The Lanzarote Water Consortium takes another step in its commitment to improving sanitation and wastewater treatment in Lanzarote and La Graciosa, and in its planning for a more sustainable integral water cycle.
The Cabildo of Lanzarote has put out to tender the project of the Lanzarote Water Consortium for the execution of the works of extension and integral improvement of the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) of La Santa, in the municipality of Tinajo, for an amount of 1,938,155.37 euros, with a type of IGIC of 0 percent, as it is a publicly owned equipment, and with a term of execution of the construction works of the plant of 12 months.
The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, has valued the work done by the Water Consortium that "as we did with the El Golfo sanitation project, with the La Santa WWTP we have worked against the clock to prevent the loss of funds from the agreement signed with the Ministry in 2017".
For Betancort "this work improves energy efficiency, which will allow the plant to be more self-sufficient and reduce the environmental impact, thus fulfilling our commitment to achieve a more sustainable integral water cycle".
A stagnant agreement without a project since 2017
This project is part of those included in the agreement signed with the Ministry of Environment in 2017, for an amount of four million for sanitation infrastructure works, which stipulates that the work must be completed in November 2025, after the extension granted to the project in 2021.
"Our surprise has been that, despite the fact that the previous heads of the Cabildo obtained the extension, not only did they not leave any project, but they did not even commission the drafting of any plan for sanitation on the island, with the serious shortcomings we have," according to the Councilor for Water of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Domingo Cejas.
"Now we are not only advancing in the contracting of the extension and improvement of the La Santa WWTP, but we also have drafted the extension of the Haría WWTP, and we are only waiting for the urban planning compatibility report to be issued by the northern City Council to be able to start the contracting procedures," adds Cejas.
The current La Santa WWTP has been in operation since 2008 and is designed for an average flow of 500 cubic meters per day, according to the Cabildo, this capacity is "insufficient for the current population, so the new flow should be expanded in the coming years, and attend to the population increase and seasonality".
The proposed actions with the execution of this project seek to correct this deficiency and also a significant environmental improvement of the effects currently caused by the operation of the treatment plant in the environment, achieving an optimal energy performance of purification and allowing the proper and eventual reuse of treated water.
The current WWTP is located in the area of land in which the project for the improvement of irrigation in the northeast of Lanzarote is being executed, through the agreement between the public company SEIASA and the Cabildo of Lanzarote, with an investment of 24.4 million euros that will provide a solution to the agricultural water needs of farmers in Tinajo and Teguise.
The deadline for submitting bids for the execution of the "Construction project for the extension and integral improvement of the La Santa WWTP in the municipality of Tinajo", published on Wednesday, May 7 on the Public Sector Procurement Platform, ends on May 28.