'Understanding' called for as major sewer network upgrade gets under way in Marbella

The western Costa del Sol's public water company Acosol has started work to update the main sewerage network in Las Cañas beach in the Marbesa area of Marbella according to the CEO of the business, Matilde Mancha, during a visit to the site, together with Marbella's councillor for beaches, Diego López.

The aim of the work is to provide structural safety to the general sewerage collector in the sections most affected by corrosion, making the pipe watertight with the installation of a sleeve and preventing seawater seepage which increases the conductivity of the water entering the treatment plants in La Víbora (Marbella) and at the same time preventing possible spillage due to seepage.

A 500-metre repair, divided into eight sections, will be carried out on the sewage network in the Marbesa area, with a budget of one million euros. The affected beach area will be restricted for the duration of the work, which is expected to be around three months. Once the diversion has been completed, everything that could be affected by the work itself will be restored to its original state.

Acosol and the town hall are asking for "public cooperation and understanding", as the work involves the occupation of the area by heavy machinery, the execution of paths with iron, the bypassing of the network and the deployment of hoses, among other things. To guarantee the safety of users and try to minimise the impact, the work area will be signposted.

Work has already been contracted for the installation of the sewerage network in the Pinomar area where throughout the summer an intense programme of emergency cleaning has been carried out to avoid incidents and achieve the best water channelling, according to the Mancomunidad association of town halls on the western Costa del Sol.

Of the total of the Acosol investment plan, which amounts to 348.6 million euros, 232 million euros will be earmarked for integral sewerage projects on the western Costa del Sol, including infrastructures related to the collectors located on the coast, treatment plants and regenerated water networks. In this section, as well as the aforementioned work in two sections of the integral sewerage network in Marbella and Estepona, there is an allocation of 30 million euros for the modernisation and replacement of integral sewerage networks with serious structural damage, reducing the risk of possible discharges into the local environment.

In addition, it has another allocation of up to 46 million euros for the improvement of process lines and facilities in treatment plants to adapt them to the regulatory changes contained in the new European directive, and 129 million euros to promote the use of reclaimed water, through the improvement of quality, expansion of tertiary systems and reclaimed water supply networks on the Costa del Sol, already adapted to the new regulations on reclaimed water that will be approved soon.