Stop filling the pools and wash the vehicles, minimize watering the gardens or restrict the consumption of water in other tasks that are not essential. These are some of the tips for these hot summer days from Teidagua, the company that supplies drinking water to the inhabitants of La Laguna and Tacoronte. The warnings come after the specific problems – most of them were resolved yesterday – caused in the network by the historical consumption records registered since Monday consecutively. The heat wave The cost of water in both municipalities has skyrocketed like never before, which, together with the drought, has forced the company to launch notices through social networks.
“We inform that due to the high level of demand for water consumption, due to the heat wave that we are suffering, the correct provision of the service in La Laguna and Tacoronte may be affected on time. Therefore, we ask you to make responsible use of water. Thank you”.
This ensures the first of the announcements launched on Tuesday on Teidagua’s Twitter, qualified yesterday by two other tweets. The first ensures that the company is “providing more water than ever to the supply network, more than 30,000 cubic meters per day, but historical consumption records are being broken. For this reason we recommend a responsible use of water. We apologize for the inconvenience.” And the second tweet adds: “We have been working to achieve a normal situation for the supply service in La Laguna and Tacoronte. Throughout the day [de ayer para el lector] All incidents will be corrected.
The company normalizes the service after the problems detected since last Monday
Félix Armas, manager of Teidagua, clarifies that despite the difficulties, there have been no restrictions on the service. “Neither has the water been cut off nor has the service been reduced. What has happened is that there has been an excess demand that has caused specific problems in those points where the highest peaks have occurred. If the use of tap water shoots up in a street or urbanization, this will cause problems for some of the homes”, explains Armas.
The data presented by the Teidagua manager are significant. Between Monday and Wednesday, water consumption in La Laguna and Tacoronte rose 20% above the normal level; that is to say, from 25,000 cubic meters a day it went to quantities greater than 30,000. According to the company representative, They are “historical maximums” that reached the highest figure on Tuesday with 31,154 cubic meters. This amount in just 24 hours is equivalent to the water contained in 10 Olympic swimming pools.
That same Monday, complaints from users began to arrive, mainly due to occasional service interruptions or taps in which the water came out without sufficient pressure. Félix Armas admits this, who points out that the company quickly put its operators to work on incidents and its administrative staff to answer calls or messages on social networks. “The situation is normalized but, I insist, everything has been due to the fact that any supply system suffers with these very high consumption peaks,” the Teidagua manager makes clear. “It’s not that we don’t have water; It is that the amount that is spent is such that it reverts in some points of the network ».
On Tuesday, 31,154 cubic meters of water were consumed, 20% more than a normal day
Teidagua buys what it supplies to La Laguna and Tacoronte, mainly to the northern galleries of Tenerife, especially those of the Valley of La Orotava. It also obtains water from its own resources, mainly the Los Rodeos and Las Canteras wells. “We are working permanently to guarantee the availability of sufficient reserves,” Armas qualifies, adding that the work increases in times like this of “hydric stress” and “increasing consumption.” “But we also need citizen awareness, that residents understand that water is a limited resource and that responsible use of this basic good is necessary, even more so in these periods.”
Teidagua has a disadvantage that until now it has been able to overcome. In the large area it serves, it does not have a desalination plant that provides extra water from the sea, vital infrastructures for the Islands that other regions of Tenerife do have. “We have been clear for a long time that we need a desalination plant. In fact, we have the project, which is included in the Hydrological Plan. We are waiting to develop it, ”says Félix Armas.
The manager of Teidagua clarifies that the mayor of La Laguna, Luis Yeray Gutierrez, is “very involved” in developing this initiative that is so important for the university municipality. The plant is planned for the Valle de Guerra area and would have the capacity to contribute between 5,000 and 10,000 cubic meters to the supply network. The key to the future passes, as Armas exposes, through the desalination plant and citizen awareness. On this last point, the Teidagua spokesman anticipates that they are preparing a campaign to explain to the population the “enormous difficulties” involved in maintaining a drinking water supply network and the need to make responsible use of this resource, more specifically some islands with the limitations of Canary Islands.
Teidagua has many technical and human resources. Félix Armas recalls that 168 professionals work for the company, of which 100 are part of the technical team and the other 68 are dedicated to the administrative part. In total, Teidagua spends around 27 million euros each year, of which 11 million are allocated to the purchase of water from the owners of the galleries.
