A technical report has concluded that the most urgent measure needed to address contamination spills in Palma is the separation of the networks for rainwater and faecal water.
At present, around half of the city has a unified network.
By law, it should be separated. A consequence of this is that when there is heavy rain, not all the water reaches treatment plants and therefore overflows.
Only the sewage should go to treatment plants, with rainwater going into the sea.
A total separation of the network could have been effected had it not been for the fact that since 2010 the town hall hasn’t been receiving some 17 million euros a year from the government.
This is money raised in Palma through the sanitation charge, one paid by consumers.
Councillor Ramon Perpinyà, the president of the Emaya municipal services agency, says that 26 million euros are now to be allocated to network separation in certain areas, such as the city centre and the Son Castelló industrial estate.
There is, as yet, no starting date for this work, while the cost to separate the network across the whole city has not been established. Previous reports gave estimates around 80 million euros.
The one project currently under way is for an interceptor to conduct water from the centre of the city to the Coll d’en Rabassa plant.
This won’t, however, entirely eliminate the problem with spills.
The work is costing 22.6 million euros, there having been agreement with the government for funding of up to 35 million.