Walter Finch
WITH summer arriving in April and no one knowing if that is going to become the new norm, authorities have settled on a novel solution to the drought problems in Axarquia: a desalination plant.
Amid some rare recent rainfall, proposals for the new installation have already started coming in to the Junta, with three from the private sector so far.
The initial capacity of the plant would be 80 cubic hectometres of water per year, which is another way of saying 80 billion litres, or 32,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
It would be enough to ensure a guaranteed supply of water for both human consumption and agriculture and livestock farming in the Axarquia area.
With La Viñuela reservoir already at just 10% capacity in April, or just 16 cubic hectometres, and no rainfall forecast for the foreseeable future, the plant has become the region’s great hope.
The mouth of the Velez river is the favoured location of two separate bids from Acciona and Magtel.
A consortium of Trops, Grupo Cobra and the University of Malaga would build their plant next to the Velez-Malaga sewage treatment plant west of El Ingenio shopping centre.
READ MORE:
- WATCH: The bed-bug horror that awaited one British family after they turned on the lights at 3am in their four-star Mallorca hotel
- Spain’s Fuengirola inaugurates it’s 27th International Culture Fair this Thursday
- Brussels issues new warning over plans for Spain’s Doñana National Park
