Every time the Torrential rains stalk the Catalan coast, it is common for the beach water is affected by the entry of sewage, which requires prevent bathing. This phenomenon has been repeated for many years, but it is still a pending subject of the town councils and the Generalitat. As EL PERIÓDICO has learned, the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) is already working to adapt to the new regulation of hydraulic public domain that came into force in September, more demanding with this type of episodes.
Last summer, these episodes forced bathing to be banned on the Catalan coast for an average of eight days.
The idea is to reduce the number of relievers existing in the sanitation network and thus ensure that these negative effects occur less frequently. If there are not so many pouring stations Not even so many spillways that flow into the sea, with more control and surveillance, it will be possible to begin to put a stop to this unpleasant phenomenon.
But why does wastewater reach the sea when it rains heavily? What function do these so-called relievers have? When it rains heavily or moderately but continuously, the sanitation system collapses, and to avoid damage to the network or the sewers suffering damage on public roads, the relievers discharge water outside to reduce the pressure of the flow in the wastewater network. This is when this rainwater mixed with wastewater reaches the sea.
8 black days
“When this occurs, bathing is not recommended because adequate sanitary conditions cannot be guaranteed, since there may be fecal contamination in the water,” he admits. Mariona de Torres, head of the ACA coastal waters unit, in statements to this newspaper. Torres highlights the good coordination that exists with the city councils so that the neighbors are immediately warned and the red flag if necessary.
Throughout this summer, on averageon all the Catalan beaches, the bathroom has been prohibited For this reason, for a total of eight days. Where is it most common for it to happen? “The most affected places are the municipalities with a high population density, because part of the rain goes into the sanitation network, and also the beaches near river mouths or those who have streams, torrents or rainwater outlets“, it states towers.
These river beds and streams They facilitate the arrival of solid waste to the sea. “Reeds, plant remains, pieces of wood appear and the water becomes cloudy“explains Torres. All this adds to the portion of fecal water that appears in the water. The fecal water, naturally, after about 48 hours, is diluted with sea water and ceases to be a problem.
On the other hand, the solids that have already been dumped into the sea stay there. To remedy this, a team of cleaning boats work to remove them. However, the essential thing would be prevent wipes and other type of solids end up in the sewer. Elisa Berdaleta researcher specializing in marine biology at the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM), puts on the table other harmful elements that end up in the sea: “When sewage reaches the beach, remains of antibiotics, drugs and other medications are also washed away. mix with sea water, since these chemicals are present in people’s urine. plastics are a problem for many of the Marine species“.
More debugging
Berdalet requires more investments: “There are more and more people. Therefore, the sewage system must be reviewed continuously. It cannot be fixed one day and then left abandoned.” Furthermore, he proposes preventing further construction on the coast: “It is unsustainable to add more buildings to the coastline. The more of us there are, the more often these episodes will be repeated.”
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Torres points out that, in the absence of rain, the water quality of the Catalan beaches is optimal and meets the requirements demanded by the European Union: “The quality of the beaches is notable and very good for bathing. The entire coast of Catalonia has sanitation systems and all the waters that are discharged into the sea have been previously purified”. Today, we are already studying how to expand and increase the number of treatments to which wastewater is subjected so that it does not pose a problem, neither for bathers nor for the environment. However, these spills that are repeated throughout the coast when torrential rains appear have yet to be resolved. To do so, the ACA is coordinating with the municipalities.
If the presence of sewage cannot be avoided, at least the presence of solids in marine waters should be reduced, ACA sources say. For this reason, some town councils, such as Badalona, they are already working on it. Another challenge is to take these episodes into account not only in the summer, when people go to the beaches, but all year round.