ANDhe agricultural sector in the Northeast of Tenerife will soon have the first reclaimed water pool. This will allow subscribers to reduce the cost of irrigation water by five cents per cubic meter, “improving quality levels”. This was stated by the island councilor for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Javier Parrilla (PSOE), after his meeting with the mayor of Tegueste, also a socialist Ana Rosa Mena, to analyze the work aimed at reconverting the agricultural water pond in Valle Molina in a reclaimed water reservoir.
Parrilla recalled that this action “will help to maintain a more balanced level of storage in the Region and will make it possible to improve the productivity of crops in the area and the introduction of new ones.” The councilor also emphasized that it will be the first reclaimed water pond in the north of the island and that this action will benefit a total of 2,925 subscribers throughout the Northeast Region. “Currently only about 51 subscribers benefit from reclaimed water, but With this intervention, 2,874 more subscribers to the water network of the Valle Molina reservoir will be able to benefit», specified the counselor.
better quality water
Parrilla explained that with the incorporation of this reclaimed water, a “product water” of 1,000 Siemens per centimeter of conductivity will be obtained, “which will mean an increase in its quality, since it is currently at 1,200.” For her part, Ana Rosa Mena stated that “for an agricultural municipality such as Tegueste, it is essential to guarantee irrigation to all farmers.” And she added: «That is why we trust that, through the collaboration with the Council of Tenerife, let us continue taking steps in this direction, looking for formulas such as reclaimed water for irrigation». The meeting was also attended by the insular director of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cayetano Silva; the Councilor for Agriculture and Rural Development, Julián Rodríguez; the manager of the Balten company, Ana Sánchez Espadas, and representatives of the Tegueste Wine Association (Avite) and technical staff of the Island Corporation.
More in detail, Valle Molina is the main pool of the Northeast Region of Tenerife. It was built in 1987 and has a capacity of 614,373 cubic meters. Since 2019, the University Institute of Tropical Diseases and Public Health of the Canary Islands has been carrying out a plan to monitor reclaimed water in the implementation of irrigation in the Northeast Region of the Valle de Guerra treatment plant, the results of which, as explained by Javier Parrilla , reflect that the microbiological quality criteria established in the current regulations for their use in agricultural use in all the cases that the Royal Decree describes are met, “which provides peace of mind and guarantees to farmers,” said the councilor of the Cabildo from Tenerife.
Other performances
During the meeting, other issues were also addressed, such as the connection of the Valle Molina reservoir with the reservoir of the Las Peñuelas irrigation network. In this regard, the councilor explained that the possible definitive layout has already been sent to the Tegueste City Council “after an exhaustive study of the area, in which up to four possible alternatives were analyzed”, in order to obtain the municipal report that would allow the execution project “of this vital conduction for the agricultural sector of the municipality”.
Likewise, the island councilor and the mayor of Tegueste agreed to work together on the possible transfer of the management of the Las Peñuelas irrigation network to the public company Balsas de Tenerife (Balten) with the aim of improving the service currently provided.
