In come the cavalry; Valdelentisco to produce 1,000 cubic metres an hour during water crisis

Region of Murcia news, local water supplies not threatened

2010-03-02

The cavalry have been sent in en masse to fix the massive break in the Canal Alto del Taibilla in the North Murcian Municipality of Nerpio, following a landslide which cut off the water supply route to 14 municipalities on Sunday.

Examination of the damages has revealed a massive 60 metre long crack in the pipeline, unfortunately in an underground section of the canal, and in a zone which is very difficult to access.

A road was cut through the forest to reach the pipe section and earthmoving equipment has been hard at work clearing the thousands of tons of earth that slipped and created the crack, shoring up the remaining sections of the pipeline and moving away the earth enabling engineers to assess the best course of action.

Plastic piping is currently being installed to provide a limited supply of water, and  municipalities are generally happy with the level of their own deposits, the most local to us here, Alhama, has re-assured the Ministry that it has enough supplies at the moment, with 10,000 cubic metres stored in 2 municipal depositos and access to it's own well in El Berro, which is capable of producing 8,000 cubic metres a day should the need arise.

Meanwhile, the Valdelentisco desalination plant has been commissioned to produce 1,000 cubic metres an hour , which will be pumped into the canal networks to ensure that the region does not run short of water until a more permanent repair can be undertaken on the ruptured canal.

 

The desalination plant had been scheduled to close this week to allow for the installation of a new mini  hydroelectric turbine, which utilizes the spent salt water to generate electricity.

There is a height drop of 40 metres from the desalination plant to the sea, so the installation of this new turbine will generate considerable savings in the volume of electricity used during the desalination process.

Generating clean water from seawater is an expensive, energy hungry means of cleaning water, but all are expressing their relief that these systems are in place, incidents such as this bringing home in a hard-hitting fashion just how vulnerable the region is should supplies from the north be restricted.

The construction of these desalination plants has meant massive  investment, Valdelentisco came in at a cool 250,000,000 euros and another 100,000,000 has been invested into laying new water pipelines, all of which increases the cost of our water considerably.

We pay more than anyone else in the country for our water, double that of other regions, but as incidences of this nature show, better expensive water than no water.

 

The rows continue , meanwhile, between the North and South about the provision of water, the latest round of statements from the President of Castilla-La Mancha insisting that the statute did not intend to "annoy, bother  or inconvenience' other regions, but "simply to guarantee continued water supplies for its' own needs, " whilst the retort from our own Concejal, Antonio Cerdo, was that the President was speaking from an insensitive point of view, given that the north has all the water it needs and more.

We've refrained from reporting on the squabbles too often as we could easily put out two articles a day as he says this and he retorts to that and he complains that he said that about him last week. And on it goes.

In the meanwhile, residents are being asked not to panic and fill baths just in case, as there is plenty of water available in municipal deposits for the moment and restrictions are only likely should the rupture in the pipeline take longer to fix than anticipated.

 

To read yesterdays story, Click Canal Alto del Taibilla

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