Combination of wells and water-saving initiatives reduces drain on Malaga's reservoirs by a third

The city of Malaga is becoming less and less dependent on reservoirs for its water supply. According to a recent report presented by the councillor for environmental sustainability, Penélope Gómez, and the manager of public water company Emasa, Juan José Denis, Malaga has reduced reservoir water consumption by a third. In addition, the saving measures in the face of the drought crisis, together with the cooperation of the public, have enabled the city's overall consumption to be reduced by 6%. The municipal company distributed a total of 42.2 million cubic metres last year, 2.7 less than in 2022, which is the year these actions began.

Of this, some 1.1 million cubic metres have been saved thanks to two of the most ambitious proposals: intelligent pressure regulation and network works to reduce leaks. In addition, in this period the use of alternative water resources, such as wells, both for supply and irrigation, has increased by 158%. Despite the clear improvement in the situation, the city council maintains its commitment to caution: "We continue to work as if it has not rained," said the councillor.

This confirms the downward trend that began in 2023, with a slowdown in consumption and a reduction of 5.3% (44.6 million cubic metres). The rate has been maintained in 2025 so far: in the first quarter of the year, 9.4 million cubic metres have been distributed from the reservoirs, 8.2% less than in the same period of 2024. With such figures, urban consumption in the city currently stands at an average of 169 litres per inhabitant per day. This figure is below the maximum allocation (225 litres) agreed by the drought committee. It is even lower than the maximum of 180 litres that was set in October 2024 due to the persistence of the drought, before the reservoir water increased, as a result of the latest rains.

The improvement in the hydrological situation has allowed the Guadalhorce-Limonero system to move from a situation of "severe shortage" to "moderate shortage", which means that all restrictions on the use of drinking water that were active have been lifted, as long as the maximum allocation of 225 litres per inhabitant per day for urban use is maintained. This good news has not allowed the department for environmental sustainability and Emasa to lower their guard, as they continue to control how water is used and saved by regulating the pressure injected into the networks throughout the city to minimise leaks (the higher the pressure, the greater the amount of water lost); repairing pipes; urging large consumers to detect leaks in interior pipes; and extending usage of groundwater resources for watering green areas and cleaning streets.

The work carried out to extend pressure regulation by installing valves has made it possible to apply a reduction in off-peak hours (when there is less demand, mainly at night), without having to resort to restrictions. At present, a hundred of the 150 sectors in the city are already regulated, covering 70% of the total length of the distribution network, which exceeds 1,900 kilometres. As for the preventive search, locate and repair plan, more than 500 leaks were located and repaired in 2024. Overall, pressure regulation, repair of leaks and network renovation works have led to a 2.6% reduction in the total water distributed from the reservoirs in 2024 (1.1 million cubic metres).

At the same time, the exploitation of alternative water resources is also making progress. To a great extent, this has been possible thanks to the recovery of a series of wells located on both banks of the final stretch of the Guadalhorce river for urban supply and the increased use of reclaimed water. In addition, there are projects on which different institutions collaborate, such as the one agreed between the provincial authority and the Torremolinos town hall to increase the tertiary treatment capacity of the Guadalhorce treatment plant for irrigation of facilities in the western part of the town and neighbouring municipalities.

Emasa has considerably reduced the water coming from the reservoirs by making greater use of these alternative resources: on the one hand, groundwater from the Fahala and Aljaima wells, and on the other, surface water captured at the Aljaima weir, which allows part of the flow of the Guadalhorce river shortly after its confluence with the Grande river to be pumped and treated at the El Atabal drinking water treatment plant. For three months in 2024, this resource supplied the entire consumption. Together, these wells and the weir have covered a third of the city's demand.

In net figures, the water from the dams that was treated at the El Atabal plant totalled 39.1 million cubic metres, 33% less than the 58.4 used in 2023. At the same time, the volume of water obtained from wells and the Aljaima weir increased by 158.5% to 16.2 million cubic metres. Therefore, between all the catchment sources (reservoirs, wells and weir), the total raw water that reached El Atabal was 55.3 million cubic metres, 14.5% less. To this must be added the reduction in the amount of water sent from Malaga to La Axarquía (9 million cubic metres per year) after the improvement of La Viñuela in April 2024.