It is equivalent to about 14 months of water consumption in Roquetas and has been achieved thanks to the commitment to desalinated water and efficiency proposals

The City Council of Roquetas de Mar, through Hidralia, the concessionaire company for the municipal water supply, sanitation and purification service in Roquetas de Mar, has certified the water footprint of the municipality through AENOR (Spanish Association for Standardization and Certification), to verify the impact that the commitment to desalinated water has had in the municipality.

The water footprint is an environmental indicator that measures the volume of water needed to manufacture the products and services that society demands, as well as the indirect expenses for this (water consumption in electricity production, fuels, processes...). For its calculation, not only is the volume of water used measured, but a distinction is also made between: rainwater used (green water footprint), surface and groundwater (blue water footprint) and residual water (gray water footprint).

In this way, it has been proven that the purchase of desalinated water has had a great impact on the reduction of the blue water footprint which, together with other measures and efficiency proposals carried out by Hidralia, has allowed it to be reduced by more than 13 million cubic meters (the equivalent of the water consumption that Roquetas needs for 14 months) since 2015.

The report also shows the impact that desalinated water has on alleviating the state of the overexploited aquifer in Poniente Almería, since the documents state that 9 years ago 100% of the municipality's water consumption came from collecting wells, while now it represents only 9.97% and its use is associated with maintaining a constant flow and pressure of water in the system.

On the other hand, we must highlight the effort made by Hidralia and the Roquetas City Council to improve infrastructure and the implementation of efficient initiatives to add to this reduction and which can be observed in the drop in Non-Registered Water (ANR). ) over the last few years. The ANR is an indicator of the efficiency of water supply networks and one of the main challenges facing drinking water management. This is the difference between the volume of water supplied to the network and the volume of water registered in the users' meters. The difference means what has been lost in the networks during transport or that it is fraud.

In 2023, thanks to the different tasks that have been undertaken by Hidralia and the Roquetas City Council, these water losses have been reduced by 97,341 cubic meters.

New challenges

In this way, the City Council, through Hidralia, the service concessionaire company, continues working to continue improving this index and increase the water efficiency of the municipality with the aim of reducing the water stress suffered by the area. A clear example is found in the Roquetas Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) and the implementation of tertiary treatment that will allow the production of 8.3 cubic hectometers of regenerated water for the irrigation of crops in the area.

Which makes the action a lever to promote not only the circular economy, but also to minimize the impact of periods of drought by preventing this resource from having to be extracted from the aquifer.

The biggest beneficiaries will be the farmers in the area, including those who make up the Sol y Arena irrigation community, since this emergency work is motivated by guaranteeing water for the crops. In the future, this water could be used to irrigate public gardens and golf courses, to wash streets, to clean sewers... considerably minimizing the current impact of the municipality's water consumption.