense once it is 100% finished in 2026. Being more sheltered by the roof that will cover the entire stand, the new blaugrana venue will act as a greenhouse, so the climate can be better controlled.
Barça is a leading club within the Spanish sphere in the care of its fields. The Barcelona entity plays in the same League as Villarreal and is one step ahead of Atlético de Madrid, but it is still a long way from Real Madrid, especially the hypogeum of the new Santiago Bernabéu that will preserve the stadium’s grass underground.
