Miquel Rigola, UdG Associate Professor with an extensive business experience, founds the Laboratory of Chemical and Environmental Engineering. Maria Dolors Balaguer is one of his collaborators. Research initially focuses on physicochemical and biological processes for water and gas treatment. Laboratories are located in the Sciences Department of “Estudi General de Girona”, at “Casa de Cultura”.

Coming from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Manel Poch achieves a position of Full Professor of Chemical Engineering at UdG and joins LEQUIA. His research tackles the application of control systems and modelling techniques in the urban water cycle.

Move to the current building of UdG Faculty of Sciences at Campus Montilivi. 

Defense of the first three PhD dissertations.

LEQUIA will keep its membership until the dissolution of the network. Later, the group will join TECNIO network by ACCIÓ, which currently distinguishes leading agents in applied research and technology transfer in Catalonia.

The group participates in European projects STREAMES and Lifeleachate.

Ten years after its foundation, LEQUIA is composed of seven permanent researchers: Miquel Rigola, Manel Poch, Maria Dolors Balaguer, Ignasi Rodríguez-Roda, Jesús Colprim, Maria Martín and Joaquim Comas. Research areas broaden. The group researches on adsorption and oxidation of liquid and gaseous streams; membrane technologies for water treatment; and biological nutrient removal from wastewaters with nitriation + anammox processes.

Manel Poch, Ignasi Rodriguez-Roda and Joaquim Comas found spinoff company Sanejament Intel·ligents S.L. (SISLTech) devoted to the development of smart control and automation systems for wastewater treatment plants.

The group obtains funds from the Spanish National Plan for RDI, with applied research and technology transfer projects that have as principal investigators members of the group.

LEQUIA is a leading research group in several emerging technologies in the urban water cycle and CO2 bioconversion, such as membrane bioreactors, anammox process or bioelectrochemical systems. Sebastià Puig joins the group as Lecturer and boosts the research on bioelectrochemical systems.

LEQUIA expands with new offices and laboratories at Jaume Casademont building of UdG Scientifical and Technological Park.

LEQUIA establishes a strategic alliance, still in force, with the Department of Technologies of the Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), also based in Girona. 

The group files its first industrial patent: Smart Air MBR®, a control system to optimise the operation of membrane bioreactors. 

The group organises for the first time an international scientific event in Girona: IWA conference on Sustainable Solutions for Small Water and Wastewater Treatment Systems (S2Small2010).

LEQUIA coordinates SANITAS, a Marie Curie doctoral training network funded under VII Framework Programme and focused on sustainable integrated water management. 

The group publishes more than 20 annual publications in high-impact international journals. 

TECNIOSPring programme by ACCIÓ will allow carrying out six applied research and technology transfer projects, and establish relevant collaborations with public and private research Institutions in France, USA and Australia.  The programme will be a key instrument to attract postdoctoral talent to the group.

AGAUR industrial doctorate programme will contribute to consolidate LEQUIA technology transfer.

The group starts working on new phases and aspects of the urban water cycle, like drinking water treatment and supply. 

Acknowledgment by prestigious ICREA Acadèmia and Ramón y Cajal programmes.

Raquel García Pacheco, "Juan de la Cierva" researcher, leads the foundation of spinoff company Ecomemb devoted to the recycling of membranes for water treatment.

LEQUIA has 40 members, including 8 permanent professors (Maria Dolors Balaguer, Manel Poch, Ignasi Rodriguez-Roda, Jesús Colprim, Maria Martín, Joaquim Comas, Marta Verdaguer and Sebastià Puig). The essence of its research, chemical and environmental engineering, prevails. However, technological developments adapt to new societal challenges, and projects become more multidisciplinary and/or transdisciplinary.