Malaga now irrigates Peñón del Cuervo green areas with reclaimed water thanks to pilot project

Malaga city council and municipal water company Emasa have signed an agreement to use reclaimed water from the Peñón del Cuervo wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) for irrigation of the green spaces surrounding the beach.

The environment department launched this pilot project in June 2025, when it also planted 93 trees and nearly 2,000 shrubs. The project culminated in the installation of the necessary pipelines to irrigate 12,000 square metres of public gardens with reclaimed water from the treatment plant.

The advantage of the four-year agreement with Emasa is that it entails no cost for the environment department due to the "public interest of all these green spaces", as local ruling team spokesperson Elisa Pérez de Siles has stated.

Currently, the use of treated wastewater for irrigation complements the use of non-potable groundwater in Malaga city. According to the city council, this groundwater is used in almost all of the city's parks and green spaces, as well as by conservation organisations, resulting in considerable savings of potable water.

As the official record states, Emasa has committed to supplying up to 11,200 cubic metres of treated water annually from the Peñón del Cuervo wastewater treatment plant to the aforementioned maritime park. This water will then flow from the plant through a 750-metre pipeline to serve a green area of 13,000 square metres.

As the city council has reported, to distinguish the irrigation system from other possible drinking water pipes, the pipes are violet and there are signs indicating this. The irrigation system is controlled remotely, "which allows for the immediate detection of any type of incident or leak that the installation might experience.

This supply is provided by connecting the irrigation system to the main pipeline the regional government installed following the commissioning of the tertiary treatment plant as part of emergency works, which have improved water resources in the face of the drought. This has enabled the supply of reclaimed water for the irrigation of 7,000 hectares of farmland in the Axarquía district (27 irrigation communities and one private user), as well as for the El Candado golf course (111,000 square metres, with an annual request for 475,000 cubic metres) and the treatment plant's own internal gardens.

Elisa Pérez de Siles has also stated that the city council is currently working on using reclaimed water from the Guadalhorce WWTP for irrigation in both Churriana and Torremolinos, at the cost of 6.3 million euros. To make this possible, two systems at the Guadalhorce WWTP will supply reclaimed water through pipelines that extend 10.3 kilometres. The first phase will complete 9.1 kilometres, with further expansion planned as necessary procedures and urban developments progress. The project also includes separating the stormwater and wastewater networks along the Guadalmar road.