The delegate of the Andalusian Government in Córdoba, Adolfo Molina, announced this Monday that the Territorial Delegation of Health and Consumer Affairs of the Government of Andalusia in Córdoba “has declared the water distributed in the North Supply Zone of Córdoba as suitable for consumption” , that is, “as of today, Monday, you can drink tap water” in the North of Córdoba.
In this sense and at a press conference, Molina, who was accompanied by the Board’s Health delegate, María Jesús Botella, highlighted that, in this way, “a year of restrictions that have affected 80,000 residents of the Guadiato and Los Pedroches regions ends” after the declaration, on April 17, 2023of the unfitness for human consumption of the water distributed in the Northern Supply Zone of Córdoba, from the La Colada reservoir, “by failing to comply with the parameters established in Royal Decree 3/2023.”
In this regard, the delegate of the Junta Government in the province has thanked “all the residents of the North of Córdoba for their patience and responsibility during this long year”, and has also praised the work of the Córdoba Provincial Council which, through of the Provincial Water Company of Córdoba (Emproacsa), “has maintained an important economic and human effort to pump water from La Colada to the Sierra Boyera DWTP”, and to take “tank trucks to 43 population centers” in the North “to guarantee drinking water”, while continuing to work “to purify the water of La Colada.”
Molina recalled that, after the rains last March, on April 1 the Junta de Andalucía and the Provincial Council established “an action protocol so that, in accordance with Royal Decree 03/2023 and Decree 70/2009, could return the declaration of suitable for water in the North of Córdoba.
This protocol, as specified, has included “the analysis at least twice a day of Total Organic Carbon and Trihalomethanes at the outlet” of the Drinking Water Treatment Station (ETAP) of the Sierra Boyera reservoir, which is almost full after the rains of last Easter, after having dried out last year. These analyzes have been carried out after having “eliminated the water from the La Colada reservoir of said DWTP.”
Furthermore, in order to determine the characteristics of the raw water from the Sierra Boyera reservoir, before entering the DWTP, “a complete analysis of the same was also carried out, with the exception of the parameters related to disinfection and by-products.” derivatives.
After Molina made it clear that water can now be drunk from taps throughout the North of the province, the resolution that establishes that the water is now drinkable
A “complete analysis of the treated water at the outlet of the ETAP has also been carried out, once it was ensured that it came completely from said collection, and after the treatments inside the ETAP were adjusted.” Furthermore, according to Molina, “three consecutive favorable results had to be obtained with at least 24 hours between each one.”
But the controls carried out did not end there, since, “after passing the complete analysis of the treated water and adjusting the treatment in the DWTP, in such a way that the concentrations of all the parameters were in accordance with the provisions of RD 3/2023, It was time for the supply network.
Thus, “two favorable consecutive samples had to be obtained with at least 24 hours between each one, at different sampling points established in the supply network”, along its 700 kilometers, “as long as their result was favorable in all of them.” and analyzing the following parameters: Total organic carbon (TOC), Trihalomethanes (THM), Haloacetic Acids (HAH), microbiological analysis, control of residual disinfectant and all those parameters that, if applicable, would have exceeded the parametric value in the complete analysis initial carried out in treated water at the exit of ETAP.
Now and After Molina made it clear that the water can now be drunk from the taps throughout the North of the province, the resolution that establishes that the water is now drinkablesigned by María Jesús Botella and transmitted to the Provincial Council of Córdoba, includes “the obligation to proceed with weekly monitoring, at least for four weeks, in five representative distribution networks of the Northern Supply Zone.”
The parameters that will be controlled are those already mentioned of the TOC, the THM, the HAH, microbiological analysis and control of residual disinfectant, and “the results will be communicated by Emproacsa to the Territorial Delegation of Health and Consumer Affairs of the Board within a maximum period of 48 hours from its obtaining, unless any analyzed parameter shows a deviation or incidence with respect to the normative parametric values, in which case the communication will be immediate and always in less than 24 hours, from its obtaining”, as Molina concluded.
