The first aquaponics farm using purified wastewater starts in Apulia

The first aquaponics farm in Europe to use treated wastewater turned on its engines yesterday in Castellana Grotte, in the province of Bari. The pilot plant, code-named Aware - Aquaponics from Wastewater Reclamation - was created for the indoor cultivation of plants in water: on the farm, urban wastewater, already treated and made suitable for irrigation by the Acquedotto Pugliese, is further purified to be used for the production of vegetables and fish. The project brings together some 20 European organisations including universities, companies, non-profit organisations and governmental institutions, as well as the Apulian Water Authority, Acquedotto Pugliese and the Municipality of Castellana Grotte, all three signatories of the memorandum of understanding signed in July 2023. Aware also received European Union Horizon funding in 2022.

The aquaponics farm was constructed at the municipal wastewater treatment plant in Castellana Grotte: here, water is quaternarily treated before being used in vegetable production or fish farming. With this approach, the dependence of aquaculture on natural water resources is reduced, little-used urban space is utilised, valuable nutrients are recovered and the heat from the wastewater treatment process is also utilised, in an advanced example of a cricular economy. "A real leap into the future," defined the president of the Apulian Water Authority, Toni Matarrelli, "especially in a dramatic phase for the drought-stricken populations of southern Italy. Thanks to the pilot technology implemented in Apulia, both water wastage and pollution levels can be reduced'.

Aquaponics, i.e. growing in water, is a technologically advanced system that allows production using much less water than plants grown in the ground. "We are happy to host the pilot plant that will start the actual experimentation," said the mayor of Castellana Grotte, Domi Ciliberti, "it is an innovative project at European level. For this project, the Pugliese Water Authority, as coordinating body, was awarded the Cresco Award Sustainable Cities last year in Genoa, during the Anci annual assembly. The trial will end on 31 October 2026.