Second village in Malaga's Axarquía warns residents not to drink tap water
The town hall has detected high levels of chlorates in its tanks and is distributing bottle water to its 1,000 residents through local businesses
El Borge has become the second town in Malaga province's Axarquía area to warn residents not to drink the tap water, which comes from La Viñuela reservoir. The town hall has declared that the water is unfit for human consumption due to the detection of high levels of chlorates in the analysis. Last week Iznate advised its residents not to drink the tap water for the same reason.
El Borge town hall posted on social media that "until the new results come back, an alternative supply will have to be made, consisting of water bottles which can be collected from the shops mentioned in the notice, until further notice". The message went on to say that "the corrective measures communicated by the health authorities have been taken until the new results of the analyses are available".
The town hall has made available eight litres of water per day per household and advised residents to contact the town hall for further information and advice.
Mayor of El Borge Raúl Vallejo explained that the chlorate parameters were not measured before, but now they are after the modification of a regional regulation, in compliance with a European directive. He told Cadena Ser radio in the Axarquía that although at the moment there are only two municipalities affected "it is possible that in the coming days there will be more cases" among the other twelve municipalities that are also supplied by Axaragua.
Technical sources consulted by SUR have pointed out that high chlorate levels can be increased by poor maintenance of water supply reservoirs. However, they have clarified that the maximum parameters set by the regulations have recently been modified by the Junta de Andalucía, increasing them, which is complicating the management of municipal water supply networks in Andalucía.
The president of the Mancomunidad association of town halls in the Axarquía and of the public company Axaragua, Jorge Martín, explained to SUR that, for the moment, he is not aware of any other municipalities affected by this problem. "The problem is caused by those who do not maintain the installations and chlorine storage properly," he said.
