Lluís Jordan i Bayod, chief executive and general manager of Aigües de Sabadell, has called for clearer rules to help water infrastructure adapt to droughts and floods, saying regulatory certainty is now the main challenge rather than the management model itself. Speaking on Saturday at the second Catalonia, Investment Destination forum, co-organised by El Confidencial and the Generalitat de Catalunya, he said Sabadell residents currently pay less than €1 a month for the city's mixed water management system.

For households in Sabadell, the immediate issue is cost and supply. Jordan said the mixed model, in which a private operator manages the service under public ownership and oversight by Sabadell's city council (Ajuntament de Sabadell), has allowed investment without a direct hit to municipal finances. He warned that without clearer regulation, infrastructure projects needed for climate adaptation could slow, putting more pressure on council budgets and, eventually, water bills.

"The current challenge is not the model itself, but the implementation mechanisms and regulation that provides certainty and allows water infrastructure to adapt to the challenges imposed by climate change: more droughts and floods."

Jordan presented Aigües de Sabadell as an example of public-private partnership in Catalonia's water sector. He said the company has operated under this formula for nearly 80 years, with the final decision on the service remaining with the public administration.

Sabadell points to water reuse and groundwater projects

Jordan said Sabadell had obtained Spain's first concession for the use of regenerated water. BARNA has not independently verified that national first, but Sabadell's reuse system and the Sant Pau de Riu-sec treatment plant have been described by Invest in Sabadell and other sector sources as reference projects for water recovery and reuse in Europe.

Local projects already under way show why the debate matters in practical terms. In February 2024, La Vanguardia reported that Sabadell planned to distribute regenerated and groundwater equivalent to 20% of its annual water consumption, although available reporting does not make clear whether that target has since been reached.

More recently, the same newspaper reported on 1 July 2026 that the city had opened a groundwater treatment plant expected to supply 6,800 families. For business users, Sabadell's reuse network is also relevant because regenerated water is being positioned as part of the city's industrial and economic resilience, not only as a household supply measure.

  • The groundwater treatment plant opened in Sabadell on 1 July 2026.
  • It is expected to supply 6,800 families, according to La Vanguardia.
  • In early 2024, the city planned to use regenerated and groundwater for the equivalent of 20% of annual consumption.

National investment gap sits behind Sabadell's warning

The funding pressures Jordan described in Sabadell reflect a wider national problem across Spain's urban water networks. He cited figures from DAQUAS, the Spanish association of water operators, which says €8.1 billion a year is needed to maintain the current pace of water supply and sanitation investment.

That figure has circulated in recent DAQUAS interventions on tariffs and infrastructure finance, alongside warnings about rising energy costs, raw materials and the difficulty of recovering the full cost of service. Jordan argued that in Sabadell's model, those unforeseen cost overruns are assumed by the private sector rather than falling directly on the council.

"Public-private partnership streamlines procedures to provide an immediate response without directly impacting municipal coffers."

He also said mixed companies offer "an extremely balanced solution" for managing water services. That is Jordan's position as head of Aigües de Sabadell. The immediate question for residents is whether that model can keep funding climate-resilience works without a sharper rise in bills.

Residents can check current tariffs and service conditions through Aigües de Sabadell, while the regulatory debate Jordan raised will be decided by the public administrations responsible for water planning and concessions in Catalonia.

Reported by veolia.bg, lavanguardia.com, Gerard Vilanova, Redacció, sostenible.cat, EFE, metropoliabierta.elespanol.com, Paloma Arenós, Eenda Works, smartwatermagazine.com, daquas.es, interempresas.net, industriambiente.com, Comunicación Nealis, Digitis, El Confidencial.