The Ministry announces the imminent start of the adaptation and improvement works in the wastewater pumping stations of Benidorm

The Minister of Environment, Water, Infrastructure and Territory, Salomé Pradas, announced today in Benidorm the imminent start of improvement actions at the city's wastewater pumping stations. Pradas announced during a visit to pumping station number 1, located at the confluence of Avenida del Mediterráneo and Ametlla de Mar, in which she was accompanied by the mayor Toni Pérez, the councillor for Cycle of Water, José Ramón González de Zárate, and members of the local corporation. A visit that also included the general director of Urban Planning, Landscape and Environmental Assessment, Miguel Ángel Ivorra.

This coming Monday the actions will begin at pumping station number 1, an intervention “that has been a historical demand for a long time,” according to the mayor, whose completion will be a reality before the start of the festivities.

The work at this point will consist of the replacement of the anti-ram boilers and the associated auxiliary equipment, the replacement of the entire valve system, the installation of a ventilation system for the main valve room and the deodorization of the pump chamber, as well as the replacement of the valve room forging.

This infrastructure improvement is carried out during the year when there is less wastewater flow and also during the season with the lowest influx of visitors to the city. “These investments are being made now so that the impact is as minor as possible,” said Pérez, who recalled that traffic on the section of Mediterranean Avenue between Ametlla de Mar and Castellón Street will be closed for the duration of the works.

The Public Wastewater Sanitation Entity (EPSAR) will finance 60% of the work and the City Council the remaining 40%. A global amount that amounts to 1.7 million euros, which includes other actions in other pumping operations. Thus, EPSAR will contribute just over one million euros and the City Council around 680,000. “These actions are the ones that we appreciate the most in Benidorm because they generate certainty and the security of having a standardized, innovative purification system with the latest technology.”

The first mayor has insisted that Benidorm has been claiming since 2015 “that what the city contributes to the EPSAR through the sanitation fee was justice that would revert to the city” but that in the face of the public entity's refusal “we have referred many own resources of the City Council at that time.” For this reason, the mayor congratulated himself “because now there is a change in public administration.”

Toni Pérez has insisted that the pumping station is a “capital” infrastructure for the city and “fundamental for taking wastewater to the Sierra Helada treatment plant.” Infrastructure that is also “very important for other municipalities in the region.” Pérez stressed that the work was announced in 2017 "but has arrived in 2023."

The mayor referred to the traffic cut that will occur in the affected section "at a very low moment of mobility" and added that "without this work, we could not advance or complete the project to expand Mediterranean Avenue." “It is a happy day because a pump is renewed 40 years after its commissioning,” said Pérez, who added that “like all installations, there comes a time when they become obsolete and do not guarantee good service.”

“It is fair to thank Councilor Pradas and President Carlos Mazón for their efforts to return to normal investments in a city that produces a lot for the Community. Not everyone is sensitive and in the end, those who are penalized are the residents and visitors of Benidorm and the region,” said the mayor.

For her part, the councillor has agreed with Toni Pérez that "Benidorm is once again a priority and three months after my first visit we can say that we have completed these much-needed and demanded works." Salomé Pradas highlighted “the example of collaboration that these works represent” and stressed that the Valencian Community is an example for the rest “because 40% of the water is reused. “We are leaders in Spain and Benidorm is an example of water reuse and regeneration.”

Pradas has also taken advantage of his visit to announce that FGV work will begin in April to duplicate and electrify the road between the regional hospital and Benidorm. “They are necessary works that had been delayed. We committed to doing so and we are going to work for tramization in La Marina. “This is the first and necessary step,” he concluded.