This body, which depends on the Community, regrets that the agricultural ‘lobby’ “discredits” the treatment plants with “half-truths”
Esamur, the Sanitation and Purification Entity of the Region of Murcia, dependent on the Ministry of Agriculture, reproaches the Ingenio Foundation for spreading “things that are not true and half-truths” about the purification of wastewater in the Campo de Cartagena and its impact on the Mar Menor. Last week in Brussels, the ‘lobby’ that brings together 40 cooperatives and agricultural companies presented a study of its own to a group of MEPs warning that the death of fish is related to the presence of polluting elements in wastewater, for which it questions that agricultural activity is responsible for the degradation of the lagoon.
This Foundation campaign has caused discomfort in the Ministry. Esamur’s technical director, Pedro Simón, asked those responsible for this group of agricultural entrepreneurs “not to discredit something that has cost us so much to achieve. They are offering a third-world image of our Region in terms of purification, when it is quite the opposite, since we are at the forefront of Europe. It is sad that they act like this, knowing also that they use this water to irrigate », he stressed. «Our network of treatment plants has advanced treatments, and we are already entering quaternary regeneration systems, using activated carbon to further improve the quality of the water. We are one of the three autonomous communities that complies with the entire European Directive.”
Pedro Simón said that they have requested said study from the Foundation on two occasions, but have not received a response. One of the values analyzed corresponds to the analysis of samples taken on March 17 at the Torre Pacheco treatment plant spillway, in which a “high presence of E. Colli was detected, with more than 80,000 units per 100 milliliters, in addition to of phosphates and ammonium above the permitted thresholds”, according to the Foundation, which specified that in these analyzes carried out in the rainy season “no parameter complied with the EC regulations on urban wastewater treatment”. He also pointed out that most of the 27 treatment plants in the region “have neither the capacity nor the necessary infrastructure for the correct treatment of water, producing direct discharges into the Mar Menor.”
In Torre Pacheco, samples of wastewater and rain were taken that exceeded the capacity of the treatment plant
Pedro Simón answered yesterday that there is a European directive for the treatment of urban water, but not for the treatment of rainwater, for which the parameters of the former do not serve. In this sense, he considers that the Foundation’s starting point is wrong.
He indicated that it took samples from the spillway of the Torre Pacheco treatment plant, which transports a mixture of urban wastewater and rainwater to the Rambla del Albujón, especially the latter, which cannot be treated at the plant since it far exceeds its capacity. of that. These situations occur in periods of intense rain and it is a general problem in all the territories. “When there is rain, and it mixes with the sewage system, you cannot put the entire flow into the treatment plant because it does not fit, and a part goes to the Albujón.” He added that the elements carried by the residuals are highly diluted, and considered that the proportion of E. Colli detected in the analysis “is high, but at the same time it is ridiculous when compared to that of raw water.”
make separate networks
He explained that these situations must be solved, which he considers a weak point, by installing separate networks in the municipalities, which cannot be solved in a day, but rather requires time and investment. The construction of a large storm tank of 66,000 cubic meters in Torre Pacheco is also being finalized. Both measures will prevent these flows from going to the Albujón when heavy rains occur.
Simón stressed that all the parameters periodically analyzed at the output of the region’s treatment plants (there are six outstanding, out of a total of 27) are below the minimum allowed by the EU (biological demand for oxygen, nitrogen, phosphate and suspended solids ).
They will allocate 16 million to marine spaces and floods
The regional government will allocate more than 16 million euros for the implementation of various projects related to the conservation of marine protected areas, the improvement in waste management or the implementation of measures for the protection and adaptation to floods in urban environments. This was highlighted by the Minister of Agriculture, Antonio Luengo, after participating in the telematic meeting of the Consultative Council for the Environment, chaired by Minister Teresa Ribera. The projects will be financed through ‘Next Generation’ funds.
“This is aid that we are going to have thanks to the intense work of the government of President López Miras,” he said. On the other hand, he lamented that “the good work done in terms of wastewater treatment and sanitation harms the Region of Murcia when it comes to receiving aid. By not having sanctioning files, the Government of Spain excludes us from such an important call, which would allow us to make further progress to continue being leaders at the international level in this matter », he stated.
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