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Association of drought conditions and heavy rainfalls with the quality of drinking water in Barcelona (2010–2022)

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 34, pages 175–183 (2024)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Climate change influences the incidence and scope of climate extreme events that affect communities and the environment around the world. In an urban context such as Barcelona, these climate extremes can have a negative impact on drinking water quality. The worsening of drinking water quality can have important repercussions on human health, leading to the appearance of different diseases.

Objective

Investigate the association between climate extremes, in particular heavy rainfall events and drought conditions, and the drinking water quality in the city of Barcelona from 2010 to 2022.

Methods

We conducted a daily retrospective time-series study using data covering 13 years of daily monitoring of conductivity, nickel, turbidity and trihalomethanes parameters of raw water in the Llobregat River catchment area and treated water in the Drinking Water Treatment Plant (DWTP) Sant Joan Despí. We used river flow as a proxy for drought conditions and heavy rainfall events. We analyzed short-term associations between river flow rate and quality parameters in raw and treated water using generalized linear regression with distributed lag-non-linear models (DLNM).

Results

A low flow, as an indicator of drought condition or low rainfall, was significantly associated with an increase in conductivity in raw water and nickel in both raw and treated water. A high flow, as an indicator of heavy rainfall events, was significantly associated with an increase of turbidity in raw water, and a decrease in all other quality parameters.

Impact statement

This study provides novel evidence that climate extremes have an impact on the quality of drinking water in urban areas with a Mediterranean climate. The findings of this study are significant because they suggest that as the frequency and intensity of climate extremes increase due to climate change, there will be further challenges in managing and treating drinking water, which could have a detrimental effect on public health. This study serves as an important reminder of the need to strengthen and accelerate adaptation actions in water management to ensure an adequate supply of drinking water that protects the people’s health.

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Fig. 1: Scheme of the water purification processes at the Sant Joan Despí DWTP.
Fig. 2: Summary descriptive data of raw water and treated water during 2010–2022 for all variables.

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Data availability

Data available upon request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Aigües de Barcelona for providing the water quality and river flow data and to the DWTP Sant Joan Despí for letting us see the facilities on a guided tour.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Lesseps 1, 08023, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    Daniela Benítez-Cano, Patricia González-Marín, Anna Gómez-Gutiérrez, Marc Marí-Dell’Olmo & Laura Oliveras

  2. Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Doctor Aiguader 88, 08003, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    Daniela Benítez-Cano

  3. Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau), Sant Quintí 77, 08041, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    Patricia González-Marín, Anna Gómez-Gutiérrez, Marc Marí-Dell’Olmo & Laura Oliveras

  4. CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    Marc Marí-Dell’Olmo

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  1. Daniela Benítez-Cano
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Contributions

All the authors contributed to the conception and design of the study. All the authors contributed to the acquisition and interpretation of data. DB, LO and MM performed the statistical analyses. All the authors contributed to the interpretation and the discussion of the results. DB wrote the first draft of the paper. All the authors critically revised the manuscript and approved the final version. The corresponding author attests that all listed authors meet authorship criteria and that no others meeting the criteria have been omitted.

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Correspondence to Marc Marí-Dell’Olmo or Laura Oliveras.

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Benítez-Cano, D., González-Marín, P., Gómez-Gutiérrez, A. et al. Association of drought conditions and heavy rainfalls with the quality of drinking water in Barcelona (2010–2022). J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 34, 175–183 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-023-00611-4

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