Benidorm will install sensors in a large part of the footbaths on beaches to prevent them from being operated manually

At the request of Benidorm City Council, the concessionaire company for the integral management of water, Hidraqua, is going to install motion sensors in 35 footbaths on Levante and Poniente beaches within the proposed measures to “adapt the use and management of beaches to the recommendations and regulations related to the Covid-19 ”. The councillor of Ciclo del Agua, José Ramón González de Zárate, has pointed out that "these sensors come to improve and reinforce the preventive and safety measures already in place, and that they were put into operation from the very moment that the beaches were opened last Monday, June 15 ”.

In this sense, De Zárate explained that "from the first moment the foot washers have been working, although with restrictions to ensure that users keep the safety distance while using them." Specifically, “in the blocks of foot washers with ten jets there are only two active; and one, in the blocks that have five pipes; a limitation that we are going to maintain ”.

The Water Cycle Councilor explained that the installation of these motion sensors "can only be carried out on Benidorm model foot washers, which are silver colour and elongated ones that have 10 or 5 jets depending on the size." "Unfortunately," he added, "we cannot do the same with the Conselleria model, so in those white foot washes (installed in Mal Pas and part of Poniente beach) we are going to disable one of the pumps, to eliminate the button to prevent users from touching it and to leave the spout free when the beach is open, because it is the only way to guarantee social distance ”.

As detailed by the mayor, with the installation of these motion sensors "the assortments that are active will only offer sea water when the user needs it, without having to press the button and for a programmed time". In addition, “by operating only when necessary, we are going to reduce the consumption of sea water, which is the one used by all foot washers, and with this we are also going to reduce the electricity consumption necessary to collect this sea water and take it to the foot washes "

De Zárate stressed that "it is a highly efficient solution, because in addition the motion sensors work through solar energy, so that our beaches are once again a benchmark, as they were when we got all the foot washers to stop operate with drinking water and they would do it with sea water ”.