Benidorm will install a system to control and detect unauthorized discharges to the sewer system

Benidorm will begin this year the implementation of control and detection systems for unauthorized discharges in the sewerage network, as advanced by the Councilor for Water Cycle, José Ramón González de Zárate. The councillor has reported that the monitoring of the entire wastewater network "will be completed in mid-2022" and its cost "will be assumed by the concessionaire company, Hidraqua, charged to the Investment Fund, thus not affecting the receipt that users pay ”.

De Zárate explained that "uncontrolled discharges cause problems in the network and usually occur in a timely manner." Most of the unauthorized discharges that occur in the city fail to comply with environmental regulations regarding "conductivity"; that is to say, it is about waters that present an excess of salinity. The treatment and purification of these discharges causes “important expenses, both for the City Council and for the irrigators of Canal Bajo del Algar”, since it requires “greater energy consumption”. In addition, treating these discharges "generates a greater deterioration of the pipes and installations of the waste network" and the purified water obtained "for irrigation is of poorer quality".

According to the mayor, the installation of control systems throughout the sewerage network "will allow locating the points of polluting discharges and the responsible persons." Based on this identification, "the person, company or community that fails to comply with the Environment Ordinance can be reported," which must bear the corresponding treatment and purification costs instead of the City Council or irrigators.

De Zárate has stressed that "this monitoring and remote management of the waste network is in line with the concepts of Smart City and Smart Tourist Destination (DTI)" and "will make it possible to have real-time data on the sewage system by areas or volumes of rainfall that are recorded in the different rain episodes ”.

The mayor recalled that, as the mayor Toni Pérez advanced on December 23, also in a period of two years all the homes and establishments in Benidorm will have “smart meters”, which will allow users to know and control their consumption in real time and detect possible leaks or breakdowns. The implementation of these remote reading meters will not affect the receipt either.