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Eugenio Cabezas
Tuesday, 19 November 2024, 11:50
Approximately 4,800 residents of Almáchar, El Borge, Cútar and Comares in the Axarquía to the east of Malaga province are still, five days after the devastating ‘Dana’ which caused the Benamargosa river to burst its banks and flood homes and businesses on Wednesday 13 November, without a regular water supply due to the serious damage caused to the water pipes which cross the river.
Technicians from the public water company Axaragua are still working hard to try to restore the service, although the most optimistic estimates suggest that this will not be possible until the end of this week. As a result, the for villages have been receiving water via water trucks since last Saturday, when reserves in the local water deposits ran out.
Councils are only able to offer the water supply for up to two hours a day, as is the case of the largest of the four villages, Almáchar, with almost 1,900 registered residents. Despite the supply by water trucks, “the level of the municipal reservoir is still very low. For this reason, we are forced to temporarily reduce the supply schedule, which will be from 8 to 10pm,” Almáchar town hall explained via social media.
The town hall has called on the “entire population to limit consumption to the minimum necessary” adding, “Every drop counts at this time.” They have also recommended that “those who do not yet have water tanks to install them as soon as possible, in order to be prepared for future contingencies.”
In El Borge the town hall said that supply was available on past Sunday from 10am to 2pm. “We ask for responsible water consumption and we appeal to your understanding. Thank you very much,” their statement said.
In Comares, in addition to filling the tanks with water trucks, bottled water is also being distributed to the elderly and most vulnerable. “We are working to ensure that the basic needs are covered, including water,’ said the town hall.
Axaragua has set up an area at the El Trapiche drinking water treatment plant (ETAP) in Vélez-Málaga so that the affected municipalities can load water with drinking water. Technicians have detected four damaged sections in the main connection pipe to La Viñuela reservoir.
The branch that runs through the Benamargosa Valley, towards Iznate and Benamocarra was able to recover service on Thursday morning, as well as the one that serves Triana and Las Chozas in Vélez-Málaga.
Next, work was carried out to locate a fault at the end of the pipeline that runs along the riverbed, which was detected just 500 metres from Benamargosa. To repair a third fault, located over the weekend, it was necessary to locate a 50-metre cast iron pipe in the city of Malaga to replace the one that had been damaged by the storm. With this action it was possible to re-establish the service in part of Benamargosa.
Currently, work is being carried out on a final section located at the end of the connection between Salto del Negro and Benamargosa, for which it will also be necessary to replace 120 metres of the damaged pipe. The heavy rains also affected the pumping station that pumps water to Almáchar, El Borge, Comares and Cútar, which has also required cleaning of the deposit and repair of damage to electrical and electronic equipment. Another of the incidents detected by Axaragua's technicians after the Dana that affected the branch that serves Moclinejo and Macharaviaya was repaired last Friday.
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