Gonzalo Piernavieja, director of Water, Energy and Bioengineering of the Technological Institute of the Canary Islands, explained yesterday at the Aquamac project results dissemination conference that raising awareness of saving consumption is still the main objective of this project that integrates the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands.
The efficient management of the water cycle and the study of water availability and the risks that encompass them were two of the essential aspects on which the technical reports focused.
Piernavieja said that works have been proposed to find solutions to problems related to water. Specifically, the use of renewable energies in the water cycle, the development of tariff systems according to island or regional realities, the analytical control of different waters, the risks of contamination of different aquifers with different pollutants, the enormous potential for savings that exist both domestically and in terms of losses in networks and ways to solve leaks using new technologies.
In other words, there are many projects that await a great level of dissemination and that above all need continuity over time. The projects combine innovation, dissemination, research and development. Piernavieja commented that in Madeira and the Azores there is a lot of water, but they have detected significant losses in networks, while in the Canary Islands they seek to make the most of the available water because we cannot say that we have too much.
The Aquamac project Results Dissemination Conferences aim to publicize, both to the technicians involved in water management in the islands, and to the general public, the activities that have been carried out over 2 years of the project in the regions involved together with the most relevant results. Likewise, within the framework of these conferences, the book "Aquamac: Techniques and methods for sustainable water management in Macaronesia" is presented, which includes articles on the most representative works carried out throughout the project.
The Aquamac project, co-financed by the INTERREG III B Community Initiative within the Azores-Madeira-Canary Islands area, arises from the effort of integration and confluence of various initiatives in the field of sustainable management of water resources that have emerged from the three European archipelagos that are part of the biogeographical area of Macaronesia.
The project aims to strengthen technical knowledge regarding the quality and quantity of available resources and deepen optimal management practices of the integral water cycle for the development, in the medium and long term, of appropriate models that incorporate the principles of cost recovery, efficient allocation of resources and prevention of pollution emanating from the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC.
To use water better
The misuse of water causes enormous economic and environmental costs. For us to have water permanently in our taps, significant economic and management efforts are necessary. Along with this cost, we must consider and try to avoid the environmental impacts and pollution that occur when water is extracted from nature or when it is produced by alternative methods (desalination). The Aquamac partners are making an effort for sustainable (Efficient and responsible) management of water. For this, the partners require the collaboration of the average citizen.
