However, the councilor for Public Services of the City Council of La Matanza de Acentejo, Miguel Ángel Pérez Pío, points out that they consider the information published on the website of the Canarian Government to be erroneous, so they will proceed to change the status of the breach, since they explain that “from April 2019 they proceeded to update in Sinac, the state of the different municipal networks at the end of the pumping from El Canal del Norte to the San Antonio and La Resbala deposits. Therefore, they conclude that, as of today, the La Vica supply area (Camino Nuevo and La Vica reservoir) is the one that is in breach. “At the time, a pumping was carried out from the Canal de Norte to the San Antonio deposits which, in turn, supply the Los Frailes and La Resbala deposits, which supply El Caletón.”
From the Matanzas town hall they explain that the pumping work from La Resbala to the Camino Nuevo deposit is underway, with municipal funds, with a completion period set for December 2021. “Therefore we foresee that the entire municipality have the fluoride breach lifted shortly. It is our priority, which occupies us and worries us despite being problems produced by an insular hydraulic policy (since the Hydrological Plan of 1996), which has allowed the situation to be resolved by each municipality without taking into account the general interest or, for of course, the efficiency in the use of public resources.
The reason that has led the General Directorate of Public Health, which depends on the Canary Islands Health Service, to recommend that tap water not be consumed in these northern areas is based on the fact that excess fluoride can lead to a disease known as dental fluorosis, It produces permanent stains on the teeth. In addition, if the fluoride concentrations are very high in the water for human consumption and this is ingested continuously and for long periods of time, it can affect the bone tissue, cause stiffening of the bones and loss of mobility.
In the North region
ANDn Los Silos excess fluoride affects the entire population of Erjos, while in Buenavista it is limited to Las Portelas, El Palmar and Teno, in both cases for the population of all ages, according to the General Directorate of Public Health. Other areas where the restriction is in force for all residents are La Florida, Cueva del Viento, Lomo Las Lajas, La Patita and Los Piquetes, in Icod de los Vinos, and the nucleus of San José de los Llanos, in El Tanque.
The problem is limited to children under 8 years of age in La Vera, Las Rosas, Lomo Guanche, San José, Los Quevedos, El Rosario, Fuente del Bardo and part of the town, in San Juan de la Rambla; the old town, San Felipe and San Marcos, in Icod de los Vinos, and Erjos, Ruigómez, Barrio Nuevo and Cruz Grande, in the town of El Tanque.
