Gecko Towers
STOP PRESS FURTHER UPDATE: For the Estepona region I have received the following update. There are two solar-powered operations currently underway. Firstly, there will be a water cleansing plant – to treat brackish well water – from the Padrón boreholes, pipeworks are already underway at the site. The machinery will be housed in a warehouse next to Padron river. Secondly, there will be a marine desalination plant, housed in containers, along the coast at the mouth of the Castor river. These two projects are being made possible by the use of portable desalination plants which are currently being assembled in Almeria and on the Canary Islands. It is anticipated that the Padron project will process around 1hm3 water annually. The Castor plant is expected to contribute around 1.4hm3 annually. Combined the 2.4hm3 will contribute towards Estepona’s annual demand of approximately 9hm3.
The heat in Marbella is rising and we are enjoying, cleaning and topping-up our swimming pools. We have started the weekly “survival” irrigation of our precious garden plants and the gloomy news that warned of a continuing drought during the summer months seems a distant memory. Sadly, it’s not. The official steps that have been taken are largely a direct and understandable response to political pressure to “make hay while the sunshines” and maximize on the economic possibilities of the Tourist Season.
However cautious we are in our personal, sensible and practical steps to save this most precious resource, the water stored in the Istán Reservoir – Embalse de la Concepcion – that supplies much of the Western Costa del Sol, between Fuengirola and Manliva, is not limitless. Indeed, since the 1st June 2024 to the date of writing, the Embalse has diminished by 0.70 hm3 – which I think, if my maths is correct, is 700m liters!!!
We already knew that we couldn’t carry on at the levels of consumption that the Coast now requires and through a collaboration of the Regional Government’s (Junta de Andalucía) Ministry of Agriculture and the state-owned water supply company Acosol steps have been taken to upgrade the Desalination Plant (Planta Desaladora), which it operates for the Spanish state. It appears that we will be getting the levels of desalinated water more quickly than at first anticipated.
It now seems possible that the first two phases of the upgrading work, which carry a total cost of €7m, and both of which are over 50% complete, will mean that by Autumn 2024 the region can expect to herald excellent news.
Provided we remain at a maximum daily usage of 220 litres per person, as established by the Junta in May, by mid-October the quantity of water in the Embalse will have dropped to around 20 hm3. With the Desalination Plant working at full capacity, it is anticipated to deliver around 20% of Coast’s annual requirement, circa 90 hm3. By the end of this remedial work, it should deliver, by late summer 2024, an annual 12 hm³, rising to 1.66 hm³ per month (20 hm3 annually) from in October 2024.
The maximum production of the plant, when all works are completed, will be circa 650 litres per second or 56,000 m3 a day from 124,445 m3 of seawater. This is then process by the Drinking Water Treatment Plant – now operated by the Junta de Andalucia – and located near the Desalination Plant. The DWT has just benefitted from an investment of €30m to treat water sufficient for 2m inhabitants.
A new desalination plant is planned between Mijas and Fuengirola to produce circa 25 hm³ annually and a second plant will be inaugurated this summer in Estepona using portable desalination equipment initially focused on local boreholes. It is anticipated that around 2000m3 per day will be extracted and a further 8000 m3 daily coming from seawater.
In response to need the Junta has been reasonably proactive and we can expect that in coming seasons, which may or may not benefit from rainwater the growing needs of the Western Costa del Sol should be catered for. That said, we can all continue to do our bit and save water where we can. Changing of the collective mindset is vitally important. Marbella Still Needs You……To Save Water
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