the dune has welcomed this sunday a protest action against the problem of wastewater discharges that affect this area of the coast of the municipality of Granadilla de Abona. Balconies and windows have displayed protest posters faced with what they consider to be an “unsustainable” situation with messages such as ‘Efficient purification now’ or ‘Stop discharges’.
The Save La Tejita Platform has reported in a note that in recent years there are more and more cases of bathers or athletes on the coast of the municipality who have gone to medical centers with symptoms compatible with infections caused by e-coli bacteriasuch as conjunctivitis, otitis, skin rashes, vomiting, diarrhea or fever, reaching in extreme cases the need for hospital admission.
The collective has indicated that currently “Thousands of liters of untreated wastewater are dumped directly into the sea by at least two outfalls (El Cabezo and Pelada) in the surroundings of this tourist town”, and they add that the closure of beaches due to contamination derived from spills “has ceased to be a novelty.” Therefore, according to the Platform, the deputy mayor of Granadilla, Marcos González, is accused of an alleged crime against natural resources and the environment.
Health risk for bathers
From Salvar La Tejita they point out that the concern “due to the significant health risk of taking a bath It is a reality that is increasingly worrying the population of Medana, which demands urgent and effective measures to solve these illegal dumping”.
Last Friday, March 3, in a talk on discharges and wastewater treatment given in the Plaza de Galicia (El Médano), the experts José Luis Peraza and Julio Muñiz warned that The WWTP under construction in the vicinity of Montaña Pelada will not treat wastewater in its entirety and criticized the high cost of operation, emphasizing the tremendous energy consumption demanded by this type of industrial purification.
In the words of the professor of Environmental Chemistry Julio Muñiz, the Superior Water Council of Tenerife (entity that manages water purification) “is already Endesa’s main client on the island of Tenerife. When the industrial treatment plants under construction are finished, approximately 60% of the island’s energy consumption will be demanded by this type of infrastructure”. The solution, in the words of the speakers, involves the implementation of a decentralized system of natural treatment plants, which does not The treated water would be discharged into the sea, but would be reused for other uses such as garden irrigation or cleaning water.
With this campaign it is hoped that more and more neighbors take an example and place informative posters on their windows and balconies. In addition, the Platform has launched a web page with more information on the problem and the proposed solutions: www.granadillacosta.com.
