Located in a point on the map that geographers consider “hot” in terms of climate change, in an area where water scarcity always threatens, the city of Alicante has managed to diversify the sources that provide water to its network so far this century. of supply.
A mix of resources from surface water, Tajo-Segura transfer, groundwater, desalination and the increasing reuse of treated water, together with network management that has reduced losses to values ??around 8%, much lower than What is usual in other large cities in Spain and Europe, they allow citizens to not see the supply compromised even in times of prolonged drought.
Some data that were released yesterday in the first report on climate change and water management prepared by the Aguas de Alicante chair at the University of the city endorse these impressions conveyed by its director and professor of Geography, Jorge Olcina.
For example, the study highlights that Alicante is one of the Spanish cities with the highest level of purification and reuse of treated water, especially for agricultural use.
For the agricultural sector, a significant increase has been achieved, going from 5 million m3 in 2010 to almost 9 million m3 in 2022, an increase of 80% in just over a decade. Similarly, growth has been observed in the use of reclaimed water in the urban environment, rising from 796,000 m3 in 2010 to 1,190,134 m3 in 2022, around 50% more.
Olcina explained that the contribution of different sources of resources keeps Alicante free of problems like those that, for example, Barcelona suffers these days, by avoiding dependence on a single system. In fact, the contribution of desalinated water to the network is far from having reached its maximum potential in the city.
Added to this is the fact that, since 2005, there has been a downward trend in the volumes of water supplied. This means that efficiency in water management is increasing. With a smaller volume of water, today service is provided to a larger population. This is verified in the network loss management data and in its performance, which is always above 85%. In recent years, returns of 90% have been recorded.
This figure is one of the highest in Spain for cities the size of Alicante and with an urban model that combines concentration and urban dispersion (districts, rural areas).
The report also ensures that Alicante is a pioneer city in the incorporation of wastewater for the irrigation of parks and gardens. It is also important in the incorporation of rainwater into the drinking water system, from the construction of rainwater tanks and the La Marjal flood park, on San Juan beach. These infrastructures have a double purpose: collecting rainwater and reducing the risk of flooding in the urban area by reducing the sheets of water that circulate through the streets during heavy rains.
And they also carry out a first filtering of pollutants from the rainwater that are definitively treated in the Orgegia and Rincón de León purification plants. The Alicante Water Strategic Plan plans the construction of new stormwater tanks that will be launched in the coming years
