Discharge from burst pipe discolours sea off Benalmádena beach popular with holidaymakers

A huge discoloured patch of water in the sea has surprised swimmers this Monday in the beach area located between Sunset Beach and El Bil Bil castle, in Benalmádena Costa. The water has turned brown in colour and it has been spreading rapidly, all due to a burst pipe in the water supply network, near the Los Patos hotel in the town, according to the information provided by the town hall.

The same source pointed out that the leakage into the sea is drinking water and therefore does not entail any health risk, and also pointed out that the pipe that has suffered damage is the responsibility of the public water company of the Mancomunidad de Municipios de la Costa del Sol (Acosol), which "is already carrying out work to repair it".

Videos are already circulating on the internet in which you can see the impressive flow of water coming out of the area where the break has happened. The town hall said that this is due to the fact that it is a pipe that supplies almost half of the population of Benalmádena. "The water has been channelled naturally into the stream and has flowed into the sea".

Regarding the colour of the discharged water, the council insisted that it is drinking water that has this colour "as a result of the natural dragging of the soil towards the sea, without any type of contamination as it comes from a high pressure supply pipe". The source also added that the event has not caused any other problems, "except that the rapid and massive outflow of water into the sea generated return currents".

At first, yellow flags were flown on the affected beaches, as a precaution for bathing, but "later, after the situation returned to normal, the green flag was unfurled again" while the repair of the pipeline continues.

The population whose supply may be affected by the incident remains to be determined. The town hall told SUR that it does not have this information, as this is a pipe that is the responsibility of Acosol, which said that it is still determining the areas affected.

The water company said that after the detection of the fault "we immediately proceeded to stop the water leakage", which involved a direct impact on two intakes of the high-pressure supply network of the municipality: Cortijo Mena and the Hiper, so everything suggests that the areas around them may be the main ones affected. "Acosol is working in coordination with the local operator Emabesa to be able to maintain supply with its own resources," it said.

With regard to the reason for the breakdown, it is known that the section of pipe affected is one that is "quite old and deteriorated" and that is "included in the pipe renovation project that Acosol is preparing for tender", according to company sources.