A revealing report showed the “heat map” of the sewer system in Santa Fe

Monday 13.5.2024

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Last update 23:47

The problem of the state of the sewage system in the city of Santa Fe was installed on the local public agenda due to the consequences that are being generated and appearing. Here, the Bv sinkhole can be mentioned. Pellegrini and 9 de Julio, or the one that formed in front of the Club Unión Stadium, both in the vicinity of the main collector or maximum sewer.

Beneath this “Iceberg” – both collapses – there is a much more complex issue: the general state of the total sewage network that serves 70% of the capital city – and which diverts its effluents to the maximum sewer -, since that the remaining 30% do not have this essential service.

The incidences of population densities and the capacities to respond to their demand – of the primary and secondary connections, including the maximum sewer – are the factors to take into account.

And a technical study sought to establish a kind of “heat map” in this regard, and to outline a diagnosis of the situation.. It consisted of a survey on a specific area, the macrocenter: there are 8 square kilometers in the radius defined between Mariano Comas and Chacabuco to the north; Av. Govt. Freyre to the east; JJ Paso al sur and Carlos Sylvestre Begnis-Av. February 27 and Av.- Alem to the east. More than 70 thousand inhabitants live in the area.

“Influence of constructions on the sewage network in the central area of ​​the city of Santa Fe. Analysis of collective housing buildings and large establishments,” is the title of the study prepared by Espacio Encuentro (Observatorio Data Encuentro), whose main The reference is the Santa Fe councilor Lucas Simoniello (Interblock United…), who is also following this issue very closely.

The survey aimed begin to gather and systematize relevant information that serves to outline an x-ray of the sewage system in a hyper-urbanized sector.

Thus, more than 1,100 collective homes (buildings, among other construction typologies) were detected; 220 schools; 30 accommodations; 240 gastronomic establishments; 30 health centers; 30 car washes; 20 government buildings, 20 clubs and neighborhoods. There are also about 20 pools or swimming pools.

A striking fact: in a significant radius within the surveyed perimeter, a red “spot” can be seen. It covers an area of ​​the Candioti Norte and Sur neighborhoods, Bv. Pellegrini-Gálvez, Mariano Comas, and also part of what was the Recoleta area. 50% of the gastronomic establishments surveyed in the area are concentrated at that point.

“This work is the first part of an analysis that we continue working on. It shows a very densified area of ​​the city in terms of population. But this does not mean that the maximum sewer stops ‘holding’ (in the face of so much demand from the system). We are trying to find out how the entire sewer system responds to this density today.“said Simoniello in dialogue with El Litoral.

What we want to know is whether the primary and secondary cloacal ducts and the maximum cloaca have sufficient capacity to absorb that density. “This is perhaps a kind of ‘road map’ for Aguas Santafesinas SA (Assa). What we need to know is which sections of the conduits should be replaced to continue allowing urban development in that sector.“, pointed out the radical councilor.

In this sense, “we need to have more data (from Assa) to know where urban development could continue to be favored, and where sewer pipes must be replaced quickly to be able to have a good service”Simoniello insisted.

This information would also serve to make forecasts and eventually prevent new infrastructure problems from being generated, such as sinkholes or sinkholes..

“The most important thing is that the more information we have, we could articulate between the different levels (Executive, Council, Province through Assa) the works on the sewer system that need to be done. And that, above all, We can have a good quality of life, without having to dodge corrals, nor with fecal matter rising to the surface, nor with sinkholes or sinkholes.”, he emphasized.

Then he said that at some point, the Urban Planning Regulations (ROU) will have to be debated again to find out where more high-rise construction could be authorized, and where not. “With this, private investors would also have more certainty. But for that, we first need data to be able to make the right decisions in this regard,” Simoniello insisted.

At the moment, and in the absence of this much-needed information, what Simoniello and the members of his technical team are doing is using a simulator of the maximum densities (what is allowed to build in certain places in the city), with the intention of have an idea of ​​how the cloacal ducts are responding.

What is simulated is the number of “contributors” (inhabitants projected over a certain number of square meters) that use a sewage conduit (and what diameter it has). Although it is a system with complex mathematical variables, this simulation gives an approximation of where problems could – and where not – arise in the service. In any case, all the information referred to by the Santa Fe councilor is missing.