14-02-2017
Collaboration agreement for the use and management of the platform Urban River Lab gets signed
On Friday, February 10, the collaboration agreement for the use and management of the laboratory Urban River Lab (URL) was signed. This is an outdoor experimental platform located in the wastewater treatment plant (EDAR) of Montornès del Vallès.
The signing ceremony gathered around forty experts. Among them were Professor Santiago Mañosa, Head of the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences and member of the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio).Urban River Lab was set up in December 2014. Since then, researchers and scientists from around the world have taken part in different research activities to develop alternative strategies and innovating techniques to improve the environmental management of highly modified rivers.
The signing ceremony gathered around forty experts. Among them were Professor Santiago Mañosa, Head of the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences and member of the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio).Urban River Lab was set up in December 2014. Since then, researchers and scientists from around the world have taken part in different research activities to develop alternative strategies and innovating techniques to improve the environmental management of highly modified rivers.
In particular, some research projects have proved that specific riverbank plant species, such as the reed or the yellow lily, can improve the quality of effluent waters of the treatment plants that get to our rivers. In this process, the role of rhizosphere, the microsystem in contact with the roots, is essential. From March onwards, it is expected to promote new research lines towards focusing on this self-purifying capacity.