Malaga, (EFE) companies in the sector to experience an unprecedented situation with waiting lists to satisfy orders.
Hundreds of private swimming pools have had to close their doors this summer in municipalities such as Rincón de la Victoria, Iznate, Almáchar or Vélez-Málaga, all of them in the Axarquía region, or Cártama and Pizarra, in the Guadalhorce Valley, in compliance with of the measures adopted by the municipalities to reduce the consumption of drinking water.
And it is that La Viñuela, the reservoir from which the Axarquía drinks, is in a critical situation, at 9% of its capacity, and there is no forecast that in the near future, with the thermometers skyrocketing and with no forecast of rain, it will to improve.
To deal with this emergency situation, many towns, such as Rincón de la Victoria, with more than 50,000 inhabitants, have prohibited the use of drinking water for watering gardens, orchards, parks and golf courses, cleaning streets, filling or refilling of private swimming pools and car washes outside authorized establishments.
emergency solutions
The swimming pools in residential buildings that were empty could not be filled this summer, and many of those that were full had to close as they could not use drinking water to fill them, mainly due to evaporation.
Municipal technicians are visiting neighboring communities these days to ensure compliance with the restrictions and prevent the continued use of drinking water for non-essential uses.
The solution that the communities of owners have found to be able to keep their swimming pools open is to resort to the purchase of water tanks, although this is not being easy this year, since the enormous demand has exceeded the operating capacity of the companies in the sector.
companies surpassed
Javier Arrán, head of Aquatrans2000, explains to EFE that the company is having an avalanche of requests for tanks this year as a result of the drought decree: “It is normal for us to fill swimming pools in summer, but not at this level, we have never encountered this situation”.
This company from Malaga has had to double the number of truck drivers because they are offering the service 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “We have a lot of work and we have to face it,” says Arrán, who tries to serve the water within a maximum period of two days.
“I don’t remember anything similar, except for a very serious drought in 1994,” says this professional.
an exceptional summer
A similar situation is experienced by the company Grupo Gutiérrez Pastor, which has also noticed “very much” the increase in demand for water tanks, especially for communities.
“Demand has tripled, we are experiencing a real ‘boom’ for garden irrigation and pool refilling,” Beatriz Gutiérrez, head of the company, told EFE, which also supplies farmers in Axarquía for watering farms, mainly mango and avocado, and affected by irrigation restrictions.
This company assures that it has a waiting list of up to two weeks because at the moment it is giving priority to agricultural demand, but it assures that “the communities do not forget because with temperatures of 40 degrees and people are unable to bathe or cool off. This is unsustainable.”
The group has a fleet made up of around ten trucks and has had to strengthen its workforce to cope with the increase in demand. “We have never experienced a similar situation. Every summer we don’t stop carrying vats of water, but never at this level, not even remotely”, emphasizes the head of the company.
resignation between neighbors
The neighbors live with resignation the closure of their community pools. Many do not understand that until a few days ago they could bathe in them and now they are closed, and others desperately seek a solution that allows them to continue using their bathing facilities, especially on these hot days and school holidays.
On social networks, the problem of swimming pools is one of those that arouses the greatest interest, and in them those affected share opinions and show their anger and possible solutions.
“In my urbanization it has been decided to buy non-potable water, treat it in a rented tank and then refill with that already treated water,” explains a neighbor from Rincón de la Victoria, while another citizen complains that the community has closed the pool without even calling a meeting to inform those affected “and decide what to do.”
For some, the solution is simple, especially in coastal municipalities: change the pool for the beach.
“I don’t think a pool is so essential when you have the beach a five-minute walk away. Unless you live in Écija or somewhere similar. We are becoming a bit gourmets”, some residents point out. EFE