CAAF again! it is now at risk of running out of water

[Johnrgby]

FUERTEVENTURA IS AT ‘SERIOUS RISK’ OF HAVING A SHORTAGE OF RUNNING WATER
 7/22/22, 8:48 AM  By Canarian Weekly  Fuerteventura
According to the reports of the Fuerteventura Water Supply Consortium (CAAF), the current conduction of the pipes that supply water to various towns on the island, are coming to the end of their useful life, having suffered six major leaks in the last year, causing supplies to be cut off and a consequent decrease in flow to these areas.
The Island Water Council of Fuerteventura (CIAF) have issued a proposed declaration of water emergency on the island to the Cabildo, "due to the existing situation of serious risk of shortage of drinking water that the island is going through".
Following this, the Cabildo has declared a new water emergency situation due to the serious decrease in available flows, because of foreseeable transitory circumstances, and given the risk of breaking the feed that leads from the Puerto del Rosario desalination plant to the main system of regulating tanks in La Herradura.
According to the CAAF reports, the current pipes suffered ruptures on April 10th, June 24th, August 20th, November 8th, and December 31st 2021, and April 17th of this year, with the consequent decrease in available flows in various towns on the island.
In addition, the contribution of the Puerto del Rosario desalination plant accounts for 70% of the island's demand, while the La Herradura plant feeds the main headwater deposits of Fuerteventura, such as Calderetilla and Tiscamanita (redistribution of the central zone and south) and Morro del Puerco (north area redistribution).
The water emergency situation will be maintained for six months, with the possibility of periodic extension if circumstances so require, to undertake the actions required to correct said situation and that are provided for in the proposal, says the Cabildo.
 
Following the announcement published yesterday, Thursday, in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (BOC), the allegations may be submitted during the five days indicated, in the Official Registry of the Insular Council of Waters of Fuerteventura in Puerto del Rosario.
Once the allegations presented have been reported, the proposed resolution to declare the water emergency will be taken to the Governing Board of the Insular Water Council for approval and subsequent publication in the BOC.
All this, while the new impulsion conduit, currently under construction at an investment of 3 million euros, is being executed and put into service, the Cabildo reported in a statement.

[windermeregolfer]

John who do you get your water from? at the villa we get ours through Anjoca and I thought I had seen Antigua Water signs about so is that another supplier?

[Johnrgby]

John who do you get your water from? at the villa we get ours through Anjoca and I thought I had seen Antigua Water signs about so is that another supplier?

Hi John trust you are both well? our supplier is Aguas Antigua { Antigua Water ] from what I can gather Ajonoca is a specific supplier to your part of the golf course, and supplies no one else which is in itself IMHO a bit odd, but I wiil delve deeper and see what i can find.

[windermeregolfer]

John who do you get your water from? at the villa we get ours through Anjoca and I thought I had seen Antigua Water signs about so is that another supplier?

Hi John trust you are both well? our supplier is Aguas Antigua { Antigua Water ] from what I can gather Ajonoca is a specific supplier to your part of the golf course, and supplies no one else which is in itself IMHO a bit odd, but I wiil delve deeper and see what i can find.

Hi John, yes both well, thanks, yes Anjoca supply all the water to the properties around the golf course which is a fair number, plus the Atlantico Centre and their 4 hotels (3 at the Atlantico and the Elba Golf on the golf course, which when you think about it when all added together is a small town in itself.

[Johnrgby]

John who do you get your water from? at the villa we get ours through Anjoca and I thought I had seen Antigua Water signs about so is that another supplier?

Hi John trust you are both well? our supplier is Aguas Antigua { Antigua Water ] from what I can gather Ajonoca is a specific supplier to your part of the golf course, and supplies no one else which is in itself IMHO a bit odd, but I wiil delve deeper and see what i can find.

Hi John, yes both well, thanks, yes Anjoca supply all the water to the properties around the golf course which is a fair number, plus the Atlantico Centre and their 4 hotels (3 at the Atlantico and the Elba Golf on the golf course, which when you think about it when all added together is a small town in itself.

