This initiative will be carried out in both the northern towns, such as Santa Úrsula, La Victoria, La Matanza, La Guancha, San Juan de la Rambla, Buenavista, Los Silos, Garachico or El Tanque, as well as in the southern ones, as regards Fasnia and Vilaflor. To that list we must add El Rosario in the Metropolitan Area.
The insular Area, through the Insular Water Council (Ciatf), will install entry and exit meters and their corresponding remote control system in 93 urban supply depots of water from the twelve municipalities of the Island, those mentioned above, which have direct management of their water resources.
Hydraulic performance
The island councilor Javier Rodríguez Medina explains: «With this initiative we are going to get the town councils to control the hydraulic performance of the system; that is to say, that the network leaks are known in order to reduce consumption water losses as much as possible ”.
This action will involve the installation of around 200 large-diameter meters –they regulate both the inlet and outlet flow– and the implementation of remote control. This contract has already been awarded and the works will begin in one month with a completion period of fourteen. Likewise, the administrative culmination has been carried out after the evaluation and diagnosis of the local supply services. Overall, it will involve an investment of more than 2.2 million euros.
Real-time information
Rodríguez Medina explains that what it is about is «to have information in real time of the flows that are being recorded, so that there will be a control and diagnosis of the reservoirs to improve the water management of these municipalities and thus be quick in solving leaks and water losses ”.
The island councilor emphasizes that this action will firmly address the critical situation that occurs in these municipalities, all of them with low average hydraulic performance. In some cases, more than 60% of its water is even lost in the network itself. That is, before reaching the population.
Javier Rodríguez Medina points out that The objective of the initiative is to «increase the efficiency of the service up to an average of 75%, which will lead to savings of more than three million euros per year in the total of the twelve municipalities “.
In addition, the intention of the initiative is, in a second expected result, to improve in the process other community services that are provided by the municipalities, since they will be able to allocate these savings to other areas “.
The councilor of the Cabildo highlights as a conclusion the involvement of the Insular Water Council: «He values it because even though the supply of drinking water is a purely municipal matter, it is essential to provide technical advice and invest economic resources because the insular aquifer is a communicating vessel and the management has to respond to a comprehensive and global strategy ».
The island management of hydraulic supply is a pending issue that this type of measure is trying to alleviate. An island planning policy seems necessary. Recent events such as supply problems in the municipality of La Guancha give meaning to these actions. They face the global concept of public supply. An idea that must preside over the essential inter-island balance on the Island of Tenerife.
