It will never be known exactly if it was as a result of the complaint filed by Izquierda Unida y Sí se Podemos in the Güímar Valley (2017) for marine pollution as a result of the wastewater and industrial discharges, through the submarine outfall of the Industrial Park, and as a result of this the fine of the European Union, which is still paying the Government of the Canary Islands (600,000 euros every six months), the truth is that, since then, the different administrations have put the batteries and are fighting against the clock to comply with European regulations on sanitation and purification of which we have always called sewage waters, those that no one sees, but everyone feels. Those same that our politicians have never attended, because they understood that what is not seen does not give a vote. Today, when everyone talks about sustainability and fighting climate change, everything is very different, or at least it should be.
In this new panorama, the impulse that the Cabildo has given to what are called the three ‘R’ of the water circle stands out: reduce, recycle and reuse. An impulse that has begun to be a reality in the south of the Island, with the construction of five large infrastructures to clean up, purify and reuse the wastewater of the Güímar Valley (one from regional urban waters and another from industrial waters in the Polígono ), Granadilla de Abona, Arona Este-San Miguel and Santiago del Teide-Guía de Isora, thanks to the largest contract ever tendered by the Cabildo de Tenerife with the state company Acuaes: 170 million euros. Only this year 2022, the Insular Water Council (Ciatf) will have a budget of 50 million euros.
In the Güímar Valley, origin of the millionaire fine that we continue to pay to the European Union, the Edaru (Urban Water Treatment Plant) has already been completed in the municipality of Arafo, on the same land where the Government of the Canary Islands 25 years ago he allowed a regional treatment plant to die, without actually putting it into operation. So, it is obvious, purging was not on the agenda of our politicians. It is still in the testing phase until they can reach 7,000 cubic meters of water per day, when today only 200 are available. For this, the municipal networks of Güímar, Arafo and Candelaria need to be completed, and only in this municipality would it take 20 million of euros. It is not only about eliminating the submarine outfalls, but also ending the cesspools that continue to contaminate the subsoil and for this a wide sewage network is needed, which, especially in Candelaria, the midlands suffer. In this sense, the island councilor for Sustainable Development and the Fight Against Climate Change, Javier Rodríguez Medin, clarifies that “Candelaria’s idea of making a treatment plant in Barranco Hondo is not a priority for the Insular Water Council, because we are focused on regional infrastructures, with a capacity above 1,750 cubic meters / day. It is a request that could be attended, but it is not prioritized, “he said.
The counselor acknowledges that “it is evident that for the treatment plant to start working, water has to reach it, and for that we need a well-distributed sanitation network in the municipalities that collects all that water. It is clear that they are not very lustrous works, because many times it has been preferred to open a Youth House than a sewer. But everyone is now aware that European directive 271 must be complied with and the Cabildo will ensure that, “noting that” not only the Insular Water Council has to be involved, but also other administrations, such as the Government of the Canary Islands to derive funds of the ERDF in order to solve the sanitation problems of the Candelaria coast, and we are doing and will do the same with Güímar, in the Fátima neighborhood and with Arafo in TF-525, which will allow ending another historical problem in that area : the lack of wastewater treatment. It cannot be that a territory like ours, which aspires to be sustainable, has these levels of contamination. It is totally unacceptable that this region is supporting this situation of discharges, that is why the Cabildo has put all the money necessary to end this dishonorable situation, when we are leading the ranking of noncompliants, the Canary Islands being the region of Europe with the most sanctions that accumulate for not treating our waters in a convenient way ”.
“We have made very powerful investments; Without falling into grandiloquence, it is investing in Tenerife as never before, with the 20 million euros in the two treatment plants of the Güímar Valley, 30 million for the Granadilla de Abona, another 27 for Santiago del Teide-Guía de Isora and the largest investment in Arona and San Miguel, with 80 million euros of the 170 million of the agreement with Acuaes ”. All these works are already in the testing phase or under construction. In the case of the great treatment plant of San Isidro, in Granadilla, the movement of earth, as happened with the famous roundabout of Oroteanda, is pending the faunistic report, with the transfer of all the species that have some type of protection, such as the beetle. “All these treatment plants, with their respective collectors and pumps,” says Rodríguez Medina, will end “the chronic problem of the closure of beaches due to contamination and will serve for the circular economy with the use of reclaimed water for the primary sector. We are not talking about commitments, but about realities ”, remarks the counselor.
These treatment plants will be used to regenerate water for agricultural use, ending discharges through submarine outfalls, while desalination plants will be promoted for water for human consumption. Specifically, Rodríguez talks about stressed areas that need desalination plants, such as the Güímar Valley, where a portable desalination plant of 1,000 cubic meters will be replaced by another of 10,000, and another on the coast of La Laguna.
