Why nitrate pollution?

For the past three years, there has been no substantial rains able to refill the water reservoirs of Catalonia. This situation forced the regional government to implement a “state of exceptionality” which exerted water-usage limitations that forbade the agricultural sector from watering crops, which meant an immense decrease in crop-production, and vastly reduced water usage in many other sectors, even affecting human consumption.

Our reservoirs were at an all-time low, but an ever greater issue was the poor quality of the remaining water due to intensive anthropogenic activities such as farming, agriculture, industry and sewerage, which built up to create a significant strain on our resources. However, these activities also played a crucial part in Catalonia’s economic fabric, making this issue even more complex.

However, due to the magnitude of the issue, the quantity of people directly affected by it, and the promising characteristics of the organism we wanted to use (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a microalgae), we decided to tackle this issue because we thought that we could make a strong and positive impact to our society and to our ecosystems.

Note: for more information on why we chose this issue, we recommend reading our article “Running out of water” from the magazine we have created and to check the “Problem 1: main focus” section of the “Timeline and Integration” page

Identifying the magnitude

Nitrate contamination in water sources is a critical environmental and public health concern, with the potential to impact both human and ecosystem integrity. The following analysis dives into the depth of nitrate contamination within Catalonia’s water supply, focusing on the repercussions for the local population. The study relies on data provided by the Departament d’Acció Climàtica, Alimentació i Agenda Rural of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Gencat) and the Institut Cartogràfic i Geològic de Catalunya (ICGC) from 2022.

As mentioned, we first gathered the data. From Gencat we collected a list of municipalities within Catalonia that are currently affected with nitrate contamination in their water sources.¹ Then, from ICGC’s specialized map we acquired precise population data for every municipality for the year 2022.²

Secondly, when assessing the population impact, we took the population of Catalonia for the year 2022 as a reference point.³ In addition, calculating the proportion of the impacted population relative to Catalonia’s total population would facilitate an estimation of the overall impact. Therefore, through several bash commands, precise population statistics were extracted for municipalities that confront nitrate contamination.

The assessment underscores the reality that municipalities which face nitrate contamination harbor a population representing 39.52% of Catalonia’s total inhabitants. This translates into an estimated population of about 3 million individuals, potentially subjected to water sources tainted by elevated nitrate concentrations.

In order to further understand the scope of this growing problem, the study seeks to provide some extent of the difficulties and its consequential effects on the population, illuminating its extensive influence on local communities.

In 2016 in a report by El País, a concerning revelation was stated.⁴ 41% of aquifers were identified to be contaminated by nitrates. Alarmingly, 24 groundwater bodies exceeded World Health Organization recommended limits for safe human consumption. This was one of the first examples that started to emerge that highlighted the issue of nitrate pollution impacting the quality of water resources.

A similar article was published in 2019 by Empordà, in which Borrassà, a municipality in Alt Empordà, was facing a critical water crisis due to excess of nitrates.⁵ But in this one, a local resident was concerned over tap water safety for her eight-month-old daughter, highlighting the contamination issue.

One year later, in 2020, the water supply of Calaf, a municipality in Anoia, reported nitrate levels above 50 mg/l, disrupting potable water access. Calaf endured five weeks without potable water due to nitrate spikes.⁶

Segre published in 2022 that the Confederació Hidrogràfica de l’Ebre (CHE) will prohibit water concessions for new and expanded farms in about 70 municipalities in Lleida. This aims to curb nitrate overload, which can contaminate underground aquifers. The prohibition applies to new farming ventures and expansions requiring well or river capture construction.⁷

These four news pieces underscore the urgency and complexity of addressing nitrate contamination in Catalonia’s water supply. Borrassà’s water crisis exemplifies the tangible human impact of excess nitrates. Calaf’s ongoing struggle signifies the persistence of water quality issues and emphasizes the need for solutions to ensure access to clean and safe water. And finally, the proactive measures taken by the CHE to restrict water concessions in Lleida showcase a commitment to preventing further contamination and securing water resources for the future through a four year plan.

