SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Aug. 1 (EUROPE PRESS) –
The president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Pedro Martín, and the mayors of Adeje and Arona, José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga and José Julián Mena, visited today the works of the new Brackish Water Desalination Station (EDAS) in Adeje, which will make it possible to take advantage of the 100% of the urban wastewater generated in both municipalities to produce quality reclaimed water to supply the primary sector of the southern region.
The visit to the works, to which an investment of 8.7 million euros has been allocated, was also attended by the island councilor for Sustainable Development and the Fight Against Climate Change, Javier Rodríguez.
Pedro Martín explained that the new EDAS is part of the work that the Cabildo has been carrying out “to improve and expand the island’s water treatment facilities with the aim of completely transforming a scenario that was embarrassing and for which Tenerife had been sanctioned for dumping into the sea”.
He wanted to recall that, in the specific case of the southern region, 100% of the sewage was treated as of 2019 and now “we are taking another step to give this already purified water a special treatment and turn it into quality reclaimed water for agricultural use,” he added.
“We are going to ensure that the entire agricultural area from San Miguel to Santiago de Teide can benefit from this top quality water for their crops,” the president reaffirmed.
Specifically, these works are expected to increase the volume of reclaimed water treatment by 16,500 m3 per day, with which the station will provide more than 25,000 m3 of reclaimed water per day. The expansion budget amounts to 8.7 million euros and is provided by the Cabildo. The work is included within the Strategic Framework for Insular Development (MEDI) and FDCAN. These works began in November 2021 and are scheduled to be completed in October 2023.
The Minister for Sustainable Development and the Fight Against Climate Change, Javier Rodríguez, explained that with these works progress is being made in a key foundation of the circular economy, such as converting waste into new resources. As detailed, “the objective is to implement in the southern region the same model that has already been established in Valle de Guerra and throughout the northeast region and that we are going to continue applying in the future facilities that are going to be put into operation through of the agreement with Acuaes”.
The mayor of Arona, José Julián Mena, has underlined the importance and the steps forward that are being taken both in water purification and in its reuse for agricultural use, which deepens the commitment to sustainability and support for the primary sector . “Investments in water purification and the reinforcement of its reuse for the primary sector are essential for us, for Arona and for the whole of the South Region”, explained Mena.
For the mayor of Adeje, José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga, “we are taking an important step in a process that has been long and that addresses one of our main environmental problems, such as the use of water.”
Rodríguez Fraga stressed that “there has been significant progress in solving this problem, which politically is not the most lucid, but it is one of those that require greater commitment and responsibility on the part of the administrations, to satisfy a quality water service, for the population, local and tourist, and for agriculture”.
“The possibility of having 25,000 cubic meters of purified and desalinated water a day to return it to agriculture is excellent news”, he pointed out and pointed out that “the process, in any case, is still alive to continue responding to the needs of this tourist area , with high water consumption, and also recover water for reuse in the field”.
