Rain to resource: Microsoft and FieldFactors partner to harness stormwater in Madrid
Major urban residential development to capture rainwater at scale to help replenish the local Valdebebas stream.
Microsoft and start-up FieldFactors collaborate to prevent water displacement and urban flooding.
Dutch innovation helps to capture up to 95% of rainfall where it falls.
FieldFactors Bluebloqs technology process
MADRID, Spain (March 2025) – Microsoft is collaborating with Dutch start-up FieldFactors to replenish a natural stream using rainwater collected from a major new urban development.
Called Solana de Valdebebas, the development covers more than one million square meters and will include almost 1,400 residential units. The initiative has the capacity to capture up to 200 million liters of stormwater run-off annually, which will be replenished into the local Valdebebas stream, a tributary of the Jarama River.
Rainwater will be collected through FieldFactors' sustainable drainage system, called BlueBloqs, which can capture up to 95% of rainfall where it lands. The collected water is then treated using the solution’s advanced biofiltration technology to high standards before being discharged into the Valdebebas stream, helping to restore both water quality and volume in Madrid's urban waterways.
“Urbanisation can result in water loss, if it stops the water reaching its natural destinations,” said Karina Peña, co-founder and CEO of FieldFactors. “But every drop counts if you capture and store it.”
FieldFactors BlueBloqs technology process
The water quality data that is collected by BlueBloqs allows the system to confirm that regulatory standards will be met and provides valuable information for further analysis.
“Rather than discharging stormwater into the sewer, our approach focuses on locally capturing, treating, and storing rainwater, for reuse or to return to natural bodies of water. This safeguards cities from flooding and heat stress, conserves freshwater resources, strengthens water resilience, and encourages biodiversity.
This project is highly valuable for the city of Madrid as it enables testing of the quality required by the Tagus River Basin Authority, conducting analyses, and obtaining discharge parameters over an extended period of ten years. From this data collection, conclusions can be drawn that may be applied to designs implemented in other urban areas such as Operation Camp and Madrid Nuevo Norte,”
Manuel de Pazos Liaño, Deputy Director General of Urbanisation Control at the City of Madrid.
Render of Madrid's Solana de Valdebebas development
Eduardo Campo, Manager at Junta de Compensación Solana, emphasised the potential for BlueBloqs to be integrated into other property developments.
“In the medium and long term, this project has the potential to become a replicable model for other urban areas in Madrid, integrating nature-based solutions for water management. The implementation of FieldFactors’ technology in Solana demonstrates how collaboration between the public and private sectors and experts in sustainable solutions can generate positive impacts both at an environmental level and in urban planning,” said Campo.
The risk of flooding has increased as residential developments continue to grow. A 2020 report from John Hopkins University found that for every 1% increase in impervious surfaces – such as roads, car parks and pavements – in a region, annual flooding increases by an average of 3.3%.
Other partners involved in the replenishment project include the G-Aqua Research Group of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), which will assist in the design of the stormwater harvesting and nature-based treatment strategy, as well as monitoring the water quality results.
Professor Daphne Hermosilla, who is leading the project at UPM, said:
“By removing pollutants from harvested stormwater it can help to promote water reuse applications and replenish natural surface water resources and surrounding ecosystems. This type of project, funded by the Microsoft water replenishment initiative, pushes Madrid towards a more sustainable urban water management practice.”
Render showing Madrid's Solana de Valdebebas development.
Eliza Roberts, Water Lead at Microsoft, said:
“In order to become water positive by 2030, part of our strategy is to replenish water sources and drive innovation to scale water solutions. By collaborating with FieldFactors, the project will help to capture water where it falls in the Solana de Valdebebas urban development and redirect it to the local Valdebebas stream.”
The BlueBloqs technology has already demonstrated success in multiple sites across the Netherlands and Spain. At the Sparta football stadium in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, FieldFactors installed an Urban Waterbuffer system to combat flooding caused by the paved concourse around the sports ground, while reducing water consumption.
As the region faced challenges during heavy rainfall, the solution was installed to capture up to 20,000 cubic meters of rainwater. The water is then treated by the BlueBiofilter to remove high concentrations of iron, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and nutrients. This process allows the water to be reused to irrigate the stadium pitch, which previously consumed 15 million liters of drinking water every year.
From left to right: Daphne Hermosilla (UPM), Karina Peña (FieldFactors), and Eliza Roberts (Microsoft).
References
[1] More pavement, more problems | ScienceDaily
[2] Soak Up the Rain: What's the Problem? | US EPA
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