Archidona residents face weeks with no mains drinking water

Visitors to the town of Archidona in the north of the province of Malaga will have witnessed scenes that could be found in documentaries about shanty towns in underdeveloped countries.

Residents leave their homes armed with plastic bottles to fill up from a tanker doing the rounds of the streets. Unlike the people in the documentaries, these residents do have running water in their homes and can shower and clean without a problem, but this week this water has been deemed unfit for drinking and use in cooking.

On Tuesday evening it was announced that the drought affecting inland areas had caused the water in the wells that feed the towns mains supply to show levels of organic substances or metals that exceed the amount considered safe for human consumption.

The maximum legal value is 30 milligrammes per litre, and values above that have been detected, said the town hall.

The local mayor, Mercedes Montero, told SUR that the situation was not unexpected as they had been aware of the potential situation for several days.

We were hoping that the Dana [last Mondays weather front] would have brought rain, because our wells depend on rainfall. But while it rained in neighbouring towns it didnt here, she said.

On Wednesday therefore the town halls alternative drinking water supply operation was activated. From now on water tankers will tour the streets of the town to allow residents to fill up their bottles. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday around 20 different points in the town will be covered, while on Tuesdays and Thursdays the tankers will visit rural areas that are also affected.

Archidona is not the only town in the province to have to resort to portable supplies of drinking water due to the drought. Campillos and Casabermeja first experienced the problem followed by Fuente de Piedra last week.

The weather over the coming days and weeks will determine when the towns 8,500 residents will be able to drink their tap water again.

José Manuel, who by ten oclock on Wednesday morning had already filled 80 five-litre bottles from the tanker to supply the local care home for the elderly, hopes that will be soon.

I know everyones affected by the problem, but its worse for us. The tanker comes here every Friday, so weve got to make this last a week or resort to buying water in the supermarket.