Moreover, between 2016 and 2021, around 19,100,000 € were invested by Catalan counties and municipalities to directly counteract the effects of nitrate pollution in our region, even though other indirect measures are not considered in this figure.¹²

The findings of this analysis emphasize the pressing need to address the predicament of nitrate contamination within Catalonia’s water supply. With a substantial percentage of the population, encompassing approximately 3 million individuals, the issue assumes a critical dimension. The integration of computation facilitated a meticulous breakdown of population data, enhancing precision of the evaluation. Below these lines, a map showcasing the most polluted municipalities of Catalonia is presented.¹⁰

The origin of the problem

The initial application of these measures led to a period characterized by a growing effort by the government and other stakeholders to control the situation, but it was still difficult to dispose of the slurry, since the technology was still underdeveloped and certain regions, like Catalonia, banned the implementation of new and more efficient technologies.

In recent years, there has been greater awareness of nitrate pollution issues, and collaborative efforts have been made with farmers and other stakeholders to find sustainable solutions. Monitoring and control programs have been established to measure nitrate levels in water and assess the effectiveness of the implemented measures. Nonetheless, slurry management and its disposal have found a certain balance, though fluctuations due to market variations, the demand for cheap pork meat and the price of synthetic fertilisers are of an enormous influence on the sector.

Managing Stakeholders

After the first team meetings and expert consultations, we were able to set the main idea in which we wanted to focus our project: reducing nitrate pollution in Catalan water reservoirs through modified microalgae. However, we had a myriad of questions and details still unresolved. We used a simple but effective tool to approach this issue: the 6 W’s.

We sorted all of the questions we had inside one of the following “W umbrellas”: What, When, Why, Who, Where and How. After that, we made an extensive list of the different stakeholders on the topic, and we started planning how we could approach them and with what questions. After all these aspects were set, we gathered the whole team to make a gargantuan brainstorming session to try and understand how all the stakeholders and actors related to each other, which ones could answer which questions, and how were we going to manage all the information.

As a result of that intense team meeting, we came up with a stakeholder classification system based in two main areas: the role of the stakeholder, and its scope of action. Regarding the first area, stakeholders were divided into “Experts,” “Locals,” and “Leaders,” and we established subclassifications for each of them. On the other hand, we came up with four different scopes of action based on the profiles and activities of the actors we wanted to contact: “Academia,” “Community,” “Industry,” and “Public Institution.”

Finally, to close the loop between our design and the intended outcome, we held multiple conversations with a specific stakeholder to determine if we had correctly integrated their feedback. Furthermore, we aimed to engage multiple stakeholders from the same field to gather a broader perspective on our project's design and to validate the advice of individual stakeholders. Our approach involved conducting numerous meetings with experts in similar fields and conducting extensive literature reviews, enabling us to critically assess our design at each stage of the process.

Click on the image to see more!

Note: We recommend visiting the “Timeline and Integration” page to fully understand how we implemented all the knowledge and expertise we gathered from our work in Human Practices and the contact we established with the stakeholders.

The different roles of the stakeholders are differentiated with a colour, and the sub-classifications with a hue or intensity variation.

Scope of action of the stakeholders

This second classification is specific to every actor and stakeholder, and is characterised by a badge with an icon unique to each group. It is important to understand, however, that some stakeholders may pertain to two groups simultaneously.

Our main questions

Of course, throughout the project new questions arised every week, and even though we were able to answer some of them through scientific research, others needed an expert viewpoint or a genuine testimonial to be resolved. Here we state some of the main questions we had and under which “W umbrella” did we classify them. It’s worth mentioning that not all questions have to start with one of the 6 W’s to fit into an umbrella.

Note: To see the answer to some of them, we recommend going to the “Timeline and Integration” page and review the different “Problems” that appear at the end of the page.

- What can be done to microalgae through synthetic biology?
- Which microalga is the best one for our project?
- Can absorbed nitrates be transformed into a valuable compound?
- What is a cytokinin?

