Benidorm approves the drafting of the Reclaimed Water Master Plan to generalize its use in public and private spaces

Benidorm City Council has commissioned the concessionaire company for the management of the integral water cycle in the city, Hidraqua, to draft a Master Plan for the Municipal Service for the Reuse of Purified Water, a project with which the Consistory wants to generalize the use of regenerated water for washing down and irrigating public and private spaces. The Local Government Board has approved the proposal of the Councilor for the Water Cycle, José Ramón González de Zárate, for the drafting of this plan, which will allow the deployment of the network of pipes necessary to carry the regenerated water from the tertiary treatment plant of the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) to all neighbourhoods of the city and, in this way, expand its current uses.

As González de Zárate advanced days ago after the holding of the municipal Drought Monitoring Committee, where he announced the drafting of this plan, its objective is “not only to expand the use of this regenerated water for current public uses, but also make it available to neighbourhood communities, urbanizations, hotels, etc., so that they can water their green areas with drinking water" and, in this way, "obtain double savings: in drinking water and money, given that water regenerated is cheaper.”

The proposal approved by the Local Government Board recalls that “the continued and permanent use of regenerated water for urban uses represents another step in the effectiveness and sustainability of the management of the integral water cycle, resulting in better use of resources and greater solidarity with the rest of the users who give up their rights in favour of Benidorm.” From this philosophy, the text states that the Benidorm WWTP “currently has a significant surplus of purified water that could be used to irrigate parks and gardens, wash down streets and pedestrian areas and other compatible uses, thereby reducing water consumption.” drinkable", but warns that "this is not possible due to the lack of adequate infrastructure for it."

Specifically, González de Zárate recalls that "since 2015, some actions aimed at this end have been carried out at the municipal level, such as the installation of purified water supply points for Cuba trucks, the direct irrigation of some parks and trees. road or the installation of some pipelines intended for the distribution of purified water in infrastructure renovation works", but which, currently, "are unconnected and unused." Hence the municipal commitment to “detailed planning of the service that allows establishing priorities, obtaining resources and developing specific projects for this purpose,” added the mayor.

The estimated budget for technical assistance for the drafting of the Master Plan is 50,000 euros, without VAT. However, the proposal approved by the Government Board establishes that the Municipal Drinking Water and Sewerage Service, directly linked to the purpose of the indicated Master Plan has the resources to undertake said work without charge to the municipal budget.

The City Council has established the preparation of this plan as a “high priority” to undertake the necessary investments and other procedures required to provide such service to the city in the shortest possible time. In this way, from now on, Hidraqua will have three months from the approval of the justified budget to draft this document, under the supervision of the municipal Engineering department.

Reuse percentage

As was revealed during the meeting of the municipal Drought Monitoring Committee, Benidorm is currently using 32% of the volume of reclaimed water obtained in the tertiary treatment plant; a percentage that is allocated to irrigators, the irrigation of parks and gardens and the washing of streets. Therefore, “there is almost 70% of that water that we are not yet using due to the lack of a wide and complete distribution network, so the potential for reuse is very high,” as González de Zárate expressed.

Hence, for the City Council, it is considered “very important” to draft this Master Plan and to “do it immediately to continue gaining efficiency in water management”, in which “we are exemplary”.

Finally, and as he did during the Drought Monitoring Committee, the Water Cycle councillor has reiterated a message of “tranquillity to citizens” because “the supply is fully guaranteed in Benidorm and in the rest of the municipalities that are part of the Marina Baixa Water Consortium”, so it will not be necessary to adopt additional or exceptional measures due to the drought.