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Work under way at the Costa del Sol's desalination plant.
Full steam ahead for Costa del Sol's desalination plant

Full steam ahead for Costa del Sol's desalination plant

Water consumption levels are at their highest in five years, while La Concepción reservoir is suffering a shortage

Nieves Castro

Friday, 6 September 2019, 08:42

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The tourism business which sustains the Costa del Sol brings with it high water consumption levels. The foreseeable extension of the tourist season into the first fortnight of September means that the Costa del Sol's desalination plant, based in Marbella, is working harder than ever, with six production lines.

The aim of the plant is to guarantee the supply of water to the 11 towns in the region, bearing in mind the water shortage in the La Concepción reservoir, where levels are currently at less than half its capacity (44.67 per cent). As an additional measure, extra water is also now being pumped, as part of a 2013 agreement with the Campo de Gibraltar.

The statistics speak for themselves: according to data from Acosol, 12,992,126 cubic metres of water were supplied in the months of June, July and August this year, which is the highest volume recorded in the last five years. In the summer of 2018, 10.8 million cubic metres were supplied.

In response to this year's consumption, the desalination plant needed to use all six of its turbines in August to produce 1,728 cubic metres of water each hour, equating to an energy cost of 13,200 euros each day.

The plant will exert itself until rainfall, forecast to arrive with the new hydrological year in October.

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