In 2019, the São Paulo state-owned water and sanitation company Sabesp, which serves over 46 million people, initiated the Novo Rio Pinheiros (New Pinheiros River) program to improve the river’s water quality. The program provides both sanitation and socio-environmental initiatives to improve the river’s quality and the environment.
As a strategic partner in the program, Ramboll has set up a consortium with GEL Engenharia, and proposed an approach based on a water treatment technology created by BlueInGreen, a US-based water cleantech company. This successful partnership resulted in a $5.5 million contract for the first five-year phase of the Pinheiros River remediation project.
The innovative approach involves injecting a supersaturated dissolved oxygen solution into the river to promote an aerobic river environment and enhance the river ecosystem’s natural ability to reduce organic matter and prevent the formation of sulphides. Ramboll’s team will actively operate the system, monitor and evaluate the project’s results through a custom developed database enabling visualization of progress in the cleanup effort. Data will be recorded daily through a water flow meter and several probes spread over 5 km to ensure the validity and efficiency of the solution.
The overall project aims to move the Pinheiros River closer toward recovery with improved water quality, liveability and reduced odor.
