The goal is to get the zero discharge on the coast of Santa Cruz in 2025. For this, it is necessary to execute a series of works that, together with the expansion of the Wastewater Treatment Plant (EDAR) of Buenos Aires, will ensure that the spills that are taking place right now can disappear from the chicharrero coast.
One of these works is the channeling of the water that the treatment plant discharges directly into the area of La Hondura through its spillway, which is activated when there is excess purified water in its facilities. This coincides with episodes of heavy rain or when there is a surplus of water used by Balten for irrigation.
Thus, today, the Governing Board of the Santa Cruz City Council plans to approve the specifications that will govern the bidding for this work, a contest whose deadline for submitting offers will open almost immediately after the approval of the specifications. With a budget of 1.3 million euros and 11 months of execution, this will be one of the most important works to put an end to one of the most visible spills on the coast.
The First Deputy Mayor and Councilor for Public Services, Carlos Tarife (PP) details that this work has the collaboration of the Tenerife Island Water Council, which provides up to 80% of the financing. “This is one of the important discharges that we have on the coast of the capital, so this work, plus the expansion of the treatment plant, plus the work that we have already started in Tachero, and those of Añaza, Acorán and San Andrés , they will meet the objective of achieving zero discharge by 2025”.
The mayor adds that “we will have our clean waters, which will allow us to take more advantage of our coastline, and recover the long-awaited blue flag for our municipality.”
Project
The work consists of rehabilitating the drainage pipe located under Anatolio Fuentes street, which discharges into the La Hondura dock, in the area known as La Cascada. This discharge point, which is located between the Refinery and the coastal battery, comes from the surpluses from the WWTP that are produced when it rains excessively. This work aims to rehabilitate the current drainage to connect it with an underwater tube that moves the discharge that is now visible away from the coast.
In January of this year, the project was approved, and in February the urgency was declared to start the contracting of this project. At this time, the corresponding reports have been requested to proceed with the contracting of the project, the latter step which will be approved today by the aforementioned Governing Board.
The report on the project approved in January reflects the current state of the infrastructure and the necessary remodeling of the current pipeline for the discharge of treated urban wastewater and rain relief located downstream of Anatolio Fuentes Street, which serves the WWTP of Buenos Aires, being the largest infrastructure of this nature in the Metropolitan area, currently undergoing adaptation, expansion and reform works by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Environment, requiring completion of the remodeling of the discharge pipe object of this contract file at the time of the completion of the works of the WWTP of Buenos Aires already begun.
discharge authorization
Currently, Santa Cruz has been granted a discharge authorization for this point, but it is conditional on its construction for the evacuation of water from the Cabo Llanos WWTP, which is why it is mandatory to maintain the current administrative authorization granted. by the Government of the Canary Islands.
The project points out that the investment coupled with the execution of the works, partially contributed by the Insular Council of Aguas de Tenerife, by virtue of the Agreement signed for this purpose, will lead to an improvement and updating of the existing infrastructure, reducing expenses linked to the maintenance of the same, as well as the possibility of breakage or malfunction of the infrastructure, regardless of whether the maintenance costs are borne by the Mixed Water Company of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Emmasa) as the management company of the integral water cycle in the capital.