- When did this issue start?
- When did people realise this was a concerning issue?
- When did laws and regulations start to appear?
- When did microalgae start to be used as model organisms in synthetic biology?

- Why are nitrates polluting our waters?
- Why is this such a persisting issue?
- Why does it seem that nothing has been done yet to solve this problem?
- Why is producing some compounds in microalgae not possible?
- Why use microalgae instead of another model organism?

- Who are the main polluters?
- Who else is tackling the same problem?
- Who can’t drink tap water due to nitrate pollution in Catalonia?
- Who can benefit the most from AlgaGenix?
- Does Chlamydomonas reinhardtii synthetise cytokinins?

- Where do polluting-nitrates come from?
- Where are the most nitrate-polluted areas in Catalonia?
- Where can we implement our idea?
- Would it be legal to use AlgaGenix in Catalonia?

- How do nitrates get to underground water reservoirs?
- How did we get to this point?
- How can synthetic biology be applied to solve this issue?
- How do cytokinins act as plant biostimulants?
- How do we comply with GMO regulations within our project?
- How can we make our project a competitive solution?

A holistically local approach

After forming our team and during our initial team meetings and brainstorming sessions, we realised that our members hailed from various parts of Catalonia, which is divided into four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Remarkably, we were able to assemble a team with representatives from three of these provinces. Consequently, when it came to selecting the subject of our project and identifying the local issue we aimed to address, we sought a common ground, a problem that resonated with most team members –something we could all personally relate to and understand.

Around 40 % of Catalan municipalities are in Nitrate-Vulnerable Zones, and these are spread all throughout the region. Below these lines, we have placed in a map where our local stakeholders are located, so as to fully grasp how all the actors and organisations we talked with interact with the problem and to understand their impact.

The reason why we say we did a “holistic” approach is that without the information, expertise and guidance of all of our stakeholders, we wouldn’t have the understanding of the problem that we have now. From the water-management intricacies we learned with the Consorci d’Aigües de Tarragona in l’Ampolla (Tarragona), to the first-hand testimonial of Marc Magem in Torelló (Girona), as well as what we learned from the concerns of the farmers of Artesa de Segre (Lleida) and the situational context we gathered from all the academics and experts that live in Barcelona; all these inputs were what aided us the most, what truly drove the ultimate goal of our project.

Besides all of this, we contacted other international actors who also helped us and whose expertise had a meaningful impact on our project. Even though they earned their knowledge in different environments, contexts and cultures, we shared a common goal: preserving our world through innovation and a deep sensibility of the potential impact of our projects.

AlgaGenix’s goal is intricately related to Sustainable Development Goal #6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. Our project directly tackles Target 6.4, which aims to “improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials;” and Target 6.b, which is intended to “support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management”, as stated on the SDGs webpage of the United Nations.¹¹

Regarding Target 6.4, we fight for the development of the two indicators or measurements through which the United Nations monitors its development: we want to treat more wastewater safely (indicator 6.3.1), and we have studied the state of water bodies of Catalonia throughout the project, aiming to enhance their quality (indicator 6.3.2). We also moved towards strengthening Target 6.b by engaging with local communities, as well as educating and sensitising our population about new and alternative water-management methods through synthetic biology (indicator 6.b.1).

On the other hand, we are also committed to SDG #12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. We have advocated for targets 12.2, which aims at achieving an efficient use of natural resources; 12.5, by reducing waste generation through the recycling of lost organic and chemical fertilizers; and 12.8, by sensitising stakeholders, students and society about the importance of sustainable development and living in harmony with nature.

Our project, besides filtering and cleaning polluted waters, also transforms those pollutants into a powerful biostimulant, thus reducing the final ammount of fertilizer used in the fields by reusing what has been lost. However, throughout the AlgaGenix journey, we have seen that the origin of nitrate water pollution are the intensive human activities that take a toll on our natural resources if left unmonitored. That is why we also made some presentations for students, stakeholders and other sectors of our society explaining what the problem was, and how could we all contribute to its solution both at a personal and a professional level.