On one side, it urges that a rational, responsible and supportive use be carried out

The town hall of San Frenando is implementing a series of measures to reduce its water consumption by 20% due to the exceptional drought that the province of Cádiz is currently experiencing. This is in line with the request made by the Consorcio de Aguas de la Zona Gaditana (CAZG) and the Emergency Plan for Drought in San Fernando, which is in accordance with the Contingency Plan for Climate Change and Drought in San Fernando.

The city has been working for years to reduce its water consumption, and has achieved a water efficiency of 95% by implementing various actions, campaigns, and initiatives since 2015, resulting in a savings of 2,080,000 m3 (equivalent to filling 250 Olympic-sized swimming pools every year) 1. San Fernando is thus 10 to 15 points above the national average, making it one of the highest indices in Andalusia. These are the reasons why more drastic measures have been avoided to meet the 20% reduction target, especially interruptions in service. In fact, to achieve this goal without significantly affecting people, businesses, and companies, the water pressure in the supply networks will be reduced by 20%.

It is worth noting that the current drought is the most intense and long-lasting since historical records began, accumulating more than five years of precipitation deficit. The system is in an emergency situation due to drought, on alert for severe scarcity throughout the Guadalete System area. Thanks to the joint efforts of users, the City Council, and the water supply company, and despite this prolonged situation, we are overcoming the drought without the citizens or the business sector seeing a decline in the quality of the water supply service.

The situation has worsened and the San Fernando City Council is taking measures to save water and raise awareness among the entire population to maximize efforts and prioritize the use of water, ensuring both domestic use and the necessary water for maintaining the productive processes of companies by suppressing any non-essential use, even if it causes some inconvenience. The municipal government has urged the general public, organizations, companies, and other social groups to use water rationally, responsibly, and in solidarity, and to make a collective and solidary effort to achieve the 20% savings target in consumption. The measures contemplated in the municipal order include a series of prohibitions on the use of drinking water to reduce consumption, including the watering of gardens, green areas of a public or private nature, as well as the watering and cleaning of roads, facades, and streets.

The use of fountains for human consumption that do not have automatic closing elements is also prohibited, and where they do exist, their use is restricted only to consumption and not for other uses such as recreational purposes. Ornamental fountains that do not have a closed water circuit, public showers and dispensers will be disabled, and filling or refilling of swimming pools, fountains, or ponds, whether public or private, will be prohibited. Vehicle washing must be carried out in authorized establishments, and any other non-essential use of water should be avoided.

The municipal order refers to the enactment of an ordinance that will penalize excessive consumption and encourage water savings and efficient use. Due to the special circumstances of the drought, the periodicity of water consumption readings and billing may be carried out on a monthly basis, with prior notice.

The town hall of San Frenando  is urging citizens to save water in their daily activities. They recommend using water responsibly, avoiding wastage in daily tasks such as washing dishes, brushing teeth, showering, or optimizing toilet flushes and cisterns. They also recommend checking for possible leaks or closing the main supply valve in homes and facilities during unoccupied hours or periods.

The City Council will launch a campaign on media, social networks, and all public municipal facilities requesting maximum collaboration from citizens regarding the importance of responsible, supportive, and efficient use of drinking water. The campaign will be carried out in collaboration with the water management company in San Fernando, Hidralia, and will call for the collaboration of the entire society in the responsible use of this vital resource. The communication makes an urgent call to action to protect water because it is not an option, but a necessity.

The town hall of San Frenando is taking a series of actions to prevent water loss in the city, despite the savings achieved in recent years and the water efficiency achieved. In the coming days, an extraordinary leak detection campaign will be carried out, which is necessary due to the current situation. A complete review of the network is needed to locate and solve points of loss 1.

Therefore, together with Hidralia (the company responsible for managing the sewage and supply of the city), a series of urgent actions will be undertaken with an initial investment of €136,636 distributed among different interventions ranging from works for the development of the city’s infrastructure, to leak detection campaigns, the commissioning of possible wells in the municipality to have alternative water resources, or the advancement of the network for the use of regenerated water. In this sense, a search for alternative water resources will be carried out, with the aim of increasing the supply for irrigation and cleaning, due to the impossibility of using water suitable for consumption, through surveys of possible exploitable wells in the municipality 1.

In the medium term, work is also being done on the development of a irrigation network and the construction of a reservoir for regenerated water for use in irrigation and cleaning. In fact, San Fernando already has part of the structure that can serve as a basis for the future development of the network, once the purifier has the tertiary system for its implementation and this resource can be used. Work is also continuing on the micro-sectorization of different areas of the city, which has made it possible to optimize the search for leaks, thus reducing the volume of water lost due to breakages 1.