Drought solutions in Marbella

05 Sep 2023 | News and Updates

This year 2023 we are facing a drought in Marbella. The storage levels of the reservoirs that supply the western area of the Costa del Sol are in a somewhat worrying situation, so restrictive measures have been taken to restrict water consumption but there are solutions to the drought in Marbella. There is good news.

The lack of rainfall together with the increase in population caused every summer with the arrival of the holidays and the consequent increase in consumption have led to the point of having to take certain restrictive measures on non-essential water consumption, specifically, watering golf courses, refilling private swimming pools, washing cars outside authorised establishments, ornamental fountains without a closed circuit, public showers and fountains and any non-essential use, as well as reducing the frequency of watering gardens, orchards, parks and public and private green areas.

Marbella is supplied by water from the reservoir of La Concepción, which it shares with Manilva, Casares, Estepona, Benahavis, Mijas, Fuengirola and Benalmadena, with a total of 450,000 inhabitants. The capacity of the reservoir is 57 cubic hectometres.

Marbella also has an important seawater recycling infrastructure that collects seawater from the mouth of the Rio Verde and takes it to a desalination plant, finishing the cycle in a drinking water treatment plant (ETAP) from where it is supplied both for irrigation and domestic consumption.

With this situation, the institutions, Junta de Andalucía, Mancomunidad de Municipios de la Costa del Sol and the public water management company Acosol have had to react and in anticipation of similar situations, agree on the recovery of the project to improve and expand the capacity of both the water treatment plant and the desalination plant in Marbella.

Currently the capacity of the desalination plant is 5 cubic hectometres and it is planned to double this capacity with an estimated investment of 3.35 million euros as a matter of urgency.

At the same time, an investment of 20 million euros has been agreed for the improvement of the water treatment plant, doubling its capacity to treat water from the La Concepción reservoir. Both works are scheduled for completion before the summer of 2024.

This is undoubtedly excellent news as these investments will increase the water resources for the supply and at the same time guarantee them in anticipation of possible and more than likely future periods of drought in Marbella with the consequent peace of mind for Marbella property owners, visitors and users in general.

From Benarroch Real Estate we intend to give you at all times the most interesting and current information, inviting you to visit us at our office in the Centro Comercial El Pilar.