Water management is, today, one of the biggest headaches in Catalonia, immersed in a drought like no one can remember. Improving the administration of the most precious and increasingly scarce liquid is in the hands, largely, of young scientists who are currently dedicated to researching the subject, seeking solutions and innovations applicable in the near future. This is the case of two young people from Argentina, Luciana Scrinzi and Carolina Iacavone. They are two of the people chosen by the La Caixa Foundation, which yesterday presented the 105 new doctoral and postdoctoral scholarships to excellent researchers.
Scrinzi is 33 years old and with the support of the scholarship he will be able to do research at the Institute of Environmental Diagnosis and Water Studies (Idaea-Csic) in Barcelona. She is a groundwater specialist and, in fact, has experience collaborating with governments and other agencies to promote sustainable water management. “I am dedicated to studying how to recharge aquifers taking into account the change in rainfall in a context of climate change,” summarizes the researcher.
His current field of study is Catalonia. “In general, the aquifers have a decrease in their levels and even more so in a period of drought like the current one,” he describes. But Catalan groundwater also has other problems. One is salinization. That is, the arrival of salt from the sea. “It happens all over the world, also here in places like the Llobregat river delta,” says Scrinzi. In addition, “nitrate pollution” is also suffered from the use of fertilizers and organic matter in cities. In other words: dirty water from cities also damages aquifers. In less densely populated areas than the metropolitan area of ??Barcelona, ??“agricultural pressure” is suffered.
The researcher will dedicate herself, with the support of the scholarship, to seeing what solutions can be found to all these problems. “The terrain can be modified so that water from rivers and treatment plants fills the aquifers in a controlled and monitored manner; other options are to inject water or pump it,” she identifies. At the same time, she assumes that although a better state of groundwater can increase supply, work must continue on demand. Or what is the same, continue raising awareness among the population and economic sectors that responsible use must be made. “Groundwater must be used jointly with surface water and reservoirs,” considers Scrinzi, betting on a coordinated system.
If the water reaching the aquifers is not clean, Scrinzi’s research will be of little use. And Carolina Iacavone investigates innovation in water regeneration, in this case a scholarship recipient from the Donostia International Physics Center (Dipc). This 25-year-old is developing a biodegradable material made from fruit peels that is “capable of absorbing pollution,” she says. It is called pectin and it is already present in the gastronomic world as a gelling agent. “It is ideal to incorporate in water treatment plants, which do not use such sustainable systems. But it could even reach homes in the future,” she says.
Their system is highly effective against heavy metals and drugs. “Yes, although in a low percentage, there are drugs that resist in water even once it has been purified,” she confesses. “This happens all over the world. Here too,” the scientist adds. On the other hand, the method she investigates allows progress in the “circular economy”.
For Iacavone, the La Caixa Foundation scholarship is not only important because it allows him to have “financial support” for research. “It is also an important opportunity for professional and personal development. A network of scholarship recipients is created that ends up enriching the scientific community,” she exemplifies. Scrinzi agrees. “I am passionate about studying. But the scholarship also allows you to buy equipment, attend conferences… I wouldn’t know Carolina and she sees that our topics are related,” concludes the researcher.