Last night, the twenty-first edition of the Onda Cero Castellón Awards took place, awards with which the media annually recognizes people, groups and entities whose work has had an important impact on progress, with actions that sometimes go unnoticed by the media and yet are part of the course of their history.
The COVID WATER project of Facsa Ernesto Santateresa, Deputy Director of Environmental Quality and head of the innovative project, received the Onda Cero Science and Research Award for creating an early warning system for the incidence of Covid-19 in urban settlements. He accepted the award and, in his acceptance speech, emphasized that the project's success is the result of a large team of professionals who strive every day to give their best. Santateresa also stressed that "research and technology are the foundation for developing solutions that address the main challenges we face as a society." Facsa Research and technology have always been prioritized to provide more reliable answers to challenges in the sector, such as the scarcity of water resources and the need to optimize their use, 'as well as to contribute to other global causes'.
The COVID WATER study is based on a technique known as Wastewater-Based Epidemiology, which aims to provide objective and quantitative information on the health status of a population, as well as its risk factors, through wastewater analysis. This technique has been successfully used in other cases, such as observing behaviors related to the consumption of medications, drugs, or even other pathogens like the hepatitis A or polio viruses, through wastewater.
During the gala, held in the Paraninfo of the UJI, Elena Llopis, Director of Organization and Process Improvement of Grupo Gimeno, presented Afanias with the Onda Cero award for Human Values for the great work it has been doing since 1964, which has led it to become a leading organization in intellectual disability.
The awards ceremony was attended by the mayor of Castellón, representatives of the Provincial Council and the most prominent institutions, associations and companies in the world of culture and the economy of Castelló.
