In accordance with the regulations and the directive of the General Directorate of Public Health, the Town Hall of the guancha maintains the restriction on the consumption of household water supply but applied only to the local population under eight years of age. The measure is applied once the results of the last analysis carried out on the water supplied to the public are known. The rest of the population of the municipality can use the drinking water to drink or prepare food.
The mayor of La Guancha, Antonio Hernández, explains that “since June 12, we have been treating all the water that enters our municipal tanks.” In a period of fifteen days “we have achieved the recovery of optimal levels” of fluoride.
Last Thursday, the 15th, the Guanchera Municipal Corporation received the results of the latest analyzes carried out on the water, for which samples taken from the deposit located in the El Farrobo neighborhood (located in the upper part of the municipality) were used, in addition to a second sample that comes from El Pinalete (near the urban area). The guanchero councilor points out that current fluoride values stand at 3.1 and 1.6 milligrams per liter (mg/l), “which allows us to eliminate the current restriction on the entire population, except for children under eight years of age, as indicated by the regulations.”
Antonio Hernández states that During this week, a new analysis of the water from both tanks will be carried out.. The mayor expresses his hope that “in a week or two we can reach the value of 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per filter”, which will allow the municipal government to “eliminate the restriction on water consumption for the entire population.”
It should be remembered that on the fourth day the General Directorate of Public Health of the Government of the Canary Islands It maintained active notices for restrictions on water consumption throughout La Guancha –its population exceeds 5,500 inhabitants– and in areas of eight other municipalities in the north of the Island. Excess fluoride continues to be a problem, which then affected parts of Icod de los Vinos, San Juan de la Rambla, Buenavista del Norte, El Tanque, La Victoria and La Matanza de Acentejo.
The Guancha Town Hall only purchases water from the Vergara gallery, which is rich in fluoride, a chemical element that is harmful in certain quantities to human health. When exceeding the levels allowed by Health –up to 1.5 milligrams per liter–, the water must first pass through a desalination plant –the Cruz de los Tarifes plant– to be suitable for human consumption.
