Alex Trelinski
BENIDORM council has paid €80,0000 for a new valve at a pumping station after a temporary fix last year to stop sewage pouring into the sea.
It says the work should have been done much earlier and paid for by the regional waste water company, EPSAR.
The old valve broke at the facility located at the corner of Avenida Mediterranean and Avenida de la Mar towards the end of 2020.
A quick workaround ensured normal service at the station until a permanent solution was found.
Very low visitor numbers to Benidorm due to the pandemic also helped to reduce any pressure at the facility..
Benidorm’s public works councillor, Jose Ramon Gonzalez de Zarate, said: “The previous valve had been used for almost four decades and if we did not put in a replacement, then practically all of the city’s sewage could have ended up in the sea in a big environmental disaster.”
The councillor apportioned blame on EPSAR,who oversee waste water facilities across the Valencia region.
De Zarte said that despite the money that Benidorm contributes to EPSAR, it is not being reinvested in the resort.
“A tourist city like Benidorm cannot afford any problems with its sewage network, “ he commented.
The council claims they’ve paid in over €50 million to EPSAR over the last nine years, but only €38 million has come back to the area from the entity.
