The manager of Emasa estimates the storm's flow at 120 Olympic swimming pools per hour, which caused the spillage of sewage and the closure of six beaches in August. The sewage treatment plants in Málaga can only process three pools per hour.
The storm that hit on the night of the fireworks, at the start of the Málaga Fair, reached a flow of 100 Olympic swimming pools per hour, while the treatment plants at Peñón del Cuervo and Guadalhorce can only handle three Olympic swimming pools per hour. This was quantified by the manager of Emasa, Juanjo Denis, during a session of the Málaga City Council, as reported by Diario Sur.
This figure was the most striking of a session in which opposition groups (PSOE, Con Málaga, and Vox) reproached the Environment Councillor, Penélope Gómez, and Denis for the lack of investment in comprehensive sanitation, specifically in the separation of stormwater and wastewater and in the construction of storm tanks. The closure of six beaches due to faecal bacteria during the fair week, mostly in August, was the trigger for the criticism.
Denis explained that the treatment plants are oversized to handle the wastewater from the population and tourism during the summer, but that a torrential storm of this magnitude can collapse a comprehensive sanitation system that must evacuate its waters to the sea. He added that 58% of the stormwater and wastewater pipelines are separated, 17% are partially separated, and the rest are combined. Málaga is one of the cities with the most separate networks, compared to others that opted for storm tanks.
“In a few months, we will have it available in Málaga”
The manager of Emasa indicated that the Ministry of Ecological Transition has ordered the implementation of a comprehensive sanitation management plan in municipalities, with an additional two-year deadline, and that Málaga will have it ready in a few months. He also recalled that the quality of bathing waters is the responsibility of the Junta de Andalucía, which conducts periodic analyses and closes beaches when necessary.
The opposition also demanded improvements in the management of the lifeguard service. Juan Antonio Ruiz and Mario Emiliano Cortés pointed out that the company has made six layoffs and described the treatment received as unfair. Cortés emphasised that it was the lifeguards who raised the alarm on August 12 and that initially, they were attributed to the Asian algae, although they ended up being poisoned by the sewage spills. He criticised that they had not been received by the mayor after requesting meetings on December 1 and January 23, and demanded that the Beaches Councillor, Teresa Porras, apologise for calling them 'trápalas', which did not happen.
A resident of the La Asunción neighbourhood, Antonio Manuel Lozano, stated that 15 litres per square metre were enough to show the state of the pipelines and urged Emasa to act urgently because 35% of drinking water is being lost and the rate has increased by 42%. The socialist Begoña Medina described the management of the beaches as disastrous and recalled that the City Council depleted Emasa with the transfer of 75 million euros. Sgugilia, from Con Málaga, criticised that after 30 years of PP governance, six beaches closed in August, and the Vox deputy spokesperson, Yolanda Gómez, called it a joke to blame the spillage on residents' use of wipes.
The Environment Councillor, Penélope Gómez, responded that works worth almost 50 million euros are being carried out through the managing company and the Urban Planning Management, and that the Hydraulic Investment Plan amounts to 100 million euros, focused on separating stormwater and wastewater in the capital and constructing storm tanks.
“However, the storm tanks, of which I have designed several, only serve for the first eight minutes of heavy rain, and if it continues, the rain eventually reaches the sea”
The Málaga City Council must present the comprehensive sanitation management plan in the coming months, according to the deadline set by the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
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