Correct water management has become a priority for any country in the face of the effects of climate change. Increasingly frequent droughts and heavy torrential rains are just some of the consequences of this climatological phenomenon that has a strong impact, above all, on the most vulnerable populations. For this reason, the Veolia company claims this Sunday, March 22, its commitment to guaranteeing people universal access to drinking water in an inclusive and sustainable way, on the occasion of World Water Day.
In the case of Spain, the development of water infrastructure has traditionally been a fundamental pillar in the country’s progress. Currently, although it has urban water services of satisfactory quality and continuous improvement, the multinational points out that it is one of the European nations with the greatest water stress. For this reason, Veolia advocates advancing the circular economy – giving a new life to water, converting waste into resources and promoting renewable energy – to face this climate challenge.
water services
In this sense, Veolia has operational capacity, expert knowledge and consolidated technology to ensure equity and access to water services. Also to promote ecological security in the territories, thus mitigating the consequences of climate change. For example, in 2012 the company established social funds and rates before legislation required it, with the aim of alleviating inequality and social exclusion in vulnerable groups.
On the other hand, the company has drawn up a social action plan based on three axes, for this purpose: the generation of educational opportunities, the improvement of employability and the creation of sustainable communities. This strategy is complemented by the company’s different social pacts, which seek to respond to the challenges of each territory, according to its particularities. At the national level, municipalities such as Huelva, Palencia or Murcia are already committed to this participatory model with social and economic agents and local institutions.
Technological innovation
In addition, Veolia also has technological mechanisms to simulate scenarios and predict adverse climate events. Through its “Hubgrade” ecosystem, the company uses generative artificial intelligence to manage large volumes of data and optimize processes. In total, this system processes more than 60 million remote reading data daily, allowing better decision-making in real time and improving services for users and municipalities.
This progress also translates to other scenarios such as the digitalization of the water cycle. An innovation related to the Strategic Projects for Economic Recovery and Transformation (Perte) —co-financed by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (Miteco), through the NextGenerationEU European funds— that seek to promote initiatives that contribute to the transformation of the Spanish economy. In this area, Veolia has stood out in the private sector with 17 projects that will benefit 6,208,918 inhabitants of 209 municipalities. From large cities like Barcelona and Alicante, to areas with a smaller population like Ourense or Badajoz. The multinational, therefore, plans to create 1,457 new jobs.
Water resilience
With regard to water resilience, Veolia is committed to green infrastructure, such as ecofactories, and desalination, a market in which it has achieved improvements in energy efficiency of 85% and a 90% reduction in desalinated water costs. On wastewater epidemiological surveillance, Veolia was selected in 2025 by the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) to oversee pathogen monitoring under the EU4Health programme. For three years, its laboratories in Spain will analyze up to 500 samples from European cities, performing more than 500 analyzes for each sample to detect viruses, bacteria and other contaminants.