Circular resources system: Smart water reuse for the agri-food industry
The CRS (Circular Resources System) project has developed and implemented a digital and sustainable solution for water treatment and reuse in the food industry. Led by Urtech Water in collaboration with two vegetable canning companies, El Navarrico and Viuda de Cayo, It aims to reduce water and chemical consumption in water-intensive processes such as sterilisation, while enhancing traceability, food safety, and sustainability.
The CRS project addresses a critical challenge in the agri-food industry: reducing water and chemical consumption in high-demand processes such as sterilisation. Traditional systems rely heavily on chemical disinfectants and lack digital monitoring, limiting efficiency and traceability. CRS offers a sustainable, chemical-free alternative that enables real-time control, improves food safety, and supports the sector’s transition toward greener and more digital practices.
Solution
CRS is a chemical-free water treatment and reuse system designed for the agri-food industry. It combines real-time monitoring sensors, a smart control platform, and predictive algorithms to assess microbiological risk. The solution enables remote management, full traceability, and significant reductions in water and chemical use, making it both sustainable and scalable for industrial environments.
CRS has demonstrated strong environmental, economic, and operational benefits. The system achieved up to 80% water savings and eliminated the use of chemical disinfectants in real production environments. This translated into annual savings of over €50,000 across both pilot sites. Additionally, the solution reduced CO₂ emissions by 150 tons/year, improved food safety through continuous monitoring, and enhanced digitalisation and traceability in water management processes.
The CRS system was successfully designed, installed, and validated in two industrial environments with different production setups, demonstrating its adaptability and robustness. It achieved full integration with autoclave cooling systems, implemented predictive microbiological risk algorithms, and enabled real-time monitoring through a custom digital platform. The project also met all planned milestones and KPIs, including water savings of up to 80%, and proved scalable for different agri-food SMEs.
What's next?
The CRS system was successfully implemented and validated in two agri-food companies with distinct production environments, demonstrating its adaptability to different sterilisation processes. The project achieved full integration with existing infrastructure, including autoclave cooling systems, and deployed a real-time monitoring platform with predictive microbiological risk algorithms. All planned milestones were completed on time, and the system proved robust, scalable, and ready for replication in other SMEs across the sector.
