Together with our Spanish partners in the LIFE HIDAQUA project within the framework of the EU environmental LIFE programme, we visited the construction of a prototype water treatment plant in Barcelona for preparing drinking water and recycling waste, well and rain water. We will start using it in our Technology Park in Koper in September.

The new system is particularly important for our Hidria Alutec business unit in Koper which consumes large amounts of water for its foundry production processes. Until now, most of our water was obtained from the Rižana waterworks. The recent years, and especially this year's drought in Slovenian Istria, show that the regular water supply in the coastal area is at risk. Consumption restrictions would undoubtedly mean the disconnection of industrial water consumers in the coastal area, which also includes Hidria; this would threaten the operations of our Koper location.

The LIFE HIDAQUA project and the new prototype water treatment system will help us to establish a closed water loop at the Koper location. It will enable the recycling of industrial wastewater and its re-use in the industrial process.

The treatment plant will include an innovative upgrade – a system for using a brine aquifer under our location near the Badaševica river and an additional rainwater system. It will be delivered to our Koper site in September. At the same time, our partners from Spain, the companies Hidroquimia and Protecmed and the EUROCAT Institute from Barcelona, will visit us and help us install the system.  This will provide several alternative sources of water in Koper and enable us in these times when the coastal areas are facing increasingly dry conditions to operate smoothly and protect both the company's business and important industrial jobs in the coastal region.