Óscar Campo, PhD in Mining Engineering and head of the Infrastructure Exploitation Department of the Insular Water Council of Tenerife (Ciatf) highlights the importance of technological evolution of the infrastructures used on the Island for the industrial production of water and, specifically, the “excellent result” that the use of membrane bioreactors is giving in the treatment plants in the Northeast and Adeje-Arona, which produce water of “excellent quality.” In the latter, it is planned that In the first quarter of 2024, four microturbines will be installed to produce energy with biogas from sludge.
Campo, who described the Adeje-Arona pumping station as “impressive”, explained that it collects all the wastewater in the region and is located very close to the coast, which is why it is far from the treatment plant, which is located in the high of El Vallito, 3.5 kilometers. In his opinion, what is relevant is that it is a jump of 227 meters. “There are few pumping stations in the world with these characteristics,” he noted with the intention of highlighting “the challenges that this infrastructure posed in 1998, which serves as a model for other regions of the Island.”
At this point, he highlighted the difficulties that had to be faced in the 90s and beginning of the century to adapt to the urban singularities of the Island, in addition to the fact that “the high quality of tourism” forced us to “sharpen ingenuity to integrate facilities” such as, for example, wastewater facilities. In this sense, he cited the cases of Playa de Troya or Playa de Las Vistas, which go completely unnoticed and provide operational security with generator sets in the event of a lack of supply, odor treatment and redundant equipment, complementary starting systems … In short, he defended the need to consolidate current technologies “because we already know they work” and advocated updating facilities that are beginning to decay.
Put in value
The engineer highlighted the management model of the Cabildo, Tenerife Island Water Council, town councils, Balten and the operating companies, and insisted on the need to “stay abreast of innovations and new technologies”, which are necessary to test in situ.
In this regard, he commented that membrane bioreactors, sand filters, dehydration and cogeneration technologies have already been tested on the Island… In his opinion, the best result is that of membrane bioreactors, but “we will have to continue experimenting.” and testing” with companies in the sector or with agreements with the University of La Laguna.
Regarding the industrial production of water, The Island has five public desalination plantswhich represent 80% of the desalinated water produced in Tenerife and predicted that, when the Granadilla and Fonsalía expansions come into operation, “production will be above 110,000 cubic meters per day.”