The point I was trying to make John was, I have always found it odd when a company in the service sector is set up to supply somebody else's product, I know they do all the desalination and are responsible for sewage etc, but they must be making a profit, and believe me i am not one of them that think profit is a dirty word, but I am asking why, is the water system there any better than the rest of The Island?
Some years ago and it might be still on going Beverley North Yorkshire had it,s own telephone/Internet service, which was more expensive than BT, not as an option but if you wanted the service you had to sign up with them, which was obviously linked to main BT telephone system I know there are many options these days Sky tec. but these are options, again why other than for profit?
OK call me a cynic

[windermeregolfer]

It could well have been when the Fuerteventura Golf development first started late '90s early 2000s the size of the development would put too big a strain on existing infrastructure that part of the planning was to include desalination and water treatment plants.  Anjoca also probably felt that they couldn't rely on the island water system to supply the level of service and facilities their guests demand so better to be in control of their own water supply.
Re the cost of water from Anjoca for the 12 months to April our average cost of a cubic meter was 2.49€ compared to United Utilities (North West Water) in the UK, which takes it water from the lake not 500mtrs from my old house where all my surface / rainwater used to end up and for which they charged us for the removal of. A cubic meter average cost was 5.05€ , so who is making a huge profit? and I agree profit is not a dirty word.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Noticias:

Environmentalists do not want more desalination plants in Fuerteventura.

The different environmental groups continue to raise their rejection of the different solutions that are proposed from the administrations to try to reverse the energy problem, first of all with the refusal to implement almost all renewable facilities, on the one hand, the installation of infrastructures such as the Corralejo dock, and now a resource is raised against the declaration of water emergency and the installation of desalination plants that the administrations raise to try to solve the problem of water supply in Fuerteventura.

 

In this sense, the collective Turcón Ecologistas en Acción, from Telde and in solidarity with the Ben Magec Federation, has presented allegations to the proposal for a declaration of water emergency in the Hydrographic Demarcation of Fuerteventura.

 

From Turcón it is considered that this declaration to urgently install two new seawater desalination plants on the Island "only serves to hide the pre-existing management and inefficiency problems and really endangers the long-term water supply, given the unsustainability of the model".

 

The environmental group emphasizes "that each cubic meter of seawater desalinated on the islands carries implicit environmental costs either for the implementation of the infrastructure, the discharge of brine, as well as for the indirect emissions into the atmosphere due to the need for electricity production to sustain the entire industrial process (practically 1 kg of fossil fuel for each cubic meter desalinated)". All this, Turcón emphasizes, implies a significant carbon footprint (higher emissions precursors of climate change), economic costs, as well as a growing technological and energy dependence on the outside.

 

Therefore, on an island like Fuerteventura that depends on such a high percentage of seawater desalination, both for public supply to the population and for tourist activity, each cubic meter produced "must be considered a precious good that must be managed and used with the maximum possible efficiency as a priority, while enhancing its reuse, once used for the first time".

 

That is why, they understand from Turcón, that "the declaration of water emergency for the development of emergency desalination plants is not admissible, skipping the criteria of hydrological planning, when the water transport and distribution system on the Island of Fuerteventura has losses of up to 50% of the water".

 

All this, adds the collective, "supposes an economic and environmental breakdown for the system that puts at permanent risk the public water supply, given its unsustainability."

 

Therefore, from the collective Turcón Ecologistas en Acción they maintain that the declaration of water emergency "does not address the structural problems that must be solved with investments in demand management: control and efficiency of networks, efficiency in use, water saving programs and use of alternative resources such as reclaimed water that replace desalinated sea waters in certain applications, in compliance with the Fuerteventura Hydrological Plan itself and the European Water Framework Directive".

 

Thus, Turcón urges the Ministry of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning of the Government of the Canary Islands to carry out inspections of the island water councils to guarantee the adequate and justified Declaration of Water Emergency.

 

 

According to experts consulted by Noticias Fuerteventura, the reduction of the impact of brine on the sea is achieved through advanced engineering techniques. The need for water on the island has formulas to alleviate to the maximum the human inluence in the ecosystem, and for this they assure us "there are solutions endorsed by science and engineering".

 

They propose two methods to solve the problem, each of them has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, the first method is less effective at diluting brine in the sea, but is cheaper in maintenance. The second requires pumping the seawater into a tank to perform the dilution before returning it to the sea, and therefore, needs energy consumption.

 

Discharge by submarine emissary

 

This method is simple and effective. It consists of placing diffusers in the discharge pipe. This will be placed at a certain height above sea level and with inclinations between 30-90% with respect to the bottom.

 

It shall be designed so that the flow of the discharge is directed to the surface. In reality, the flow will go through a half-arc shape. This achieves a great dispersion of the brine, and its concentration in the marine region is significantly reduced.

 

Pre-dilution of brine discharge

 

It is about diluting the rejection brine before it is poured. The rejection brine from the desalination plant is retained in a tank. In this part of the process, it is diluted with water coming directly from the sea. Dilution usually has the ratio 1:4. Once we have that proportion, we return the dilution to the sea. This leads us to pour our rejection brine into a much lower concentration. This causes a minimal environmental impact on the receiving environment.

 
This technique has the drawback that it requires an additional pumping group, and a tank. It also involves an energy cost associated with pumping. As we see it is a very small inconvenience to the big problem it solves, since it makes the production of desalinated water viable.