Aqualia takes over water management in Riohacha, capital of the department of La Guajira, and exceeds 1.2 million inhabitants served in Colombia

After winning the corresponding public tender against Veolia, the Spanish company Aqualia has begun operating the end-to-end water cycle in Riohacha, capital of the Colombian department of La Guajira, in the Caribbean region, in the north-east of the country. The company had already been present in this department since November 2022, when it took over the management of the municipalities of Maicao and Albania.

With the start of operations in Riohacha, the company strengthens its position in Colombia, where it arrived in 2016. In the field of the end-to-end water management it is already present in 32 municipalities belonging to 8 departments of the country, where it provides service to 1,241,000 inhabitants.

The object of the public tender NO. LP-008-2022, of which Aqualia has been awarded, is "the management, financing, operation, rehabilitation, construction, design, expansion, replacement, and maintenance of the infrastructure of the residential public utilities of aqueduct, and sewerage in the district of Riohacha" for a period of 30 years from 1 June 2023. The contract represents a portfolio of 293 million euros.

Aqualia is thus expanding its water and sewerage operations in Colombia, in line with its strategy of consolidation and expansion in the country and its commitment to public service. 

Nearly 1,300,000 people served in Colombia 

Aqualia began its activity in Colombia in 2016, with the participation in the Consorcio Expansión PTAR SALITRE which it leads, and whose mission is to manage the expansion of the El Salitre wastewater treatment plant, a key project to improve the sewerage system of the city of Bogota and its surroundings. 

In 2020, the company continued its development by running two operations in parallel. On the one hand, it began to provide service in twelve municipalities located in the department of Córdoba, in the Caribbean region of northern Colombia. On the other, it arrived in Villa del Rosario, in the metropolitan area of Cúcuta, in the department of Norte de Santander. There, it won a public bidding process for the concession of the city's public water supply and sewerage services. 

In October 2022, after having been awarded a public tender, Aqualia began work in the municipality of Flandes, department of Tolima, where it provides service to a population of 62,000 inhabitants for 20 years. 

In November 2022, the company also acquired five concession companies from the French company Saur (Aguas de la Península, Aguas de Albania, Aguas de Aracataca, Aquamag and Aguas del Sur del Atlántico), which operate in 11 municipalities in the departments of La Guajira, Magdalena and Atlántico. On that date it also acquired the company Aguas de la Sabana de Bogotá, which provides services in the industrial area surrounding Bogotá in the municipalities of Funza, Cota and Tenjo. It also acquired the water and sewerage infrastructure of the companies Ruitoque and Energía y Agua, which serves 25,000 inhabitants in three municipalities in the department of Santander.

Aqualia is the water management company owned by the citizen services group FCC (51%) and the Australian ethical fund IFM Investors (49%). The company is the fourth largest water company in Europe by population served and the ninth largest in the world, according to the latest Global Water Intelligence ranking (December 2022). The company has just been named the "World's Best Water Company 2022" at an international event in Berlin.

It currently serves 43.7 million users in 18 countries: Algeria, Colombia, Chile, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Georgia, Italy, Mexico, Oman, Peru, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain, United Arab Emirates, United States, and the Czech Republic.