Comares becomes latest Axarquía village with chlorates detected in water supply

Comares has become the latest village in Malaga province's Axarquía area to face several days of water restrictions since the town hall announced that the tap water supplying the Los Ventorros area was unfit for drinking or cooking on Monday 17 August.

The announcement came after an official notification regarding a health inspection which had detected an issue relating to the presence of chlorates in the Conca-Ventorros water network. The town hall's initial plan is to maintain the restrictions for around three days, although lifting them will depend on new test results confirming that the parameters have returned to normal.

The municipal notice expressly prohibits the use of tap water for drinking and cooking until further notice. It may, however, continue to be used for personal hygiene, cleaning and other domestic tasks that do not involve ingestion or the preparation of food. “We ask for everyone’s full cooperation to safeguard public health,” the town hall stated in the post via social media.

To meet basic needs while the ban remains in force, the town hall has organised a free and ongoing distribution of bottled water. In the mornings, water will be handed out between 9.30am and 10.30am opposite the Los Ventorros bus stop. Those unable to travel during this time may collect water in the afternoon from supermarkets and other shops in the village. The distribution will continue for as long as necessary and until the test results fall within the established parameters.

The restriction specifically affects the Los Ventorros water network and has not, as yet, been extended to the whole of Comares. The town hall has not specified the level of chlorates detected, the exact point in the network where the sample was taken, or the possible causes of the anomaly. The council’s statement is currently limited to setting out the precautionary measures put in place following the health inspection and establishing an initial timeframe of three days.

The population of the neighbourhood is small. According to the Andalusian institute of statistics and cartography, the number of registered residents in Los Ventorros is 32 – 21 men and 11 women – compared with the 1,339 residents of Comares as a whole. This represents approximately 2.4 per cent of the municipal population.

However, this figure cannot be taken as the number of people affected, as the Town Council has not specified exactly how many users or homes the Conca-Ventorros network supplies, nor whether it includes scattered properties in the vicinity. Los Ventorros is situated some four kilometres from the main centre of Comares.

This incident once again highlights the need for health monitoring of small water supply networks in the interior of the Axarquía, following several similar incidents in less than a year in different towns and villages in the east of Malaga province, including Alcaucín, Frigiliana and Torrox and Canillas de Aceituno among others.